Roast turkey (
making a brine this year *fingers crossed* :lol
Gravy
Mashed potatoes
Stove Top stuffing
Deviled eggs
Green beans
Pumpkin bars
Pumpkin Pie
And I know we'll have some rolls thrown in there somewhere
DO IT.
I have been brining turkey now for about 5 years. I will not go back to any other way.
I also do the burn your forearms off crazy person cooking method.
When you cook a turkey breast up, the breast dries out because juices tend to drain downwards. However if you cook it breast down, it stays jucy (oh so jucy if you brine it too) but then the skin never gets that golden brown crispness.
The solution is to cook it breast side down. Then 30 minutes before its done, you take that sucker and flip it over, crank up the temp, and get it good and brown (baste it with butter at this point for extra golden browness
)
Of course trying to muscle around a blazing hot, grease dripping, heavy, floppy bird is not the safest thing to do. I do it, but people have burned themselves (or dropped the whole mess on the floor)
I brine them in a 5 gallon food grade plastic pail in the fridge.
When I was married and had much larger gatherings, I would do three turkeys. One deep fried, one brined, and one on a spit over the fire pit. The brined/flipped one was allways the favorite.
-dave
