What do you do to your bird?

[Jenise]

Well, we tried brining a few years ago and weren't fans. For some reason it reminded us of turkey lunch meat that you buy at the deli counter.

Carrie, meant to address this at the time, didn't, then last night ordered duck breast in a local restaurant that I HATED. It had, obviously, been brined. And the deal is that brining works very well, but a long brine (48 hours or more) in heavy salt, which is exactly the first brining recipe I ever followed, reminded me of a kosher chicken. It irretrievably changes the texture to something unnaturally tender--almost like something ground and pressed back into an animal shape. Brining projects since have proven that less salt and less time, about 8-24 hours, gives me a result that seems naturally moist and flavorful.

Brining projects since have proven that less salt and less time, about 8-24 hours, gives me a result that seems naturally moist and flavorful.

Thanks for the hint Jenise. Unfortunately, I don't think I have the energy to convince my husband we did it wrong the first time and "this time it will be better, I promise." He can get pretty stubborn when it comes to his all-time favorite meal.

This year I'm going to try making "Garbage Can Turkey". I've had it twice when others prepared and it was simply the best/moistest/juiciest/flavorful this "Winger has ever tasted.

I'll stick to the baic recipe which calls for a stake driven into the ground. Impale the bird on the stake. Invert clean stainless garbage can over the turkey. Place ~20lb of charcoal around the base of the can and also on top. Cooks 12 lb bird in about 90 minutes. Resist the urge to peek or else the cooking time will be significantly longer...or so I'm told.

Do not try this technique indoors.

Edited to add: If using a new galvanized in lieu of stainless be sure to pre-burn the can to remove potentially toxic zinc fumes.

[Jenise]

Winger, I've never seen or had it done that way but it sounds like a great party technique.

Winger, I've never seen or had it done that way but it sounds like a great party technique.

The technique was in our local paper 2 years ago. Still have not tried it. Obviously, it destroys the area where you set it up......so you don't want to cook near dry grass or leaves. And the front yard isn't a good spot either unless you're gonna be replacing a lot of the grass soon anyway.

[ the front yard isn't a good spot either

Mike, I absolutely agree. It is a real pain to move the automobiles jacked up on blocks and the sundry household appliances.
Wm.

[James Roscoe]

[ the front yard isn't a good spot either

Mike, I absolutely agree. It is a real pain to move the automobiles jacked up on blocks and the sundry household appliances.
Wm.

Let's not forget moving all the dogs.