Here's Where To Ask Thanksgiving Questions!

Jess_Voelker_90708

Community members: Hello! As in years past, our chefs will be on hand to answer all your Thanksgiving-related questions and help you troubleshoot as the big day nears. And don't worry: They'll be here during those critical 48 hours leading up to the holiday feast as well, supporting you every step of the way. This is the place to fire off those questions, so have at it.

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May be getting goose and will want some crispy skin. Am wondering if freezing the skin before cooking it may help in eliminating some of the water since it will expand during the freezing process (then cook/dehydrate) at low temp...??

Brendan_Lee_56950

I would treat it like a peking duck to get the crispiest skin possible.

How nice of you!

Jack_Mayer_85396

Y'all are just the best! I had a customer in the Sur La Table store where I work today who walked up and said "are you the guy who introduced me to ChefSteps and ruined my life?" and I said yes; he broke into a huge grin and said "Thank you, Thank you!"

A_L_Esterling_35269

That is awesome, Jack! Thanks for letting us know.

That's great! Thank you!

Hello, I am cooking for 20 and am doing two turkeys. One brined and roasted for those that need to see a whole bird together, and another broke down into a roulade with the legs and a turchetta with the breast. I only have one circulator and am doing them at differnet temps. Should I cook the breast first shock it, then bring up the temp and cook the roulade. Then reheat the breast in the water with the roulade for say "20" minutes, and then fry them together to crisp the skins. Would this work? My concern is the texture of the breast after being shocked and reheated in the circulator.

Ben_Johnson_34605

I would cook the leg roulade first, chill it as you described then cook the breast(I assume a lower temperature). Then reheat the leg meat so you can finish them at the same time. Cheers!

Thanks for the advice. That makes much more sense. Reheating the leg with the breast so not to overcook the breast in the higher temp that it will take to cook the leg. Thanks

Jack_Mayer_85396

Hi Lorraine, the group at CS is so awesome, its a privilege to share it with foodies ...

Matthew_Snyder_68770

Didn't know whether to put this in here or in the Turkey Roulade recipe.

How do marinades impact the effectiveness of Activa RM? You recommend not brining the legs, but would a zero salt solution with things like citrus peels and whatnot change the way the enzyme glues the flesh?

Brandon_Byrd_40557

I have a question about the pomme puree recipe. Is there a way to do it a few days ahead and vacuum seal it until the main event? I was going to make the MC@H version of the puree (which doesn't cook the potatoes with the milk and butter) but the CS version seems even easier and that's appealing. The MC@H recipe suggests that to make it ahead of time you should bag the potatoes after you rice/sieve them into the butter but before you add the milk. Would you just go ahead and make the full recipe and seal that? Or maybe cool down the cooked potatoes in the milk/butter and stash that in the fridge to mash later? I'm also curious how one could do the pre-cook step (where you gelatinize the starches by heating the potatoes and then cooling them down before boiling them) using the CS recipe. I noticed that Chris said the difference is very slight when adding this step to the process, but I've only made the MC@H version in the past and I love the results. I don't know how much of the result comes from ricing and sieving or how much comes from the pre-cook step, but I'm a big fan of that recipe.

Segun_Pikuda_14200

Great! How do I make awesome burger turkey or beef patty that doesn't fall apart on the grill or in the pan.

Hello CS Team, by the way, this is my first time in the Community and I'm really trying to compose an understandable question, as english is not my first language. I'm from Luxemburg (Europe) and I'm so happy that I came upon this grat amazing "cooking web page".

So what I'm always wondering, is how can I use my vaccumsealer (Foodsaver V-2860) with a lot of liquid content as in the "wine-poached pears" recipe for example? Using liquid ingredients always seems a bit tricky for me. Either there's still to much air in the sealing bag or the bag can't be perfectly sealed because of the liquid which is running out of the bag.

Now your last sous vide recipes cost me again about 300$ (Sous Vide Supreme Demi) :-), but with all your great recipe suggestions, I couldn't resist "spending" a small fee to Amazon.

So thanks again to your great team and just continue in the same way.

Greatings from Luxemburg

jason.r.whitworth

So with regards to the poultry injection bringing technique, what gauge/length needles were you using for the turkey crown? I ordered the the syringes from the amazon link but they had no needles, so then i ordered these http://www.grainger.com/product/AIR-TITE-Needle-19G366. I did some research and saw somewhere that most BBQ guys use a 14 gauge needle.

Michael_Simpson_42855

What herbs would you use when doing the leg roulade?

Nicholas_Gavin_68199

We were using thyme, parsley and oregano.

Nicholas_Gavin_68199

Great question, we were using 18 gauge needles. The 14 gauge needles will have an outer diameter that is 0.838mm wider, but they will still get the job done for you.

Josh_Olszewicz_121317

Any cool/innovative stuffing recipes out there?

vladimirlavinda

Recipe "RECONSTRUCTED ROAST" roll is kept in the refrigerator for inactivation Activa Rm. in the recipe with chicken or turkey meat once you start making.

For best results, whether to leave the camera roll of turkey or chicken?

Tony_Scardino_35048

Link of reference: http://www.amazon.com/Waring-TF200B-Rotisserie-Turkey-Steamer/dp/B00G4TG3ES/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416591649&sr=8-1&keywords=waring+turkey+fryer

I just bought this fryer. There is a disclaimer that comes along with it that says you can not use any hydrogenated oils, olive oil, or grape-seed oil. I use to work at a restaurant that had a table top NSF Waring fryer that was less commercial in scale than the one I just bought. We used exclusively grape-seed oil in that fryer with no problems at all. I would love to use grape-seed oil in this fryer because its a very clean oil with no real taste. I am hesitant to do so because I have broke home/small scale commercial fryers like this in the past when using hydrogenated oil. I don't want to run into the same problems with grape-seed oil even though thats all we used with the Waring counter top unit at work. Has anybody run into this kind of thing before. Any ideas?

Ben_Johnson_34605

Just vacuum until the liquid is at the top of the bag and then stop. It is not necessary to remove all the air.

Nicholas_Gavin_68199

Welcome Serge! So the bad news is, you will not be able to remove all of the air from the bag without the liquid running out. Foodsavers simply do not excel in this area. Good news, the extra air in the bag does not matter for the "wine-poached pears". Once the bag is place into the water the air will be pushed away from the pear and will cook totally submerged in the poaching liquid. Another way to approach the recipe would be by cooking the wine-poached pears in mason jars in your Sous Vide Supreme Demi.

Ben_Johnson_34605

You can make the roulade in advance and leave it in the fridge. The texture will be unaffected. Hope this helps!

Ben_Johnson_34605

There are several things you can do to help "bind" the ground meat. For our beef burger patty we like to add 5% whole egg and work it in. For poultry patty we prefer to just add a little salt 0.5%. The helps to bind the protein, but also changes the texture slightly. It tends to make the more snappy or sausagey. Cheers!

Ben_Johnson_34605

You can make them ahead of time then just store them until needed and reheat. I would suggest no more than 2 days in advance for best flavor. You could do the pre-gelatinized step for this recipe, but I think you'll fine very little difference. Cheers!

Ben_Johnson_34605

We did not brine the legs because we wanted them a little "dryer" not because the activa won't work. I think different marinades will play different roles obviously, but you should have no problem binding the legs with Activa RM. RM has added booster proteins to aid in binding where other activas do not. Hope this helps

Brandon_Byrd_40557

Thanks Ben!

jason.r.whitworth

So This year I went hunting and got my first deer. I wanted to use all the parts so i took the liver and made this http://foodforhunters.blogspot.com/2012/11/deer-liver-pate.html, I followed the recipe but after letting it chill i tried some today and it tastes ok but has little like "vomit" or "baby sick" flavor at the tail end. The liver looked very healthy was frozen immediately after harvest, i cleaned the outer membrane, off etc.

Is there any harm in taking a cold pate and reblending it? Maybe with some more cream or alcohol? Maybe cutting it with some foie gras or other kinds of liver?

Any suggestions on how to salvage this would be much appreciated. Bottom line if it is what it is i will still eat it just to use all my deer. Its not like inedible, tastes ok but just not something i would be psyched to have people skeptical of wild game try. I was hoping to make something that other people would enjoy.

Its it a terrible idea to remix? If not what should i attempt to round out that flavor?

I also might top it/seal it with a cranberry gelee or something to make it a little nicer when/if i re pot it. They are in few canning jars with a clarified butter seal for the time being.

Thanks!

Matthew_Snyder_68770

Awesome, thanks for the pro tip. Only real restriction I'm aware of with RM is to avoid adding oil.

Segun_Pikuda_14200

Thanks

George_Sanchez_111982

how are you doing the breast turchetta? Are you using Activa RM to bind both breasts? I really want to sous vide the breasts but am clueless as to temp & time. Are you using a probe thermometer?

Hello Everyone... Last year I had a very successful Thanksgiving. I’m hoping to repeat this year.

I broke down my turkey and brined (water, salt, apple juice, brown sugar, etc) the bird for 24 hours. I cooked everything sous vide.

The problem is I went to my notes on time and temp. and can’t find them. I remember I cooked each section (drumsticks, breast, debones thighs) at a different setting. When I’ve ventured back online to check setting the range is from 147ºF to 152ºF and from 2-9 hour for the drumsticks and about 2-2.5 hours for the breast (a big variation). Once everything was done cooking, I finished things off with a quick deep-fry in peanut oil (just a couple minutes to crisp the skin).

I seem to recall that the drumsticks took about 7 hours and everything else about 2-3.

What’s best?

Thanks.

Michael_Simpson_42855

Thank you,

One more Amazon is sold out of Activa Rm is there anywhere in the Seattle area that i could get some?

I'm curious about the Cranberry sauce in your video. Is there a recipe for it somewhere? I love that everything was kept whole and didn't look completely cooked down.

Ky_C_Estrada_116362

Hey guys, few days before thanksgiving, and i've already done a test run on a few of the dishes that ill be serving. Question on some advanced prep work though, could i do a pate brisee and the cornbread mix a night before? Baking everything of the following day? Wasn't sure how refrigerating the cornbread mix would change texture of bake time.

Thanks for such an awesome site!

Nevermind, I saw that the recipe for the cranberry sauce was in the comments of the Thanksgiving post. http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/greatest-thanksgiving-ever

Ben_Johnson_34605

You should be fine to prep both those items a day in advance. We often prepare large batches of both of those and store extra in the freezer until needed. Cheers

Ben_Johnson_34605

Those times sound pretty good. Depends on the texture you are trying to achieve. I like the leg meat a little chewier so I might only go 3-4 hours, but 7 should yield a nice/more braisy texture. 147 should work for both. Cheers

Ben_Johnson_34605

Activa RM will work great for binding the breasts. As for time, try 62 for 2 hours, finished in a deep fryer.

Ben_Johnson_34605

You could try adding more fat and alcohol to round out the flavor, but I would be concerned with the liver becoming oxidized. I had run into this same problem with beef liver a couple years ago. You can only do so much to "mask" the flavor. Liver is one of those things, you either like it or not. Cheers

Ben_Johnson_34605

I am not aware of anyware that sells Activa locally.

On the turkey roulade, should I add the salt during the Activa/herbs step even if the bird has already brined?

(I thought I posted this last night, but don't see it. Sorry if it's somehow a repeat)

Hello Chef Steps. Ive read that Dave Arnold has done sous videTurkey roulades with both the Breast and Leg meat in one, with the dark meat on the outside. Is this just taking you back to the problem of trying to do a whole bird, or is there some combo of temp/time that might work for this. Any ideas?

Cheers... Charles

Ben_Johnson_34605

My guess is there was probably an explosion in their test kitchen where some unfortunate individuals nearly lost their faces. I think if you exercise a little common sense when using the fryer you should be ok. Do keep in mind that some oils have a tendency to break down quicker than others. When an oil breaks down its smoke point and flash point are decreased. Grape seed oil is one of those oils. Best of luck with your turkey!

Hello there, I was wanting to do a goose crown following the same steps as your turkey crown recipe. Should I make an adjustment with the cooking tempurature? For the turkey crown you set oven to 250 °F / 121 °C until core temperature of 145 °F / 63 °C is achieved, I'm not fully sure what the safe core temperature is for a goose either? Thanks.

Ben_Johnson_34605

If I was going to do the dark and light meat in the same roulade I would put the dark meat on the outside as well. A good temperature to try would be around 64-66. Cook to a core of 62. I think what you'll find however is that the leg meat is still a bit chewey(though edible) at this time/temperature. Cheers

Ben_Johnson_34605

63 °C should work great for goose as well. Leave the temperature the same at 120 °C.

Ben_Johnson_34605

Jed, no worries. We have had some issues with posts dissapearing, but we are working closely with the dev team to get that issue resolved. To answer your question, if you are working with a pre-brined bird it is not necessary to salt the leg further. Best of luck with the bird!

David_Clark_50871

Is it possible to make the regular dinner rolls by doing the hawaiian rolls recipe without adding the lemon and orange essential oils? I got a better texture and result from that recipe than the original dinner rolls recipe. Thanks!

Thanks, @Ben_Johnson_34605. I'd let you know how things go but I expect to be in a food coma most of the weekend. You and the ChefSteps team have a great Thanksgiving.

Nicholas_Gavin_68199

Yea! Thats my favorite way too.

I am going to make a thanksgiving breakfast poutine for Saturday brunch with my leftovers. Goose fat fried homefries tossed in herbs, redwine turkey gravey, black truffle shavings, homemade fresh cheese curds, cranberry sauce made with my homemade calvados orange marmalade, turkey leftovers and all topped with a soft poached Turkey Egg. I have two questions for you:

1) How would you adjust the times/tempts of your egg calculator to accomodate a Turkey Egg (as a starting point.. I bought a few extra for dry runs)? I like a medum-firm white and runny yolk.

2) Have you ever tried poaching an egg in liquid nitrogen? I'm sitting here looking at my dewar wondering -maybe I can get a firmer white with a runny yolk?

Thanks guys. I can't tell you how much I love the site.

Ben_Johnson_34605

Daniel,

I have not cooked goose eggs SV before, but there is a feature the egg calculator to allow you to choose the circumference of the egg. This should give you a good starting point. To get the circumference, you can wrap a small string around the fattest part of the egg(not end to end) and measure that way or you can use a caliper to get the diameter and multiply by pi.

I have not tried poaching eggs in LN2, I'm curious to hear what you come up with. Cheers

Just another question. If I added a porcini duxelle to the roulade, I am guessing that would weaken the strength of the Transglutaminase? Or would it adhere the meat to the duxelle and the duxelle to the meat? I understand there is milk protein in the RM formulation to strengthen the bond.... I am thinking about making a Turkey Wellington.

Hi Nicholas, thanks for your suggestion.

How would you do sweet potatoes? Looking for specifics to make a thick and creamy mashed sweet potatoes

Ben_Johnson_34605

I would cook them sous vide(85 °C) until very tender. Remove them from the bag, add 15% cream and butter to taste. Season with salt and whichever herbs and spices you desire. Cheers!

Ben_Johnson_34605

You should be able to get it to bond, although I can't tell you how strong it will be. Have you checked out our mushroom roulade? If you go in a similar route, you may need to reduce the amount of sodium caseinate and activa so as not to make the mushroom as firm. Cheers.

I made two roulades - one dark and one breast. I am going to cook the dark meat first, turn down the bath and then cook the breast. Both will go to the 500F oven for crisping the skin. I thought I would do this with the deep fryer but they came out too big! I plan on using 70C for the dark. I will put the dark meat roulade in for 5 hours and then dial the temp down to 61.5 for the white meat. Any reason I should not do it this way? Any suggestions? I like my dark meat done but not stringy and I like my white meat slightly moist and juicy but not real pink (as everybody gets freaked out even if I tell them it is pasteurized!)

I have a question about oven logistics. I'm making three items that require the oven: Turkey Crown (250 for 2-3 hours); stuffing (350 for 40 minutes), and slow-roasted carrots (300-325 for 2 hours). I was planning on making the carrots first, then the stuffing, and then the bird. I would reheat the stuffing and the carrots (from room temp) in a 475 oven while the turkey crown is finished. Is there a better way to do this?

Separately, I've made the slow-roasted carrots as discussed on the CS Community a few times. I've found that, while the interior is great, the outside of the carrot can be slightly tough (with or without peeling, though it's worse if I don't peel). Is this to be expected? Or is my oven too hot (325)? Or something else?

Thanks, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks, Ben. I've dug out my notebooks and will carefully document everything this weekend. Hopefully it will be of some edification.

Alex_Thomson_41278

Your order of things sounds reasonable. Im not sure why your carrots would be tough. What is your procedure?

Tony_Scardino_35048

I have noticed often times when CS is deep frying or making an infusion oil Canola is used. Is there a reason you guys use Canola over a grapeseed oil for example?

Ben_Johnson_34605

It is cheap and tends to be a little more durable in a fryer than grapeseed oil. You can get canola oil almost anywhere, when often times you can not find grapeseed oil. You substitute grapeseed if you wish, just keep in mind it may break down a little quicker than canola oil. Cheers.

Ben_Johnson_34605

Sorry Im late on the reply, this sounds like it should be awesome. How did everything work out?

Hi.

I’m doing a wild turkey on New Year and I was wondering the cooking temperature for the breast. For chicken and regular turkey, I usually do 60-62°C, but I’ve read on the farm’s website that Wild turkey can fly, so the breast is actual brown meat instead of white. So should I cook it at 60-62°C or go for the usual leg temperature, which in my case is 68-70°C.

Thanks

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