Stuffing a Deep Fried Turkey

[Goober McTuber]

Yes. Please go ahead and poison your entire family.

[Mikey]

We like the stuffing too but I stopped stuffing my turkeys a few years ago, because it allows you to decrease the cooking time and not overcook the meat.

I always roast them in the oven but the reasoning would be the same for deep frying, probably even moreso given the heat of the oil. By the time the stuffing is hot enough to kill any bacteria the white meat would probably be shoe leather.

The other day I heard a suggestion that you can heat up the stuffing before putting it in the turkey, which would help mitigate the problem.

I'm going to stick with what I've been doing - cook the stuffing separately in a glass dish and call it dressing.

[Truman]

Don't do that. You're gonna want an open cavity in that bird to help fry it evenly inside out.

What you might try is adding an egg-or-two to a cornbread stuffing recipe and drop it by the spoonful into your pot... Probably taste like a sage-y hushpuppy, but it might not be too bad...

[Goober McTuber]

the only other downside to Deep Frying is no pan drippings for Gravy - she has to take the neck and some of the gibblets and pan fry separate to get that

Do your wife (and yourself) a favor and pick up a jar of this stuff to add to the stock she makes from the fixings:



It's a pretty concentrated base, so a little bit goes a long way. Much better flavor tham bouillion cubes (hence the name). I also keep jars of their chicken and beef base in my fridge for adding depth of flavor. I add the beef base to my beef stew and my chili.

[Truman]

…because of course, making your own is far too complicated.

Now I understand where the phrase "booger-eating moron" comes from.

[trev]

No stuffing the turkey here. I don't even roast the bird normally. I cook it in a bag. It comes out fabulous. Don't judge me. BUT this year, I'm forgoing the bag and just basting it with a brush. A brave soul I am. I love my dressing recipe, which I make year after year. It's called Walnut dressing. The secret ingredient is Home Pride White bread. And lots of other goodies, if you want the recipe, I might have posted it here before. It not, let me know. It's super easy.

[Truman]

The secret ingredient is Home Pride White bread.

Unless you've been living under a rock or have a coupla loaves jammed in a freezer somewhere, something tells me your "secret ingredient" just might be a bit scarce this year... :wink:

[Goober McTuber]

…because of course, making your own is far too complicated.

No, it's not. And there's nothing wrong with making it better, you slack-jawed halfwit.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

Come on guys...Mikey's Cooking Forum is hallowed ground.

Let's remember we're here for the food, not the bickering.

[Truman]

And there's nothing wrong with making it better, you slack-jawed halfwit.

If by "better", you mean hoovering a jar of processed crap, then by all means...

I’d tell you to kill yourself, but your diet will do the trick for us anyway, you crotchety, crumbling old beat.

[Mikey]

Come on guys...Mikey's Cooking Forum is hallowed ground.

Let's remember we're here for the food, not the bickering.

Shut the fuck up, mouth breather.

[mvscal]

…because of course, making your own is far too complicated.

Now I understand where the phrase "booger-eating moron" comes from.

I don't know anyone who subs bouillon for stock or vice versa. They're two totally different ingredients. I use BtB and it is as it says on the label...better than bouillon. I use it for rice and a little depth of flavor for other dishes. Now for stock, there isn't any substitute. I don't have beef stock on hand very often but I almost always have some chicken stock in the freezer.

I'm doing something a little different this year. I smoked a small turkey a couple weeks ago and used the carcass, neck and gibs to make some smoked turkey stock which will be the base for my gravy and the stuffing etc. I'm making a onion, slab bacon and rye bread stuffing. I'm not even a huge fan of rye bread, but it is out of sight for stuffing/dressing.

[Truman]

I don't know anyone who subs bouillon for stock or vice versa. They're two totally different ingredients. I use BtB and it is as it says on the label...better than bouillon. I use it for rice and a little depth of flavor for other dishes.

Then you're just as big a dumbass as Goober. One has all-natural ingredients, while the other contains such goodies as sugar, corn syrup solids, hydrolyzed soy protein (MSG), dried whey (milk), and something called "flavoring." Fuck that noise. I almost always have chicken, shrimp, and veggie stock in my drop-in freezer, and will make beef, pork, or turkey when I have the bones and scraps on-hand. Beats the piss out anything you spoon from a jar, and it sure-the-fuck isn't going into any rice or gravy that I'd ever serve..

[Goober McTuber]

You do realize that you'll find jars of concentrated base in the vast majority of restaurant kitchens?

[Truman]

You do realize that you'll find concentrated base made-from-scratch by the vast majority of restaurant chefs?

Fixed.

What's your point, Goober? You want to put that shit in your gravy, be my guest.

[Goober McTuber]

You're quite wrong, you grumpy old fuck. Not that that should be a surprise.

[Truman]

Actually, I'm not, you grouchy old bastard. Let me know the very next time you see a professional chef substitute that jarred shit for the stuff he's had simmering for hours on the back-burner of his Viking.

Home made > Jarred shit. Go polish your teeth, beat.

[Goober McTuber]

Obviously homemade is better, bitterman, and I realize that the very top-of-the-line chefs have numerous underlings who can simmer and reduce all kinds of shit while the chef is putting tiny little scraps of food onto enormous plates and sprinkling bits of parsley about. But if you really believe that you won't find jars of commercial base in many restaurant kitchens, then you haven't set foot in many restaurant kitchens.

[Truman]

Nice straw man, slick-nuts. Of course you can quote me where I suggested what one would find in a restaurant kitchen, one way or the other. I DID infer, however, that a professional chef wouldn’t be caught dead using that jarred shit.

As for what I believe, anyone cast-iron retarded enough to make holiday gravy with bouillon is also dumb enough to try to eat gourds. I’ll bet you put ketchup on bratwurst, too. Go fry a steak, slappy.

[Goober McTuber]

You’re full of crap regarding chefs using that “jarred shit”, but again, that’s no surprise. And I don’t make gravy using only a concentrated base, but I won’t hesitate to add a small amount of it to pan drippings to enhance the flavor.

Not sure why such a close-minded little bitch even bothers wasting his time in the cooking forum, since for you there’s only one way, and that’s the Truman way.

Ketchup on a brat?

[Truman]

Now where's the fun in agreeing with you?!

Happy Thanksgiving, you old fart.

[mvscal]

Obviously homemade is better, bitterman, and I realize that the very top-of-the-line chefs have numerous underlings who can simmer and reduce all kinds of shit while the chef is putting tiny little scraps of food onto enormous plates and sprinkling bits of parsley about.

It isn't just top of the line chefs. It's any chef who gives even the tiniest bit of shit about what he is putting on the plate.

But if you really believe that you won't find jars of commercial base in many restaurant kitchens, then you haven't set foot in many restaurant kitchens.

You will only find them in lazy kitchens that don't control costs very carefully. Scratch stock is dirt cheap. It can be made entirely from prep scraps and bones and carcasses not used in service. The prep cooks have to be there anyway and it doesn't take but 5-10 minutes to get a pot of stock going. That's the beauty of fonds. You can turn something that is basically compost into an incredibly delicious stock that can be used as a sauce and soup base that will generate huge ROI in service.

[Mikey]

I used salt, brown sugar, about 10 slightly smashed garlic cloves, pepper corns and a couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary.
Brined for about 30 hours. We had some leftover non-permeable food bags from when our house was tented last year so I double bagged the turkey and brine in those, and stuck it in an ice chest with a bag of ice. That way my refrigerator still has room for other stuff.

Stuffed the turkey with half a dozen Meyer lemons straight off the tree and a couple more sprigs of rosemary.

Rubbed the skin with a mixture of butter, EVOO, kosher salt and paprika.

Added two cups of water to the pan before roasting conventionally at 325.

I poured a cup of white wine over the bird two hours in and am about to go tent the thing with foil for the last hour.

[Truman]

I used salt, brown sugar, about 10 slightly smashed garlic cloves, pepper corns and a couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary.

Add a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme, and we brined the same bird, Mikey. Considered doing a stock-brine, but I was out of bouillon ('sup, Goobs). Got Mr. Tom smoking over a low fire of pecan and hickory.

[Mikey]

I used salt, brown sugar, about 10 slightly smashed garlic cloves, pepper corns and a couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary.

Add a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme, and we brined the same bird, Mikey. Considered doing a stock-brine, but I was out of bouillon ('sup, Goobs). Got Mr. Tom smoking over a low fire of pecan and hickory.

I actually got my brine from a recipe for smoked turkey, so that's not too surprising. It sounded good though, and the most important part is the salt concentration, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm gonna have to smoke one one of these days but everybody here expects pan gravy and I don't want to go totally with the stuff from a jar :wink: . Also we're eating at 2:00 pm today so I'd have go start in the middle of the night to smoke one.

[mvscal]

I'm gonna have to smoke one one of these days but everybody here expects pan gravy

We had both. I talked my dad into getting a 26.75" Weber kettle a few months back when he was looking to replace his old gas grill. I told him to replace the old parts on the gas grill and buy the kettle and he'd spend about half the money he was planning to spend, double his grill space (or more) and add the capacity to roast and smoke as well as grill.

Easy sell.

Also we're eating at 2:00 pm today so I'd have go start in the middle of the night to smoke one.

Since when do you have to smoke a turkey low and slow? It's poultry not a freaking brisket. I smoked a 20 pounder in about four hours. I kept the average temp around 350. Think oven roasting with smoke. I used cherry wood in this instance and was very pleased with the results. Yesterday was the first time I didn't brine the bird in years and it didn't seem to matter much. I cooked it breast side down for the first hour and half and then flipped it. It was extremely moist and the smoked pan drippings made awesome gravy. I'm starting to question whether or not brining is really worth the bother. All I used was a basic dry rub of kosher salt, coarse ground black pepper, granulated garlic and smoked paprika.

[Dinsdale]

Since when do you have to smoke a turkey low and slow? It's poultry not a freaking brisket.

Nothing says you "have to."

Only if you want it to be really good.

Poultry benefits even more from slow cooking than beef or any other meat. No fucking comparison between slow and fast cooking... none.

My smoker gets to 350 approximately... never. GREAT way to dry out meat. I highly recommend against... but to each their own. And I usually smoke a slab of something at least once a week for the last few years (and I've even used a Weber kettle, although it's a pain).

On that note -- someone else did the turkey in the oven (if it was up to me, I would have stuck the 22#er in the oven the night before at 170... that shit works awesome... and for chicken too, but doesn't take nearly as long).

I was tasked with smoking a ham (not the same deal, since ham is already cooked). Used madrone for the smoke (and a little cherry, since I have a ton of it, and the trees get pruned faster than I use it for cooking). The Southern Oregon folk (lots of BBQing going on down there) not only recommended it -- claimed using anything else was "doing it wrong." Found me a nice chunk of windfall madrone (grows like a weed in Southern OR, grows along the rivers here up north, and much larger). And I'm sold. Great smoker fuel. But I guess you'll have to take my word for it, since it's not exactly widespread.

With the ECB/upright, you can float a small steel bowl in the water pan and collect drippings, although they tend to be quite smokey.

[mvscal]

Poultry benefits even more from slow cooking than beef or any other meat.

No, it doesn't. The ONLY reason to cook low and slow is you have a tough cut of meat like brisket or ribs that needs a long cook time to break down tough connective tissue. Poultry will take all the smoke flavor it needs from a standard oven temp. cook. All you need to do is bring it to room temp before putting it on.

My smoker gets to 350 approximately... never. GREAT way to dry out meat.

You are flat ass wrong at least as far as poultry or tender cuts of beef like top sirloin or tri tip. It's only a "GREAT way to dry out meat" if you're an idiot or a drunk and aren't paying any attention to the internal temperature of the meat. Or are you trying to suggest that you can't roast a moist chicken or turkey in the oven?

Certainly it's your time to waste but you aren't getting any added benefit out of smoking an already tender cut of meat all fucking day. Now that's a GREAT way to dry out meat. Or do they hot smoke salmon and beef jerky using some other method?

I totally agree on using cherry wood for poulty, though. Very nice smoke.

[Dinsdale]

The ONLY reason to cook low and slow is you have a tough cut of meat like brisket or ribs that needs a long cook time to break down tough connective tissue.

Dead wrong, and you A) obviously aren't familiar with the basic science as to why, and B) have OBVIOUSLY never experimented with both techniques and are talking out of your ass, since if you had, you never would have said anything so asinine.

You actually couldn't be any more mistaken... not that I care, I just feel bad for you, missing out on a far superior method.

[mvscal]

Fuck off, idiot. You've made a career out of talking out your ass here.

[Truman]

Since when do you have to smoke a turkey low and slow? It's poultry not a freaking brisket. I smoked a 20 pounder in about four hours. I kept the average temp around 350. Think oven roasting with smoke.

Oh, I don’t know... Because low-and-slow is how turkey is traditionally BARBECUED?! If you want roast turkey, asswheels, try a fucking oven.

BTW, Flayscal, you can plate a brisket straight-out-of-the-oven in about four hours, too. It still doesn't make it barbecue.

[Dinsdale]

mvscal has no concept of "vapor pressure."

Sin,
Marcus Allen

[Dinsdale]

The technique I've seen for flavoring fried birds involves a big syringe filled with whatever seasonings dissolved/suspended in oil, injected into the meat.

Maybe there's other ways, but I don't know any.

[mvscal]

Oh, I don’t know... Because low-and-slow is how turkey is traditionally BARBECUED?!

As I said, it's your time to waste. Just don't kid yourself that it is either necessary or superior. A turkey will take all the smoke flavor it needs in four hours. Actually it will take all the smoke it needs in less than that time.

you can plate a brisket straight-out-of-the-oven in about four hours, too. It still doesn't make it barbecue.

I imagine that would make it braised. Fancy that, there're more than one method available to achieve the same end result of a moist and delicious cut of meat.

[Dinsdale]

sounds interesting - you ever tried it?

At a big turkey frying party. Seemed to work OK, although it's debatable how much effect it had.

And mvscal still doesn't understand the concept of "vapor pressure." Too bad, since he's missing out on a lot.

[Goober McTuber]

He doesn't seem to understand "vapor lock" either, even though it occurs directly above his neck on a regular basis.

[mvscal]

And mvscal still doesn't understand the concept of "vapor pressure."

Try again, idiot.

[Dinsdale]

At a big turkey frying party. Seemed to work OK, although it's debatable how much effect it had.

Does that mean you couldn't taste any difference between the injected bird and a regular fried turkey?

It had an effect, but not a huge one.

But maybe doping it more might have done more.

And now mv is just being silly.

[mvscal]

blah, blah, blah, vapor pressure, blah, blah, blah...

It's a fucking turkey not rocket science, poindexter. Learn time and temperature on meat and you won't have to worry about breaking out your chemistry set. And if it really bugs you, throw a drip pan of stock under it and have another beer. A properly cooked turkey is moist whether it's cooked at 250 or 350 minus.

Jeez...

[Truman]

Oh, I don’t know... Because low-and-slow is how turkey is traditionally BARBECUED?!

As I said, it's your time to waste.

Define “waste.” Some folks might consider dedicating four hours to grill a bird to be a waste of time too, and pick up Thanksgiving dinner-to-go down at the Safeway. Half the fun of plating a really good meal is the challenge of bringing it to the table in the first place. That said, how hard do you think it is to smoke a bird?

Just don't kid yourself that it is either necessary or superior.

Like grilling a turkey (high heat) and thinking you’ve smoked it (low heat), then running your mouth on a message board like you know what-the-fuck you’re talking about? You mean kidding myself that way?

BTW, I’m not the one suggesting cook-times north of four hours to be an "unnecessary" or "inferior" waste of time.

A turkey will take all the smoke flavor it needs in four hours. Actually it will take all the smoke it needs in less than that time.

Well, that... Or all the smoke you are apparently willing to give it. Of course, you have a probe or a scale or some other widget that determines “all the smoke it needs”. I think they stock them next to the $80 grill tops.

Riddle me this this, Flayscal: Did you not originally ask, "since when do you have to smoke a turkey low and slow?" Did you also suggest that, "the ONLY reason to cook low and slow is you have a tough cut of meat"?

Then why take an hour to caramelize onions when you can turn up the jets and fry ‘em up crisp in a fraction of the time? Why spend 45 minutes stirring a roux when you can technically accomplish the same thing in a couple of minutes? Why take all day to simmer a pot of red beans when you can rip open a box of Zatarain’s? And why are beers and ales fermented for different lengths of time and at different temperatures? After all: All beers and ales are the same, right?

I'm not arguing with your results. Barbecue is a method, asshat.