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One Last Set of Tips
So, in addition to what is on the mad max turkey method at the naked whiz’s, and after six days of specific tips regarding everything from egg set-up to ice bags to basting to gravy making, what’s left??
Figured I’d just pass on some random thoughts, do’s and don’ts, ideas that have been floating around the last few weeks. So where do I start?
If you haven’t already done so, go buy a turkey. The fresh ones are in the supermarkets. Set up a good list to follow. So much of your feast can be prepped in advance. Today’s Tuesday, so your bread for stuffing should be sitting out to get a little stale.
Bake your pies and cakes on Wednesday, as well as making your jello molds, and along with prepping your stuffing and sweet potatoes. The only things I actually prep and cook on Thursday are the turkey and gravy, the ham (I do a modified dr. chicken’s double smoked ham), and the mashed potatoes. Everything else (the stuffing, the sweet potatoes, the green beans are all set, they only have to go in the eggs or oven).
Again, make sure you’ve tested your turkey set up in the egg way in advance. You don’t want to be surprised on Thursday morning when something doesn’t fit right (Nature Boy saved my bacon the first year I did my turkey on the egg when my original set-up didn’t fit and he had a package that did - this was prior to my figuring out the set up that is in the mad max methodology).
If you brine your bird, but you still want great gravy from the drippings, be careful how much salt you use in the brine, and wash the bird good after you pull it from the brine. Then taste test your gravy prior to adding any additional salt.
Wine and your turkey. Been getting lots of questions on this one. First - the wine is not mandatory either for the bird or the gravy. I like it, others may not. You could certainly pour a couple of cups of apple juice over your bird when you put it in the egg, or some chicken or turkey broth instead of the wine during the prep phase. And you can also skip the wine in the gravy making, just go straight to the turkey stock.
Some folks are advocating using some of the fat from the drippings (after you’ve separated them in a bowl) instead of the two sticks of butter when starting your roux. I’ve tried this, going with one stick of butter and a few tablespoons of the fat, and it works fine.
Be careful about smoke. Too many of us, I think, start to build up an immunity to the smoke flavor in our foods. What we may think is fine is just way to smoky for your guests. For the turkey, I use just a couple of small chunks of apple wood, and I make sure my fire has been burning for a good hour prior to putting the turkey in the egg. It ends up with just a hint of smoky flavor. I don’t do my dressing in the egg as I’ve found that the wet bread, even in a clean burning egg, just picks up too much smoke. However, the sweet potatoes pick up a great flavor. Not sure if you should cook certain foods in your egg? Try em out in advance, so you know what works and what doesn’t for Thursday.
That’s about it at the moment. As always, shoot me a note on the forum, or at my email if you have any specific questions, need help, or are just unsure of what you’re doing. And of course, the hotline will be open starting on Wednesday and on Thursday.
Mad Max
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