Thanksgiving USA (2025)

SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
Washing birds before cooking is no longer recommended. It increases the chances of food poisoning due to cross contamination. The potential bacteria the water would have contact with will be killed in the oven anyway.
Do a quick google, the advice in the UK, Europe and America is the same.
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That's why I asked 🙂
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
I’ve seen meat being soaked for a bit in cold water for that purpose but not rinsed? 🤷‍♀️
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Water doesn't really do the the job. An acidic marinade works a lot better, as does adding suited herbs like bay leaf to the cooking liquid if simmering.

I like gaminess, but a lot of people don't. Don't see the point of cooking something that's disliked 😅
 
SoCalZone10 said:
I’m a careful cook and I’ve done this way for over 35 years. Nobody has gotten sick eating at my house yet.
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Sounds as if it would also taste really good, which is also why I asked 😊

I don't generally add a lot if any seasoning other than salt and evoo to whole roasted turkey (and goose, too) as turkey flavour is very dominant IMO. But I can see how citrus might go really well.

There's a good overnight Adobado marinade with lime juice, maple syrup and balsamic vinegar that Tuscon based Janos Wilder used for turkey at his restaurant along with a green chile stuffing. I've used the marinade without maple syrup and ordinary vinegar for long slow pork and beef.
 
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Z-Cook said:
Sounds as if it would also taste really good, which is also why I asked 😊

I don't generally add a lot if any seasoning other than salt and evoo to whole roasted turkey (and goose, too) as turkey flavour is very dominant IMO. But I can see how citrus might go really well.

There's a good overnight Adovado marinade with lime juice, maple syrup and balsamic vinegar that Tuscon based Janos Wilder used for turkey at his restaurant along with a green chile stuffing. I've used the marinade without maple syrup and ordinary vinegar for long slow pork and beef.
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I received this cookbook as a birthday gift from my roommate over 40 years ago, the author used to own a shop in New York. Anyway, I like the New England stuffing recipe and how to roast the turkey. But in the last few years I’ve switched over to roasting my turkey à la Jacques Pepin, no more butter, just olive oil, salt and pepper. Very simple, but the turkey is very moist when it comes out. It beats basting the turkey with butter every 30 minutes.
 
Z-Cook said:
Water doesn't really do the the job. An acidic marinade works a lot better, as does adding suited herbs like bay leaf to the cooking liquid if simmering.

I like gaminess, but a lot of people don't. Don't see the point of cooking something that's disliked 😅
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Well the blood does seem to leach out into the water, not that I know how that affects the flavour because I’ve never bothered!
 
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SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
Washing birds before cooking is no longer recommended. It increases the chances of food poisoning due to cross contamination. The potential bacteria the water would have contact with will be killed in the oven anyway.
Do a quick google, the advice in the UK, Europe and America is the same.
Click to expand...
I've never heard of washing birds, unless you killed, cleaned, and plucked it yourself, nor of any recommendation against it. Oh well, my turkeys are brining in the fridge right now, since we're having Thanksgiving a day late to accommodate everyone's schedules. As refrigerator space is always at a premium, it's cold enough outside to stage some things on the back porch until tomorrow. I'm sure we'll be fine. 😉
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Gone Hiking said:
I've never heard of washing birds, unless you killed, cleaned, and plucked it yourself, nor of any recommendation against it. Oh well, my turkeys are brining in the fridge right now, since we're having Thanksgiving a day late to accommodate everyone's schedules. As refrigerator space is always at a premium, it's cold enough outside to stage some things on the back porch until tomorrow. I'm sure we'll be fine. 😉
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I remember following Nigella Lawson’s advice on turkey brining one year to “leave it in a cold garage” for a couple of days.
I opened the container on Christmas Eve and it had goo growing on the brines surface and the smell, oh dear, let’s just say the combo of off meat, oranges and cinnamon meant I ate nothing flavoured with that for sometime! 😬
Now the recipe has been amended to say if it’s 4c or under, bit late for me 😆

So three slow cookers, pray tell what’s in those waiting for the magic to happen?
 
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I checked with my Silver Palate cookbook, Silver Palate is Manhattan’s celebrated gourmet shop back in the 80s.
It says
2) Wash the turkey well, inspect for feathers and more stuff
3) Squeeze the juice from 2 oranges all over the outside of the bird and rub into the cavity for refreshen. Salt and pepper the cavity to taste, more stuff
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
I remember following Nigella Lawson’s advice on turkey brining one year to “leave it in a cold garage” for a couple of days.
I opened the container on Christmas Eve and it had goo growing on the brines surface and the smell, oh dear, let’s just say the combo of off meat, oranges and cinnamon meant I ate nothing flavoured with that for sometime! 😬
Now the recipe has been amended to say if it’s 4c or under, bit late for me 😆

So three slow cookers, pray tell what’s in those waiting for the magic to happen?
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Lol, We've set plenty of stuff on the garage floor overnight, too. Thankfully, none of it has spoiled.

That's two gravies (one, non-dairy for a family member who gets sick on that) and a crock pot of mashed potatoes. There's now also sweet potatoes out there, along with white wine and beer to start chilling. Three, four, or six times a year or so, we struggle with not having enough space in the kitchen and garage fridges due to large gatherings. When it's cold, that's not much of an issue as we can set things outside, but in warm weather, it's a real problem and we end up relying on coolers with ice. My wife and I were just talking and think we should buy a cheap, used fridge to keep in the basement that we can plug in for these types of occasions.
 
Gone Hiking said:
Lol, We've set plenty of stuff on the garage floor overnight, too. Thankfully, none of it has spoiled.

That's two gravies (one, non-dairy for a family member who gets sick on that) and a crock pot of mashed potatoes. There's now also sweet potatoes out there, along with white wine and beer to start chilling. Three, four, or six times a year or so, we struggle with not having enough space in the kitchen and garage fridges due to large gatherings. When it's cold, that's not much of an issue as we can set things outside, but in warm weather, it's a real problem and we end up relying on coolers with ice. My wife and I were just talking and think we should buy a cheap, used fridge to keep in the basement that we can plug in for these types of occasions.
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That’s what I did 👍 I have a large fridge in the garage (big enough to hold a box filled with a large brining turkey 😂) that can accommodate all the extra stuff during festivities.
It was a great purchase, although I think it might be worth forking out for a new one rather than second hand because it has to work a lot harder than usual and that motor n fan will be running full time.

A lot of warm/room temp food and drink goes in there at the same time usually last minute and even a good fridge will take a long while to get a full load down to temp, especially when the door keeps getting opened because you need something or have another thing put in there.
 
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