11/27 - Thanksgiving Turkey

Problem:

• breast little dry and joints are bloody

Procedure:

• brined in rosemary, garlic, bay leaf, salt, sugar, and pepper for 1 day in bucket with ice
• washed off turkey from brine and air-dried in fridge for 10 hrs, flipping once then another 1 hr in fridge
  
• took out of fridge 1 hr before roast
• iced the breasts at same time roast was taken out of fridge
• oiled up bird but no salt at all
  
• roasted at v-rack in high edge baking pan
• roasted breast side down 45min at 425 (til slight dark)
• flipped to breast side up and cooked 1 hr 1 min at 325, and checked temp and 140 at the thigh and breast
• roasted additional 20min at 350...
• rested about 1 hr then sliced
  

Next time: (solution?)

• don't use the high edge pan as it is doesn't allow heat to get to the bottomside of the bird
• if need to use high edge pan, place on lower rack to get more heat
• using normal bake sheet with v=rack is best
• take out bird and ice it about 2 hrs prior to roast....1 hr too short
• roast at 425 for 45 min with breast side down, then turn down to 350 for 15 minutes before flip and cook at 325 (or 350 for better color) for 1 hour, 15 minutes (as i feel the bottom side needs more time to cook thighs better)...then broil the top skin for 5 min if needed at end.
  
• need to highly salt the bird before roasting...put salt under the skin too...good also to add sauteed garlic too under the skin...
• saute garlic with olive oil and butter...cool...then rub under the skin of turkey
• for brine, taste it to make sure salty enough...needs atleast 1/2 of the bucket to to be full...measure the amount of water to salt to get an accurate reading for next time...
• don't add garlic to brine...flavor better when in sauteed mixture...
• for brine, use only rosemary, bay leaves, and salt and sugar
• stuff with garlic mixture and salt the bird's exterior atleast 8 hrs before roasting to get max flavor and crisper skin
  

Temperature:

• ideal is 160 in breast meat 175 for thighs