• Island Vittles: Homemade  Chili Oil
• Step by Step Gourmet: Chicken Pot Pie
• Inspired 2 Cook: Smoked Ham, Cheddar and Pear Panini
• Casa Verneracion: Pork Ribs and Rice Noodle Soup
• Zestuous: Pennsylvania Dutch Apple Dumplings
• Beautiful Life: Brined Pork Roast with Onions and Apples
• Kadirecipes: African Hot Chili Sauce
• Neo Homesteading: Budget Busting Homemade Stock
• Confections of a Foodie Bride: Brined Pork Chops with Blackberry-Port Sauce
• No Excuses BBQ:  Not BBQ

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Larry Gaian

Getting ready for the brine

A few years ago Celeste and I visited the wonderful city of Vancouver, Canada.  During out stay we stopped by Granville Island and came across a smokehouse selling Salmon Candy, I’m don’t remember what they called it, but it reminded me a Pig Candy, so I called it Salmon Candy.  A few days ago I was in the store and for some reason when I saw the salmon I thought of that trip and decided it was time to recreate that wonderful taste.

I checked out the internet for recipes and there appears to be just one recipe for for Salmon Candy.  And if there’s only one recipe out there on the world wide web then it must be what I’m looking for.  Well, it wasn’t as good as the Granville Island Salmon Candy so I’ll have to keep trying.

The final product was a little too salty and didn’t have the sweetness that I was hoping for.  The saltiness I think I can get rid of by rinsing and soaking a little longer after the brine.  Or maybe a shorter brine.  Instead of 24 hours maybe cut it down to 12 hours.  As for the sweetness.  It just didn’t come out.  I even put a layer of brown sugar on at the end just to try and get some more sweetness.  Just didn’t work.

Any suggestions?

Salmon Candy

Ingredients:

• 1/2 gallon water
• 1 cup pickling salt
• 2 cups dark dark brown sugar
• 1 cup real maple syrup
• salmon, cleaned
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup water

Directions:

Put half the water in in a bowl in the freezer.  Add remaining water to a pan on the stove and heat slightly.  You want the water warm, not hot.  When the water is warm add the salt, sugar and syrup and stir to dissolve.  Let it sit for a couple minutes to make sure all the solids are dissolved.  Then add the water from the freezer.  This should get your water back to almost room temperature.  If the water is still warm to the touch at all let it cool.

Put your salmon in a large bowl or dish and cover with your brine liquid.  Let the salmon brine for 24 hours.  Remove from brine and rinse completely.  You want to get as much salt off the fish as possible.

Cold smoke until done.  Not like jerky, but firm and flaky.  I used apple wood.  The last half the smoke baste with the honey mixed with water.  This will give you the candy texture.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Larry Gaian

• Oven: This is the traditional roasted turkey method done in the oven.  Both my wife and I grew up with this method.  It’s the tried and true method.  Sometimes I wish we did this method, because in my opinion it yields the best stuffing results.  And for me it’s all about the stuffing.
• Smoked:  Usually done, at our house, on the Weber Smokey Mountain or Traeger with a either peach or apple wood.  We will aslso use a brine and nice rub, usually Plowboys Yardbird or Simple Marvelous Season-All.   Because smoking doesn’t provide for a good crisp skin I will usually drop it in the Char-Broil Big Easy for a few minutes to crisp up the skin.
• Oil-less Turkey Fryer:  I love the results from putting a nice brined turkey in the Char-Broil Big Easy.  The end result is a great “fried” bird.  The results are much like you get in the store with one of those rotisserie chickens that taste so good.  And clean up witht he Big Easy is a snap.
• Deep Fried:  I believe this is the family favorite.  Again, the turkey is brined.  There’s just something about a fried turkey that screams tasty.  A lot of people use some type of injection with their fried turkeys but I’ve never found it necessary after brining to bother with injection.

This year my oldest daughter was the first to request this years cooking technique and chose a fried turkey.  So fried it was.  This meant getting out the Masterbuilt Indoor Turkey Fryer.  (You can read my full review of this fryer from last year by clicking here.)

For years and years I always wondered what all the hoopla was about when it came to Thanksgiving.  I could never understand why turkey was so popular.  No matter where I ate turkey or how it was cooked it always had a strange after taste to me.  I could manage to eat the turkey if I was lucky enough to get some of the limited dark meat and smother it with gravy. 

What I’ve come to realize is that it wasn’t the cooking technique, it was the turkey.  This epiphany came a couple of years ago when I decided to spring for a “Plump & Juicy” Natural Range Turkey from a local market.   I have always been amazed that on many holidays or other family get togethers people will spend hundreds of dollars for a prime rib or a “honey” spiral cut ham but when it comes to Thanksgiving let’s go find the cheapest, frozen bird you can find.  Why would you be willing to spend big dollars for a great piece of beef, but not be willing to spend $2 a pound for a great turkey.  Start with great ingredients and you’ll have a better chance for great results.  To me it’s worth it.  Anyway…

I picked up the turkey from the market on Tuesday afternoon and put it in the refrigerator.  Since my turkey comes from the market unfrozen I didn’t have to worry about the whole defrosting process. 

What is the safest way to thaw a frozen turkey?
The USDA recommends three ways to defrost turkeys: in the refrigerator, in cold water and in the microwave. Never defrost turkey on the counter or in other locations.

• It’s best to plan ahead for slow, safe thawing in the refrigerator. Allow about 1 day for every 5 pounds of turkey to thaw in the refrigerator.
• Turkey may be defrosted in cold water in its airtight packaging or in a leak-proof bag. Submerge the bird or cut-up parts in cold water, changing the water every 30 minutes.
• Turkey defrosted in the microwave should be cooked immediately after thawing because some areas of the food may become warm and begin to cook during microwaving. Holding partially cooked food is not recommended because any bacteria present wouldn’t have been destroyed.

If you purchase previously frozen meat, poultry or fish at a retail store, you can refreeze if it has been handled properly. (Source: Food Safety of Turkey… from Farm to Table. For information on thawing other items, see The Big Thaw – Safe Defrosting Methods for Consumers)

On Tuesday night I dissolved the salt and sugars in boiling water and let it cool on the stove before storing in the refrigerator over night.  Personally, I don’t like to add the seasonings to the brine until it’s cold.  If I’m using fresh herbs I will add them to the brine when it’s slightly warm so the flavors will start to infuse a little.  (Why do I do it this way?  No real reason it just seems to be the way I began doing it and it works for me)

(Left) The first step is to add the seasoning, oranges and lemons to a five gallon bucket.  (Right) Then pour in half the brine liquid and stir until the seasoning start to dissolve.  Stir it well, this will start to infuse the citrus into the brine.

(Left) Next put the turkey into the bucket with the legs up.   You’ll notice the plastic leg holder is still on.  I like to leave it on because it gives you something to grab hold of to remove from the brine when it’s done.  Stick an orange and lemon wedge into the cavity.  I leave the legs untied to make sure the brine has a chance to penetrate between the legs and breasts. (Right) Add the rest of the brine liquid.  Make sure the whole bird is covered. 

If you live in a cold environment, and mean really cold, you might be able to just leave the bucket covered in your garage.  If not then you have to find a way to keep the turkey and brine cold.  Fortunately I have refrigerator with removeable shelves and I can make run for the bucket.  Should you not have that luxury one way to keep things save is to set the bucket in an ice chest and fill the chest around the bucket with ice.  This should keep you in the “safe zone” for the brining period.

Brine the turkey for 24 hours.  Remove the turkey from the brine three or four hours before cooking.  This will give you plenty of time to soak and rinse the bird completely to remove any salt residue from the brine. 

IMPORTANT:  Make sure the turkey is 100% dry inside and out before putting the turkey in the hot oil.  If you attempt to fry a frozen, partially frozen or wet turkey you run the risk of severe damage to both person and property.

(Left) Masterbuilt recommends less than a 14lb bird in my model of fryer.  I can tell you that 14lbs is a tight fit.  This is what it looks like with 13.87lbs of turkey.  It’s a tight, tight fit.  (Right) The turkey is lowered into 2 gallons of hot (375 degrees) peanut oil. 

(Left)I normally set the built in timer for 3/4 of the recommend cooking time and then check the thigh temperature.  The recommended cooking time is 4 minutes per pound.  Experience tells me that 5 minutes per pound is really closer to what you’ll need to get a properly cooked turkey.  (Right) After the turkey is done remove from the pan and allow to rest, covered with a foil tent, for 30 minutes.  The plastic leg holder was removed prior to putting the turkey into the fryer.  What I should have rememebered to do was tie the legs together.  This would have made it easier to remove from the pan and would have displayed a little more attractively.

Overall this may have been my most successful Thanksgiving turkey.  One of the problems with being limited to a 14 pound turkey is that with nine people there wasn’t much leftover turkey.   Next year I’ll have to do two turkeys or get the bigger fryer that Masterbuilt now makes.

The BBQ Grail 2010 Thanksgiving Turkey Brine

Ingredients:

• 2 gallons filtered/bottled water*
• 1 cup Morton’s Kosher Salt**
• 1 cup Dark Brown Sugar
• 2 oranges, quartered
• 2 lemons, quartered
• 2 tablespoons Char-Broil “All Purpose” Rub***

Directions:

Bring the water to a boil in a large pot.  Reduce heat and add salt and sugar.  Stir until dissolved.  Remove from heat and allow to cool before using as a brine.  I prefer to make up my brine the night before and keep it in the refrigerator until I’m ready to use it.  Add lemons, oranges and “All-Purpose” rub just before starting the brining process.

* The key to great food is your ingredients.  This is true even with the water you use.  Make sure you use filtered or bottled water when making up your brining liquid.  This way you know, for the most part, what’s in your water… nothing!  Having a good solid base, your water, will give you a brine that will give you results that can be repeated.

** This brine recipe works well with Morton’s Kosher Salt.  Not all salts are the same weight.  If you use something other than Morton’s Kosher Salt you may have to adjust the amount of salt.  For great information on brining read Michael Ruhlman’s book “Ratio.”

***Char-Broil’s “All-Purpose Rub” is a new product.  I really like this seasoning.  It has a nice herbal flavor and worked quite well in this brine.  My initial recipe calls for 2 tablespoons, but you could easily increase this amount to 3 or 4 tablespoons without overpowering the turkey.

We don’t shop on Sunday so I was limited to what I had in the pantry for the brine.  Thankfully, we always have plenty of Kosher salt and brown sugar.  But what was I going to add to the brine to give it a little POP?  This is what I came up with:

BBQ Grail’s Smokey Pepper Poultry Brine

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts water
• 3/4 cup Morton’s Kosher salt (if you use Diamond Crystal Salt use 1 cup)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons McCormick Sweet & Smokey Pepper Blend
• 1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces

Heat the water and add all the brine ingredients.  Stir until salt and sugar is dissolved.  Cool brine mixture to at least room temperature.  Place brine mixture and chicken in a container.  Make sure all the chicken pieces are submerged.  Brine in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours but not more than 8 hours.

Remove chicken and rinse well.  It’s important to make sure you remove as much of the salt as possible.

Grill on a medium/hot grill until 165 degrees internal.

Rest for five minutes.  Serve.

The McCormick’s Sweet & Smokey Pepper Blend added a great little bite to the brine.  Combine with the brown sugar it gave the chicken a nice flavor.  I got some of the ‘smoke’ flavor I wanted while giving the family the grilled chicken they wanted.

Ingredients:

• 2 Gallons of water
• 2 cups Kosher Salt
• 2 cups Brown Sugar (the darker the better as far as I’m concerned)
• 1/2 cup Tone’s Rosemary Garlic Seasoning

Instructions:

Heat the water in a non-reactive, stainless steel or anodized, pan on the stove.  When water is hot add salt and sugar to the water and stir until desolved.  Once the sugar and salt has disolved and the mixture has cooled to almost room temperature add the Rosemary Garlic Seasoning.  Stir and let the whole mixture cool to at least room temperature.

In another non-reactive container, a zip lock bag works well, cover your chicken, turkey or pork loin in the brine and refrigerate.  Use the guidelines below for how long to brine.

  When the brining is complete make sure you rinse the meat well otherwise the salt taste will be overpowering and your meat will possibly be inedible.

Give it a try.  Thanksgiving is coming up and if you’re cooking your turkey outdoors then brining it is a good idea.

 Brining Times:

• Whole Chicken (4 lbs):  4 to 8 hours
• Whole Turkey:  24 hours
• Whole Pork Loins:  6 to 8 hours