I’ve had turkey just about every possible way it can be cooked, and it just isn’t that good.
Doesn’t matter how juicy or dry and it doesn’t matter what herbs or spices are used, it just not that tasty.
Give me a brisket or a standing rib roast or just about anything that isn’t turkey for thanksgiving.
I like it outside of the holidays. Turkey is my preferred sandwich.
Turkey is one of those meats that are good to experiment with.
I haven’t done it in a while but I would often buy a whole turkey and carve the bird as I prefer at home.
Thighs are good for slow roasting, with peppers and rosemary. The drums get drown in an onion and cloves based sauce and cooked for several hours until the meat falls off the bone, pulled, allowed to chill and then turned into sandwich meat. The breasts are sliced into very thin stakes, for grilling or frying or make into schnitzel. Small pieces are turned into stroganoff, with mushroom sauce. The bones are good for making meat stock.
It is a very versatile ingredient but it does require some degree of finesse to cook.
Most Thanksgiving food isn’t that good. If it was, we’d eat it more than once a year.
Stuffing is delicious and I will eat it all the time.
Tell me you’ve only ever had overcooked turkey without saying you’ve only had overcooked turkey. Moistness is not a certain sign of properly cooked.
It’s just impossible that he has a preference? What a stupid take.
It is called Türkiye - Turkish people are quite adamant about it by now… I consider it silly though …
Thought you were talking about the country at first
Glad I’m not the only one
Goose is the better turkey.
Also duck.
Is that unpopular though?
Who even eats turkey asides from Americans on thanksgiving?
I eat it outside the holidays. They’re cheaper and if you use the whole bird you can get like a week’s worth of meals out of one.
England and former colonies do at Christmas.
Thanksgiving is very American, but turkey is a common christmas dinner in the UK at least, and probably fairly common across Europe
But that only proves OP’s point. Turkey is almost always only eaten on a holiday because it’s a tradition, and basically no one ever chooses to eat it when they’re deciding what to eat for any other regular meal during the year
It could also be because fewer Americans have time to spend cooking dinner, and turkeys are large, cumbersome, and time consuming to cook well. I love to cook, and I love to cook turkey. I’ve converted a good amount of people over the years who said they don’t enjoy it.
All that said, I only make it three or four times a year for the reasons above. That, and it’s not practical when you’re cooking for two unless you can find butchered pieces. I’m making a duck instead today, but I wish I was making turkey.
That’s exactly how I feel about duck, although it takes less attention and time than a turkey does. I really love it, but it is a bit of a process, especially with the making of the gravy (if you’ve never had duck gravy, you really need to) and whatever sides you want to have. Roasting a chicken as much simpler if not as satisfying.
I make a duck for Thanksgiving every year.
I may default to duck if only cooking for myself or one other person. It turned out great! I have not had duck gravy, but now I must. I made a cranberry cherry chutney last night that was pretty satisfying, though.
You can get turkey sandwiches from any deli year round in the States, and they’re pretty popular
Have made/had so many and I agree. Heirloom to butterball, all type of seasonings and cook styles. End of the day it’s turkey. We do prime rib now depending on crowd size will still add turkey for the purists.
Are you talking about mass produced farm turkeys, or a wild turkey that you shot and cooked? There is a huge difference between the two.
Consider this: the strong association of turkey with Thanksgiving means that you’re not expected to eat it any any other time.
I’m going to agree with you. Turkey is just not that great.
Agreed. Turkey was a fine meal for settlers. Better things to eat nowadays. “But…but… it’s tradition!” they say. Well, so is the Running of the Bulls in Spain and most people wouldn’t do that!
Comparing eating turkey to running with a bunch of bulls is hilarious
Most of the bulls are extremely confused why are a bunch of two legged mammals running around and screaming at them.
I applaud each maiming.
Don’t mess with the bulls.
We started doing a rib roast for thanksgiving a few years ago. So much better than turkey!
I also do baked skin-on chicken thighs regularly, which we also like better than turkey, that we simply never have a craving for turkey.
How do you like to do your rib roast? I’d like to do more ribs.
My Mom showed me a reverse sear method, which I’ve followed for a few years now and has given me a perfectly cooked roast every time. I’ve fiddled a bit with the exact temperatures and cook times, but here’s my latest iteration. You NEED a meat thermometer!
- Night before: scour fat on top, season with salt, pepper, whatever other rub marinade - our meat market sells an amazing wet rub thing that we use.
- Remove from fridge 2 hours before cooking. I usually stick meat thermometer in at this point, stick it in from the side so that most of the thermometer is inside and the tip is approximately at the middle of the roast. This has given me the most consistent results with temperatures.
- Cook in oven at 185F until center is 118F (about 4-5 hours for my boneless 5 pound roast)
- Remove, tent with foil, and rest for about 20 minutes (center should come up to about 125F while resting)
- Cook in oven at 500F for another 12 minutes (necessary for brown crust and caramelizing fat)
- Remove and rest for another 10 minutes.
I did a 5 pound boneless ribeye roast today, and this whole process took about 7 hours. Probably will try bone-in next year, as I didn’t realize the meat market I buy from does the remove bones and tie back together thing.
I shared your opinion until I recently had a properly smoked turkey for the first time. It was juicy and smokey and incredibly flavorful.
Because of the smoke. But while I don’t have as strong a feeling as op on this since it’s very much a first world problem, turkey really has a bland, inoffensive taste while I could smoke a rat to be delicious.
That’s probably because they’re domesticated and bred for breast size and not flavor. The same thing happened to pork.
You can fix this by brining the turkey and adding aromatics to the chest cavity before roasting if you don’t have a smoker.
My point is, if you gotta do that, it’s not good meat.
If that’s the case then chicken, pork, and most cuts of beef aren’t “good meat” either. I can’t think of a food that doesn’t benefit from added flavor. Even pork belly gets cured and smoked to become bacon.
I guess wild foods have flavor without needing cooking and seasoning. But a lot of cooking techniques are there to disguise their gamey flavor.
Hey you the guy selling smoked rats?
