[Sca-cooks] A Turkey Success (a bit late, but whatever)

[Michael Gunter]

>For a bit of an introduction, I am Papa Gunthar's lady,

And I've never been happier.

>   Wer initially decided to brine the turkey a'la Alton Brown, but Gunthar 
>found
>an article in the Vail News where a team tested several methods of turkey 
>roasting,

Actually it was a link from this discussion board. Sorry, I don't have the 
link
anymore.

>Papa and I were intrigued enough to try it ourselves.

Hmm....all of these references from my lady calling me "Papa" makes me feel 
a
little weird.....

>   The method is a very simple one:  one tablespoon of salt per 5 pound of 
>bird
>rubbed over the skin, concentrating on the breast and thighs.

Since you did this part and I wasn't there. Was the salt rubbed over the
skin or under it?

>The skin will be a little tough when you are ready to cook it the next day,
>but that is perfectly normal.

I liked the rather dried out and toughened skin. It crisped beautifully.

>(I finally got to use my fancy talking thermometer from Williams Sonoma),

It's tres groovy.

>   The meat was tender, juicy and flavorful.  We did find it a little salty 
>for our
>tastes, but I'm not sure if it was the fact that I used a coarse kosher 
>salt rather
>than fine.

It was a little salty, but not bad at all. The breast meat stayed moist even 
days
later.

>Next time, we'll probably reduce the salt just a tad and add some herbs, 
>just
>because we like them.

Actually, I'm thinking of the basic salt/sugar/herbs brine of Alton's or 
commercialy
available.

>   Gunthar probably has some amusing comments about our travails in 
>flipping
>the bird after the first roasting

Nope. Just that I think investing in those big turkey turner forks sounds 
worthwhile.

The salted turkey was definately the way to go. No mess with a brining 
container,
no brined water or worries about anything getting knocked over or whatnot.
It's very simple and clean with taste and texture as good, if not better, 
than a
brined bird. I'm ready to try this method out on pork loin or chicken.

>   April

Thanks for the writeup, Hon.

Gunthar

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