I plan on sterilizing one of the vegetable bin drawers in the fridge and making a brine for him to soak in a few days. I have been looking up ideas for the brine. I'm leaning toward the kosher salt, honey, vinegar and ice water of course.
Instead of using a roasting rack I will do like I did last year but it was with a store bought one. I used carrots, celery and onions underneath the turkey for the rack. Those vegetables aren't pretty after using them for a rack but the taste is out of this world.
I'm excited...this is our first turkey from the homestead!
After butcher, don't refrigerate him. Place him in a container and cover in apple juice, then ice to keep cool. Brine in there for at least 24 hours, no more than 48. The apple juice tenderizes all the chewy bits. And makes for an incredibly juicy bird. ( I bake mine breast up for a third of the time, then flip them to continue. Keeps the breast from drying out.
ReplyDeletehttp://a-homesteading-neophyte.blogspot.com/2006/11/day-after.html
Directions if interested.
Thanks Phelan...So I don't need to brine it for 1 hour per pound? I will need stock in an apple juice company! I don't know what one of these guys will weigh dressed out but they almost felt like I was picking up a half a bag of feed the last time I tried. I'm going to try to salvage the tail feathers and make grandson an Indian headdress.
DeleteIt's going to be in the 70's this week so I will need to keep it on ice or refrigerate. If I have to cook it early I will. I read somewhere that brinning too long was as bad as not brinning long enough. It's an experiment!
You can forget the turkey in the apple brine. No salt. As long as its cold, it's fine. That bird in the link was fully dressed out at 40lbs. Two large jugs of cheap apple juice (or cider) and ice should be fine. If the bird int fully submerged in the juice, roll it over every few hours.
DeleteAnd yes, catch them at roost. Throw sheet over their heads, and wrap it up quickly like a burrito. Make sure one of you has the legs secure. Those and the wings will bruise the heck out of you. If you do not have the commercial equipment I highly suggest that one of you gently lays on the bird to keep it from thrashing and bruising the meat. The necks are tough, wacking is a waste of energy. Slit the major artery, either through the beak or the outside of the neck. Good luck.
And I do have a tutorial for dressing out if you need it.
They are both beautiful birds, enjoy whichever one you manage to catch. Maybe at night when they are roosting.
ReplyDeleteTL...the deed is done! We used Phelans idea of a sheet over him and wrapped like a burrito. It worked perfectly.
DeleteHow exciting!!! This will be a Thanksgiving to remember!!! I have so much going on right now but I want to raise my own turkeys. When do you get them to have them ready by November? Have a great Thanksgiving ☺
ReplyDeleteKelly...These two were a year old in August. We could have butchered one Christmas of last year but I wanted a lot of fertile eggs. We've went from 6 turkeys to 19 in a little over a year. If you have an incubator I could send you some eggs next spring.
DeleteDon't mean to but in, but you need to have them by mid march to get them to weight by Nov.
ReplyDeleteMamma Bear, if your turkeys are that old brine them now. It will take time for the toughness to break down.
Yep...The oldest ones are 15 months old, That's why I wanted to butcher today so they could have a nice long soak in the brine to tenderize them.
ReplyDeleteI just went to the Dollar Store for apple juice. I bought the last 5 bottles on the shelf so I'll still be turning turkey every few hours. While waiting to check out the man behind me said. I bet you're going to make apple wine. I said no I am going to brine a turkey with it. He said he'd never heard of that. I said me either but I bet it will be awesome!
Lol. Most people haven't heard of it. But I am not only a homesteader, but food and science junkie.
ReplyDeleteIf I would have only scrolled down, I would have seen this "Before" post. Turkey looked nice.
ReplyDelete