T-2 and counting. Are you ready for Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving is all about tradition….until I went on a Modernist Cuisine binge with my Thanksgiving Recipes. Hopefully the classic cornbread stuffing and basic grilled turkey made up for it:
- Rotisserie Turkey, Injection Brined
- Pressure Cooker Mashed Acorn Squash
- Cornbread and Sage Sausage Stuffing
- Grilled Turkey with a simple Dry Brine
Thanksgiving Tips
I have some suggestions for a successful Thanksgiving - and you don't have to go all Modernist for it to work.
- Cook your turkey on the grill (Why you should grill your Thanksgiving Turkey)
- Dry Brine your turkey (Rotisserie Turkey Dry Brined with Orange and Spices - it should be salted and in the refrigerator tonight.)
- Use your grill's rotisserie, if you have one (Video: How to Truss and Spit a Turkey for the Rotisserie)
- Cook the turkey breast to 150°F to 155°F (Turkey temperature: the 150 question)
- Save the carcass for turkey stock to make the best soup ever (Pressure Cooker Turkey Stock Revisited).
DadCooksDinner Thanksgiving Recipes
My favorite Thanksgiving recipes on DadCooksDinner:
- Rotisserie Turkey Dry Brined with Orange and Spices on my Weber kettle (I keep mentioning this one because it is my favorite turkey recipe ever.)
- Cajun Dry Brine Rotisserie Turkey (on my Weber Summit, if you want gas grill instructions)
- Bacon Wrapped Rotisserie Turkey
- Basic Wet Brine Rotisserie Turkey
- Dry Brined Rotisserie Turkey Breast (For a small thanksgiving dinner, a turkey breast is the perfect size)
- Spice Rubbed Turkey Breast
- Grilled Mashed Sweet Potatoes
- Drip Pan Sweet Potatoes (if you have the turkey on the rotisserie, don't let the drippings go to waste.)
- Bread Stuffing with Cranberries and Apples
- Chestnut Stuffing
- Pressure Cooker Giblet Gravy (A pressure cooker isn't absolutely necessary, but it speeds things up).
*What? I don't have a mashed potato recipe? Again? Here, use this one from Pam Anderson. I really need to fix that.
Thanksgiving Question
This year's question from a reader:
How much of a load is too much of a load for these little electric rotisserie motors, and how long does it take to balance the bird on the spit?
I get both of these questions a lot, to the point that I wrote posts about them. The answers:
- The rotisserie motor can handle a 24 pound turkey. I could probably go larger on my Weber kettle, but that was the biggest bird I could find last year, and it fit with room to spare.
- I don't worry about the counterweight. I run the spit through the cavity of the bird, and that seems to balance it well enough for the rotisserie.
Have Fun
I try to remind myself: Thanksgiving isn't entirely about the food. (No, really.) I tend to get wrapped up and forget the family will be fine as long as they get that one favorite side dish. (Yes, even if it's cranberry sauce straight from the can, with the ridges on the can still visible. Shudder.)
One more thing
Please, don't go shopping on Thanksgiving, no matter how tempting the deals are. Black Friday keeps inching further and further into Thanksgiving, and it is up to us to push it back, using our power as consumers. If no one shows up until Friday, they won't open on Thanksgiving. Fight the power!
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| Cartoon by: Randy Bish |
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Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
Add 1 cup of soaked wood chips when you start cooking (wrap them in an envelope of aluminum foil if you don't have a smoking box). That's enough to smoke a turkey - you don't need to add more.