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Wednesday May 23, 2012

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  • Ed on Ask Bob Hart a food question Hi Bob, I am joining the frustrated listeners who find that dool.com.au does not exist. PLEASE, where is the site?Regards, ... more
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  • Charles on Bob Hart answers your questions Hello Bob,I want to buy a gas Webber BBQ. Please advise what moders and features you recommend. Please advise also places I ... more
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  • Keith on Ask Bob Hart a food question Hi Bob,i cant remember if it was last week or the week prior you talked about an amazing steak sauce recipe that had my ... more
  • Joy Farnan on Ask Bob Hart a food question Hello Bob.When having a roast, I put in a whole garlic with the veges, (as I had seen the experts do). Well, the garlic ... more
  • Anthea on Ask Bob Hart a food question Hi BobYou mentioned a book from which you made Zucchini Fritter for you daughters vegetarian partner. Can you please tell me ... more
  • Colleen on Ask Bob Hart a food question Hi Bob, the other day you mentioned a BBQ sauce for steak, various engredients. It did have butter in the recipe,possibly ... more
  • Colleen on Bob Hart's delicious recipes Last week you gave a steak sauce or gravy on the programe and I was driving. Could I please have it again as my husband ... more
  • Tanith on Bob Hart's delicious recipes Hi BobI heard you talk about Shabu Shabu sauce last week so went out and bought a bottle. Could yyou please post the steak ... more
  • Claude Z on Bob Hart's spicy Korean wings Hi Bob, i was listening to you last week when you mentioned a sauce recipe based on the Japenese Kupi sauce. While i was ... more
  • Jansen on Ask Bob Hart a food question Hi I'm trying to find the steak sauce recipe you spoke of, but not sue what heading it would be under? Thx more
  • judy on Ask Bob Hart a food question Bob, was driving on the Hume Highway on 26/04/12 and heard your delicious steak sauce recipe with Asian ingredients. Could I ... more
  • Matt Brown on Ask Bob Hart a food question Hi Bob,On Thursday 26 April, you gave out a recipe for the most amazing steak sauce... Could you please let us all know ... more
  • Peter Coutts on Ask Bob Hart a food question Hi Bob.This week you gave a recipe for a perfect Steak Sauce.I cannot find it on this list.It was the Asian Style one.Can ... more
  • Lyn on Ask Bob Hart a food question Hi Bob, On Thursday you where talking about an Asian Sauce to have with steak??? cant find the recipe on your list? more

Bob Hart's Turkey Brine Recipe

Posted by: Bob Hart | 28 November, 2010 - 3:09 PM
rine

At this time of year, Americans get all warm and fuzzy about Thanksgiving and, to a slightly lesser extent, Christmas. It is also a time when American turkeys become very nervous, and with good reason.

For while alternative meats sometimes feature in an American Christmas feast, for Thanksgiving - which falls on November 25 this year - it has be turkey, and that's that.

In most cases, turkeys are gently roasted and served in mountainous quantities - Americans insist you must allow at least 500g of bird per person when you order your turkey - with an alarming array of side dishes and vegetables.

Methods of cooking turkeys - not the easiest creatures to prepare because of a tendency for the breast meat to become dry and boring - have changed over the years. And at the moment, one of the most popular variations is easily the most dangerous cooking technique I have ever encountered.

It involves deep-frying a turkey in a barrel-like vat of boiling oil and, in recent years, the toll on both backyard cooks and their houses, hundreds of which will go up in spectacular flames again this year, has been astonishing. Do not, please, try this at home.

A helpful US technique, however, is to brine the turkey for up to 24 hours before cooking it. This way, both moisture and flavourings penetrate the meat and the result is spectacular.

So this festive season, buy a fresh bird of around 5kgs (for 12 diners or 10 Americans) and try this:

Make enough brine to cover your bird: use a generous cup of sea salt for every four litres of water and balance with half as much sugar - brown, ideally - as salt.

Enliven your brine and, thus, the turkey, by adding plenty of orange zest and some juice, several flattened garlic cloves and a splash of bourbon. Also, prick the skin in a few key places with a knife point to allow the brine to penetrate.

Dissolve the sugar and salt in warm water before making up the quantity with cold and, after brining, pat the bird dry with kitchen towels. Roast as usual - at 190 C for 2-3 hrs - remembering to check the taste of the meat juices before you add salt to your gravy.

And one more thing: if you see your neighbour playing around with a turkey deep-fryer, consider moving.

Sweet potato mash with maple syrup

sweet p RECIPE: "Thanksgiving, the warmest and best loved of all American holidays is, apart from anything else, a great chance to rehearse for Christmas." Print Bob Hart's recipe and try it today!

 

3AW Food - Eating Melbourne

Spain food 3AW is Food: Melburnians love to eat so it's fortunate we live in the culinary capital of Australia. On this dedicated food page you will find the latest recipes by Bob Hart as well as Tony Leonard's Pub of the Week reviews. La Luna head chef Adrian Richardson also serves up a dish from his own cook book and food reviewer Ela Carte visits one of Melbourne's hottest eateries weekly.

Blog comments Your Say

  • Hi Bob, i am all set to brine my 8kg Turkey once I collect him from the market on Friday. However once he is brined, how do I roast him? From my research it seems it will need around 6 hours cooking time, using regular methods, but does brining reduce the cooking time? Any tips you could give would be appreciated. Thank you, Natalie

    Natalie Rees Wednesday 21 December, 2011 - 7:14 PM

  • Bob can u please send me the Meatloaf recipe many thanks Lyn

    Lyn Saturday 8 January, 2011 - 4:03 PM

  • Could you please forward Bob Hart's Market Street Meatloaf Recipe please.

    Jane

    Jane Saturday 8 January, 2011 - 2:27 PM

  • Re: Julie Monday 13 December, 2010 - 11:06 PM. Hi Julie, sorry you message slipped through the cracks. By now, you will have eaten your turkey, and I am sure it was a rippet. Brining helps the moisture factor, and should probably be done overnight. The rest is a matter of opinion. I am not a fan of under the skin stuffing, but I know many great cooks who swear by it. I do believe in starting the bird breast down, however, with half a stick of butter right at the middle of the stuffing. That works well. And I always finish it breast up, after brushing the breast with melted butter, to crisp up that skin. Also, a square of folded cheese cloth dipped in butter works well over the breast. Remove it every hour or so and refresh with more butter. But remove it for that last stage. And yes, butter is the answer, as usual!

    BOB HART Thursday 6 January, 2011 - 3:27 PM

  • I will be cooking a 4kg fresh turkey breast for Christmas and I'm a bit unsure of how long I can brine it for and then the best way to cook it. I've read breast side/down, with stuffing under the skin/ stock in the pan under the bird. I'll be using a conventional oven and want to ensure the bird is nice and moist. Help please. Thanks
    Julie

    Julie Monday 13 December, 2010 - 11:06 PM

  • G'day Mike,
    Good to hear a bit of passion in defence of the American IQ, but I don't disagree with anything you have said. I did not suggest all Americans burn their houses down deep-frying their turkeys with propane units but, as you are clearly aware, many still do. And as far as the taste of deep fried turkey goes, as I said, it's delicious. But to suggest it is the only way to cook turkey, and to suggest that unless you have tasted it deep fried you have not tasted turkey, shoots holes in that IQ defence of yours, mate. Lighten up. Deep fry anything you like. But ideally, not your house, OK?

    bob hart Friday 3 December, 2010 - 7:29 PM

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