Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I picked up my Fresh not frozen Amish Turkey yesterday (12 pounds). Any brining tips for my All Natural bird?

Two years ago I bought a turkey like yours and brined it. It was really good. If I remember I used CI's recipe with brown sugar and salt. Just don't brine for over about 8 hours, pat very dry before seasoning and roasting. I think I even let mine air dry for about 30 minutes before going into the oven.

Laurie

Hi,

I would suggest that you dry brine your turkey, ala Zuni Cafe. We have recently modified the formula to include all sorts of spices (paprika, adobo, mild cajun), lots of fresh or sauteed herbs and sometimes mayonaise as a binder. You can spread the mix under the skin, wrap tightly and refrigerate up to two days.

The dry brining technique does speed up cooking times and does not add any water to the meat. Therefore, you have to adjust your roasting technique. CI suggests chilling the breast meat with small bags of ice in the cavity and inverting the bird in a pan of ice for an hours or so. (Yes this works.) You also should begin roasting breast down.

Good luck,

Tim