Thanksgiving In March – Updated x3

13 03 2009

For most people, cooking a turkey once a year is more than enough. I’m not quite most people. Around Christmas time, my mom called and said someone was having a sale and she picked up some meat for me. Normally, I’d be stocked because that usually means pork loins or ribeyes. Not this time. She bought two turkeys and two hams. What the hell I’m supposed to do with two turkeys and two hams I’m not sure, but I figured eventually I’d cook them. I cooked one of the hams a few months ago, but I still have two turkeys taking up a lot of space in my deep freezer.

I’m going to be pretty busy for the next month with work, so I figured today was as good a day as any to finally cook a turkey.

I started three days ago by defrosting in the fridge. Last night, I put together a brine with vegetable stock, water, black peppercorns, brown sugar, salt, and allspice berries and started that process. This is what J saw when she got home from work last night.

I didn’t have anything bigger, so I had to use my cooler. She was going to mop the floor because her family is coming to town this weekend, but decided she better wait until I get the cooler filled with murky water and turkey off the ground.

After the brining was done, I started in on the first step of the two step process I use to cook turkey. I really like th”e golden brown skin, so I start the oven out at 500 degrees and really cook the top of the bird for a half hour. I stuffed the cavity with some apples and cinnamon sticks and put a light dusting of my BBQ rub on top and tossed it in the oven for a quick “sear”

UPDATED – 3:29 PM – This is what it looks like after just a half hour….

Obviously, if I kept it at 500 degrees, it would dry out the breast long before it’s cooked. I pulled the turkey out and dropped the temperature to 350 degrees. Now, to keep the breast moist, I covered it with aluminum foil before it went back in the oven.

Back in the oven for another two hours or so. I stuck my probe in so I could monitor the temperature. Now, I just got to start thinking about sides…..

UPDATED – 5:18 PM – It’s done.

Well, it’s out of the oven. I pulled it at about 165 degrees then covered it with foil to let it finish cooking. As you can see, the breast didn’t take on anymore color due to the foil. It looks and smells delicious though. I’ll let you know in a couple hours how it actually tastes. Still working on sides….and no pumpkin pie, J.

Update – 7:09 PM – Dinner time!