Dear ,

This is a rare Tim & Kathy Carter cooking tip. First the thawing tip then the why. Forgive any typos. I just wanted to get this out to you quickly.

Turkey Tip

Let's assume you purchased a frozen turkey for Thanksgiving. Let's also assume it was flash frozen just after it was slaughtered. I think that's a very safe assumption.

If you want the most succulent turkey you've ever had, you need to START TO THAW it now in your refrigerator. 

The goal is to have it thawed out by this Saturday by noon. It then should stay at 38F until you cook it on Thanksgiving.

"Tim, Why Do This?"

I'm guessing it was 30+ years ago one Saturday I was with about thirty other people in Matt Motz's barn. It was the Saturday before Thanksgiving. We were gathered there to get a master's class on slaughtering turkeys that we were going to eat in five days.

I built the barn we were all in. Matt owned a poultry slaughtering business and supplied chicken to all the butcher shops in the Greater Cincinnati area as well as all the fine restaurants.

He was gracious enough to sell me fresh chicken too so long as I put together a large order with my close friends and neighbors. Everyone of them will tell you Matt's chicken was not even comparable to the stuff you buy at the grocery store. Matt fed his chickens the best food and they were 100% organic.

BTW, did you know how old the average chicken in from the day it hatches until the day it's slaughtered? About 57 days. But I digress.

The first thing Matt did that morning as we got out of the damp cold was to talk to us about how to get the best flavor from meat. 

He did this by first tricking all of us in the room.

I believe he asked all of us, "Who in this room will help me get ready for a huge Christmas party I plan to have next month? I need you to work 8 hours each day helping clean up and doing other small chores. You'll start today and your last day will be Christmas Eve. The rate of pay will be one penny the first day and each subsequent day I'll double the wages you got the day before. Who's willing to start today?"

No one stepped forward. There were lots of laughs and a pregnant pause.

Matt was standing next to an easel and then flipped the page to reveal how much money you would have made.

There were huge gasps in the room, including me. It was a huge number. Go ahead and do the math yourself to see. You've got the 24 days in December and about 12 days in November.

Compounding numbers does insane things as you march down the timeline.

Microbes

Matt then went on to give us a biology lesson. If my memory is accurate he said, "Imagine your arm was just cleaned like a surgeon washes her/his hands before going into surgery. Now let's get a scalpel and cut a cubic centimeter of your flesh, including your skin from your arm. 

If you immediately analyzed this flesh, you'd discover about 500 microbes that are actively trying to eat you. Your body's immune system is constantly waging war on these so you don't get sick and die. But when you do die, the immune system stops working but the microbes continue on."

Matt then went on to tell us that at 90 F the microbe count doubles every HOUR. At 38 F, the microbe count doubles every 24 hours. At 0 F, the microbes stop multiplying but they're laying in WAIT until the flesh thaws out.

He also said, "If we were to slaughter a chicken right now and cook it, you'd hate it. It would be tough, and the flavor would be bland. If grandma did that years ago, no wonder no one liked fresh chicken."

Matt talked about how the microbes in the early days after death start to naturally tenderize and flavorize flesh. This assumes you keep the flesh/meat at 38F.

This is why it takes weeks for deli meat in your refrigerator to start to get slimy and eventually be spoiled.

Leave this same meat out on your picnic table in the middle of summer at 90 F, and in 24 hours, or less, it will be spoiled.

For chickens you get ultimate flavor and tenderness at 3 days. For turkeys, it's 5 days. For beef, I believe he said it's close to 28 days.

The Salt Brine

You might want to do a cold salt brine as Kathy does 24 hours before we put that bad boy in the oven. It's the juiciest turkey I've ever had. We start brining the turkey about 2 PM the day before Thanksgiving.

We use a big container - think a picnic cooler, to brine a full turkey. A 5-gallon bucket works well for just a turkey breast. 

Put the turkey in the cooler. Add enough water to pretty much submerse the turkey. Make sure you have room for lots of ice. Don't add the ice yet. Remove the turkey from the water for the next step.

Cut up two sweet onions into chunks and do the same with three carrots. Drop these in the water. Then add one cup of coarse salt per gallon of water. Sprinkle in some fresh sage and thyme. Stir it up until you feel the salt is dissolved.

Put the turkey back in the cooler. Add lots of ice and close the lid to ensure the ice doesn't melt. Keep the cooler in as cold a location as you have.

You know how soon to get it out of the brine solution depending on when you eat your meal. In our case, we eat about 7 pm on Thanksgiving. You may need to start to brine your turkey early in the morning if you do a lunch meal.

I hope this information helps you have the BEST turkey you've ever had. Let me know how it works for you.

Tim

Founder - TheManWhoThinksHeCanCook.com