Next years Turkey plans..

Brined a turkey for the first time ever. Turkey was exceptionally moist and tender. BUT the gravy made from the juice of this delicious bird was a "salt lick".

My sister's gravy is a family favorite and she is in charge of the gravy no matter who hosts Thanksgiving.

Does anyone else who brines their Turkey make gravy from scratch using the pan juices? Do the 2 just not go together?

We do (and did) both. I always brine the turkey, and DW is the gravy specialist. Yes, it did come out a little salty. I took the blame, for also rubbing salt/pepper/herbs on the skin before roasting, and basting with salted butter throughout the cooking process.

The turkey was exceptionally moist, I took it out at 155(F) and let the temp climb to 160 out of the oven while the rest of the meal was finished up.

Next time, no salt in the rub, and unsalted butter to baste. Ours was not a 'salt lick', but one certainly needed no additional salt at the table.

Jim

DH used olive oil and we cooked potatoes and carrots in the pan with the turkey always sit the turkey on celery stocks. Gravy packet was in the bird, used it with flour and water and Mrs Dash. Tasted great. DD made stuffing, SIL made mac and cheese with kale. Everything was perfect. Then in law parents came over with home made apple and pecan pie! It was a nice stress free holiday for me!

turkel said:

Brined a turkey for the first time ever. Turkey was exceptionally moist and tender. BUT the gravy made from the juice of this delicious bird was a "salt lick".

My sister's gravy is a family favorite and she is in charge of the gravy no matter who hosts Thanksgiving.

Does anyone else who brines their Turkey make gravy from scratch using the pan juices? Do the 2 just not go together?

Click to expand...

Why not just dilute the drippings with additional low sodium stock? Keep adding stock until it tastes right.

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I just baste the turkey with oil - no seasoning- and put it in an oven bag. Comes out juicy! In fact, this year for the first time I only bought a breast of turkey, as we do not like drum sticks or dark meat and it came out perfect!

turkel said:

Brined a turkey for the first time ever. Turkey was exceptionally moist and tender. BUT the gravy made from the juice of this delicious bird was a "salt lick".

My sister's gravy is a family favorite and she is in charge of the gravy no matter who hosts Thanksgiving.

Does anyone else who brines their Turkey make gravy from scratch using the pan juices? Do the 2 just not go together?

Click to expand...

Did you rinse the turkey after brining it? I boil the giblets for gravy stock, and add drippings to that. From a brined turkey, and I need to add salt.

We were going to go out to Thanksgiving dinner. But my sister called a few days beforehand and asked what we were doing for the holiday meal. I said we had nothing planned, and she said, "I have an idea: Let's do dinner at your house." (She knew we already had a turkey in the freezer.) "I'll cook. You provide the table, and dessert. I'll do the rest."

How could I refuse? She cooks really well, but lives in a small apartment with a tiny kitchen. I have a big kitchen, and plenty of room. No brainer! So we set a fancy table, got a couple of excellent pies from Costco, and dinner was on. My nephew and his girlfriend came, bringing side dishes, and a family friend who made a really interesting fruit salad. Only six of us at the table, but it was a great day. Everybody got plenty of leftovers to take home, and I didn't even have to wash the dishes. I like entertaining like this!

Never brined a turkey. I may need to look into this.

Dave

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turkel said:

Brined a turkey for the first time ever. Turkey was exceptionally moist and tender. BUT the gravy made from the juice of this delicious bird was a "salt lick".

My sister's gravy is a family favorite and she is in charge of the gravy no matter who hosts Thanksgiving.

Does anyone else who brines their Turkey make gravy from scratch using the pan juices? Do the 2 just not go together?

Click to expand...

Last year, my wife had the same problem with the gravy tasting like a salt lick. This year she bought necks and backs and made the gravy from that. She said the turkey turned out great, and so did they gravy. Unfortunately I can't say as I ended up in the hospital with a blood clot in my chest, but then I really don't like turkey, but had to eat hospital food which was bad, really bad. Even the turkey sounded good

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raygo123 said:

Last year, my wife had the same problem with the gravy tasting like a salt lick. This year she bought necks and backs and made the gravy from that. She said the turkey turned out great, and so did they gravy. Unfortunately I can't say as I ended up in the hospital with a blood clot in my chest, but then I really don't like turkey, but had to eat hospital food which was bad, really bad. Even the turkey sounded good

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Everything okay now?

I'm fine they gave me a blood thinner so I came home today. Thanks.

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raygo123 said:

I'm fine they gave me a blood thinner so I came home today. Thanks.

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Glad to hear it. Be well.

Chef John's Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy <--- allrecipes.com link

I've found the same thing, that the gravy from pan drippings from a brined turkey are too salty. The second year of brining I used the recipe above and it's delicious! The best thing about it, though, is that you can take your time building the flavor rather than trying to get it done and on the table with everything else.

The only thing I do different is start a few days earlier, making the stock (steps 1-6) a few days in advance and freezing it (so you won't have to skim, can easily remove the fat when it solidifies.) The day before I continue with Step 7 with the de-fatted and defrosted stock, then warm it up the day of.

didn't brine

I normally do a dry brine, but my DW bought a Butterball because she couldn't find a fresh bird. A salted liquid had already been added to the turkey, so I decided not to brine. Then it went on the grill and spun merrily around for a few hours until it was close to 160F. However, the drippings from the charcoal cooked turkey don't make good gravy, so we bought gravy made fresh by a local grocery. I think the rotisserie spinning helps keep the turkey moist, and it was very moist.
I'm not really a turkey fan, but it's not bad cooked on the grill. Everyone else loved it. My wife and I did all the cooking this year as there were only 4 of us this year, including my MIL who, at 85 doesn't cook much any more ~ Ron

We also got a butterball and it came with a gravy packet in addition to the giblets and neck. We cut up the giblets and added to the gravy packet, the neck goes in the pot with the carcass for soup stock. It turned out very nice and moist just following the directions given with the bird.


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SueDonJ said:

Chef John's Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy <--- allrecipes.com link

I've found the same thing, that the gravy from pan drippings from a brined turkey are too salty. The second year of brining I used the recipe above and it's delicious! The best thing about it, though, is that you can take your time building the flavor rather than trying to get it done and on the table with everything else.

The only thing I do different is start a few days earlier, making the stock (steps 1-6) a few days in advance and freezing it (so you won't have to skim, can easily remove the fat when it solidifies.) The day before I continue with Step 7 with the de-fatted and defrosted stock, then warm it up the day of.

Click to expand...

Wow, that recipe looks like a keeper. Getting everything on the table hot is always a challenge and having the gravy done ahead of time would be great. That with make-ahead potatoes and the rest is relatively easy.

In my one experience brining a turkey, it did create a saltier base for making gravy.

This year, because I was using a new turkey broth base (condensed soup base) instead of my typical homemade broth, I ended up with a too-salty gravy.

I ran to the computer just before dinner and quickly found a solution: Slice up a raw potato or two and they will absorb the extra salt in 10 min. or so. I didn't have that much time, but it definitely helped after 5 min.! Great tip!

(BTW, I'm also a fan of make-ahead as much as you can--I normally fix the dinner every year for the extended family.)

Thanks for all the I put, sorry it took me so long to replay. I triple washed the birds after brining and my sister also uses a soup base to make the gravy. Very interesting ideas here for next year. Thanks!