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If you want to have the most flavorful turkey on your table this year, then you need to learn how to season it. Several methods of seasoning are available including flavor brining, marinating, injecting, rubs and stuffing. This page will walk you through the basic steps for each of these techniques, teaching you how to season a turkey so that it's moist and delicious.
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Turkey Seasoning Tips
- In order to change the flavor of your turkey, you need salt or an acid.
- Brining uses salt to break down the protein and add moisture and flavor.
- Marinating uses acids to break down the protein and add flavor.
- Injecting a turkey is a type of marinating.
- Rubs and stuffing may affect the outside, but will not change the flavor of the meat.
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Thanksgiving Day Dinner Recipes : How to Season a Turkey
This video demonstrates and discusses ways of seasoning the turkey between the skin and the breast meat. In the video, the chef shows how to spread a sage butter under the skin to flavor and moisten the turkey meat. She also mentions that you could use fresh herbs, such as rosemary, instead of the herb butter.
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Introduction
- Seasoning a turkey might seem easy: shake salt and pepper over the top and you're done, right? Well, that is one option but it won't affect the flavor of the meat. However, if you want to add flavor, then you really only have two options: brining or marinating.Science of Meat: What Gives Meat its Flavor?
- Brining and marinating are very similar because they both break down the protein in the turkey to add flavor. However, brining uses salt while marinating uses acid.Science of Meat: What Gives Meat its Flavor?
- Brining: is done by soaking the turkey in a solution of water and salt. It is done primarily to add water to the turkey. However, it can also be used to add flavor.
- Marinating: is also done by soaking the turkey, except that it requires an acidic solution (lemon juice, vinegar, wine) to work.Mmm...that's good!: To Marinate or To Brine.... (August 1, 2008) The acid helps break down the protein in the turkey and allows flavor to seep in.
- Injecting: is technically marinating from the inside out (except that not all injection recipes include an acid in their sauces).Eatturkey.com: Marinate First Instead of soaking the turkey in the marinating solution, you inject it inside.
- There are two other methods that can be used to "season" your turkey. However, unless they contain an acid or a salt, they will not affect the flavor of your meat.Science of Meat: What Gives Meat its Flavor? The other methods include:
- Rubs: Turkey rubs do not so much add flavor to the meat, but coat the outside of the meat with its flavor. The one exception to this would be if you are coating the meat with a marinade, which could then affect the meat.
- Flavor Stuffing: Flavor stuffing is when you add herbs, vegetables, fruits or similar items to the inside of the turkey. It is debatable as to whether or not this adds flavor to the turkey or not.
Before You Begin: Cleaning Your Turkey
- Before you begin, you will need a thawed turkey. If you need help with these methods, check out Mahalo's how to pick a Thanksgiving turkey and how to thaw a turkey. You will then need to clean your turkey.
- Cleaning a turkey involves only a few steps:
- Remove the packaging from your thawed turkey.Grannys: Turkey Preparation - Cleaning the Turkey
- Free legs from tucked position and/or release the legs from the metal clamp.Shady Brook Farms: Preparing a Whole Turkey - Cleaning
- Remove the neck and giblets from body cavity.Shady Brook Farms: Preparing a Whole Turkey - Cleaning
- You may opt to rinse your turkey with cool water and dry with paper towels.Shady Brook Farms: Preparing a Whole Turkey - Cleaning However, this can cause cross-contamination to other foods. If you decide to do this, make sure you wash your sink with hot, soapy water and a bleach solution afterwards.turkeyfordinner.ca: Preparation - How to thaw and prepare
Flavor Brining a Turkey
- Flavor brining is when you add extras herbs, spices or other ingredients to your brining solution. Unlike regular brining which involves using only salt and water, flavor brining may require you to bring the ingredients to a boil in order to dissolve the sugars before cooling the solution.The Virtual Weber Bullet: All About Brining - Introducing Flavor Brining
- Before brining, completely thaw your turkey.Dallas Morning News: Brine the Turkey for Better Flavor
- - To learn how to thaw quickly and safely, check out Mahalo's guide on how to thaw a turkey.
- Determine how much brine you need by placing your turkey into a container and filling it with enough water to cover the turkey entirely.Dallas Morning News: Brine the Turkey for Better Flavor Then, remove the turkey and measure the water.
- Brining requires salt. How much salt you need depends on the type of salt you use. The more dense the salt is, the less that is needed.Dallas Morning News: Brine the Turkey for Better Flavor Use 1/4 cup Diamond Crystal kosher, 3 tablespoons Morton kosher or 2 tablespoons table salt for each quart of water.Cooks Illustrated: The Basics of Brining
- Rinse your turkey after you have finished brining.Cooks Illustrated: The Basics of Brining
- Brining is often combined with stuffing (flavor stuffing, not the bread kind). For more information, see the section on this page regarding flavor stuffing.
Marinating a Turkey
- A good marinade requires at least three ingredients: an oil, an acid, and a spice. Of course, you are not limited to only three ingredients. The most important ingredient is the acid, which includes vinegar, lemon juice and wine. In the right amount, the acid works as a tenderizer. If you over do it however, your turkey will come out tough and stringy.University of Illinois Extension: Turkey Frequently Asked Questions (Turkey for the Holidays) Still, the measuring does not have to be exact.Butterball: How To Marinate Here are some possible suggestions for the ingredients:
- Acid: Citrus juice, apple cider vinegar or sauterne wineRecipeTips.com: Marinating Turkey Eatturkey.com: Marinate First Cooks.com: Marinated Turkey Breast
- Oil: Olive, canola, truffle or peanut oilButterball: How To Marinate Cooks.com: Marinated Turkey Breast
- Flavoring: Garlic, basil, marjoram, thyme, sage and other herbs and spicesButterball: How To Marinate Eatturkey.com: Marinate First RecipeTips.com: Marinating Turkey
- Once you have your marinade prepared, here are some tips on how to properly marinate your turkey:
- Use a fork to make random holes over the turkey before marinating.Eatturkey.com: Marinate First
- Place your turkey in a plastic cooking bag or foodservice grade plastic bag.Eatturkey.com: Marinate First Use a container that allows you to turn the turkey occasionally if it is not possible to cover the entire turkey with the marinade.RecipeTips.com: Marinating Turkey
- Marinate your turkey in the refrigerator.University of Illinois Extension: Turkey Frequently Asked Questions (Turkey for the Holidays)
- Marinate between two to eight hours. Do not marinate longer than eight hours.Butterball: How To Marinate
- Discard; do not reuse marinade.Butterball: How To Marinate
Marinade Recipes
- These recipes clearly state that they are to be used to soak the turkey in and not injected.
- Cooks.com: Sam's Marinade For Turkey, Chicken Or Beef | Marinated Turkey Breast
- Allrecipes: Chicken and Turkey Marinade
- Eatturkey.com: Herb Marinade
Injecting a Turkey
- Injecting your turkey allows you to season portions of the bird which are otherwise very difficult to reach.About.com: Turkey Injection It is done using a meat injector (think syringe with a large needle). Although technically injecting could be considered a form of marination, many recipes do not combine the acid, oil and flavorings that are required for marination. However, remember that Without an acid or salt, you will not start the process that tenderizes the turkey.Science of Meat: What Gives Meat its Flavor?
- Because you will be sending the liquid through a needle, your sauce must be liquefied. For example, you will want to avoid using table salt and black pepper because they can clog your injector.Recipezaar: Deep Fried Turkey Injection - Butter Creole Recipe You may need to puree and strain your sauce before injecting.Eatturkey.com: A Deep Fried Delicacy: The How-To on Deep Frying Turkey
- Inject your turkey the night before you cook it to allow the liquid to soak in.RecipeTips.com: Turkey Injection Flavoring Recipe Your goal when injecting is to get the flavor throughout the turkey while making the fewest possible punctures.About.com: Turkey Injection Here is one method of injecting a turkey:
- Start at the breast. Inject 60 percent of your sauce here.Eatturkey.com: A Deep Fried Delicacy: The How-To on Deep Frying Turkey
- Insert the needle deep into the breast on one side of the turkey and inject some flavor.RecipeTips.com: Turkey Injection Flavoring Recipe
- Don't go too deep, or else sauce to will leak out the other side.About.com: Turkey Injection
- Pull out your needle part way and inject at a different angle. Repeat at several different angles.RecipeTips.com: Turkey Injection Flavoring Recipe
- When you are finished on one side, repeat this process on the other side.RecipeTips.com: Turkey Injection Flavoring Recipe
- Then inject the legs and thighs. Inject 30 percent of your sauce.Eatturkey.com: A Deep Fried Delicacy: The How-To on Deep Frying Turkey This should be done similarly to how the breast was injected.RecipeTips.com: Turkey Injection Flavoring Recipe
- Finish with the wings. Inject the remaining 10 percent of your sauce.Eatturkey.com: A Deep Fried Delicacy: The How-To on Deep Frying Turkey This should be done similarly to how the breast was injected.RecipeTips.com: Turkey Injection Flavoring Recipe
Injection Recipes
- These recipes are designed specifically for use on turkeys with a meat injector:
- Epicurious.com: Butter-Injected Turkey Recipe
- RecipeTips.com: Turkey Injection Flavoring Recipe
- Recipezaar: Turkey Injection Sauce With Honey, Herbs and Spice Recipe | Deep Fried Turkey Injection - Butter Creole Recipe
- Cooks.com: Turkey Injection | Drunken Turkey
- BigOven.com: Smoking Turkey Rubs, Mop, Etc recipe | Worth-the-wait Turkey Recipe
- WCHS: GMA Recipe: Emeril's Deep-Fried "Cajun" Turkey
Turkey Rubs and Flavor Stuffing
- Two other ways you can add seasoning to your turkey are turkey rubs and flavor stuffing.
- Turkey rubs involve coating the skin or directly under the skin with a seasoning or sauce. Rubs can be done on both the outside and inside of the turkey.Food Network: Deep Fried Cajun Turkey Recipe
- Flavor stuffing involves placing items inside the turkey. This should not be confused with the breaded stuffing that is eaten--these items are usually discarded after the turkey is cooked. Although some claim this adds flavor, other recipes simply list these items as "aromatics."Recipezaar: Brining a Young Turkey Recipe
- There is no scientific evidence that rubs and flavor stuffing work as well as marinating and brining.Science of Meat: What Gives Meat its Flavor? They simply coat the surface of the turkey. Since they can be used in conjunction with the other methods, it appears that the flavor they add is minimal.Food Network: Brined, Herb Roasted Turkey Recipe
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