Thanksgiving Taxonomy: Basting and Brining and Frying, oh my!
Thanksgiving is full of terminology that would scare away just about any home chef. Additionally, Thanksgiving is also a holiday that seems to be pressure filled to make the perfect meal - and most people don’t really cook all that much. So here below are a list a terms that you may find in your Turkey-day research explained with my rating of each method.
Brining: This is a salting method to flavor your bird.
A dry brine means you put a salt based rub (that may or may not be infused with herbs and spices) and you let the bird marinate overnight. It works well on grilled meat, however this does mean a saltier result.
A wet brine means you soak the bird overnight (some do it longer…) in a salt water, cider or spice mix. So this means finding a cooler/giant pot that fits the turkey and can be kept cold and replaced with ice. Or you have an American refridgerator. This process for me is like feeding a sourdough starter or a tomagotchi. There’s a lot of effort for little reward.
Result: Optics are fantastic: the turkey browns up and its great on photos. Many people swear by this method because they find turkey tasteless. Major downside? If not done well, this is becomes pretty damn salty. And you will not be able to use the drippings for gravy, which after all that baking, a waste of ingredient.
Level of Effort? 7/10 for all the fuss and mess.
Basting: According to the BBC Good Eats, basting is spooning, pouring or brushing the juices that are in the roasting pan back over the meat as it cooks, or laying something over it that will release fat as it cooks. This means every so often you carefully open the oven, and take some of the pan drippings and pour and brush over the bird every 30 minutes for the duration of cooking time. So if you have a 5 hour cooktime, that is at least 6-8 bastings.
Result: Crispy skin, but you risk dry and harder meat especially the breast meat. Basting is honestly for optics and crisping.
Level of Effort? 5/10 as it is easy to do, but its every 30-40 minutes so you are really tied to that kitchen.
Frying: This method seen frequently in the Southern parts of the US, became quite popular at one point. Until the housefires. Frying a whole turkey means preparing the turkey with a rub or injection, and then deep frying the whole thing in a specialized fryer. Personally, this is something I would leave for professional cooks. Frying is already at best, dangerous, and for an entire bird? Really, if you don’t know what you are doing, then this method is a big no.
Result: Crispy skin, moist meat. Who doesn’t love fried anything?
Level of Effort? 20/10 You need a specialized fryer, you need to know how to fry without injuring yourself and others, and there is simple fact that this requires A LOT of oil. Oil is not cheap so using 5 Litres for one dish is maybe not the best use of your kitchen funds. If there is a restaurant that offers this service go for it. If not, stick to fried chicken the rest of the year.
Baking in a Bag *WINNER! : Back in the day, homecooks would use a paper bag to keep the moisture in the bird. Now, there are specialized jumbo baking bags used for this process. You prep your turkey with seasoning (yes, you could dry brine then bake!)
Result: a tender turkey that is delicious and not dry. Some people want the dark bird with crispy skin - and so do I. For this I open the bag at the end, and let the bird crisp up a bit. This limits the exposure of the turkey breast and it stays edible. And the drippings are divine for gravy, which really, is the whole point of baking the bird.
Level of Effort? 4/10 The bag means the turkey cooks more quickly (read: saves electricity) and the result is moist bird that is evenly cooked. This is perfect for the first time turkey chef.
To stuff or not to stuff? I think the best part of Thanksgiving is the bread based side dish known as stuffing. It can be impressive to present a stuffed bird at the table, but in my experience, the stuffing will taste great, and the meat is quite mediocre because all the good flavor was absorbed by the bread. Worst case scenario which I have seen as a guest? The stuffing is soggy and the bird is overcooked. This is not a scene you want to replicate in your home, trust me. Level of effort vs reward? Better to make a separate pan of dressing (since it didn’t go in the bird, it is technically called dressing) and keep it on the side. Also, if you have vegetarians coming for the holiday, stuffing is an easy dish that can be made meat free but still relatively tasty.