Don’t worry. We got you. Let’s find out some delicious ways to add pork jerky to recipes that will make you want to try again.

Many dishes can benefit from the addition of pork jerky. Here are some options for using pork jerky in your cooking:

Stir Into Stir Fry

Stir-frying is a Chinese cooking technique that includes cooking small, bite-sized bits of food in a hot skillet or wok with oil.

Cooking entails putting vegetables, meat, or other things in heated oil in a skillet and constantly turning them until they are cooked thoroughly.

To guarantee consistent cooking and minimize sticking, the food is cooked fast over high heat, with continual turning and tossing.

You can easily add pork jerky to your stir fry. To add a smokey and salty flavor to your stir-fry, you can add chopped pork jerky.

Try making a stir fry with mushrooms, sliced vegetables, and jerky. Season it with pepper and salt and serve it over rice or noodles.

Enhance Pasta sauce

Pasta sauce, often referred to as marinara sauce, is a tomato-based sauce used in Italian cuisine made as a condiment for different types of pasta.

Tomatoes, onions, garlic, herbs, and spices are common ingredients. There are numerous types of pasta sauce, some of which include ground beef, sausage, mushrooms, and bell peppers. For a new touch to a popular dish, spice your pasta sauce with diced pork jerky.

In a big pan on medium-high heat, heat the olive oil. Cook until the chopped pork jerky is lightly browned. Add sliced onion and minced garlic to the skillet and cook until the onions are translucent.

Toss in diced pork jerky and cook for 2 mins over low heat. Add your pureed tomato sauce and bring the mixture to a simmer.

Cook for a bit until the juices reduce, then sprinkle with oregano, salt, and pepper. Simmer for one more minute and take it off the heat.

Pork jerky spaghetti sauce should be served over cooked pasta like spaghetti noodles. Top with grated Parmesan cheese and freshly chopped parsley.

Toss Into Salads

Multiple ingredients are added to a salad to improve its flavor, texture, and nutritional value.

You can add multiple things to your salad including salad vegetables and greens, nuts, seeds, croutons, cheeses, and meats. These ingredients don’t just enhance the flavor but also make your salad more nutritious.

Try adding a crunch and a blast of flavor to your salad with pork jerky. You can add them to any salad, anything from caesar salads to coleslaws.

Wash and dry the salad greens, cut the cherry tomatoes in half, slice the onion and cucumber, crumble the cheese, and cut the almonds into slices.

Slice pork jerky into small pieces and use them as is, or toss them in butter or olive oil over medium heat before adding them to your salad.

Toss all the ingredients together, Add a splash of vinaigrette and sprinkle salt and pepper, then toss all the ingredients until combined.

Use As Pizza Toppings

Cheese, meats, vegetables, and herbs are just a few examples of pizza toppings. You can also add pork jerky as a flavorsome meaty addition to your pizza for an added layer of flavor.

Simply sprinkle some on top of your pizza before you bake it in the oven. While it bakes, the jerky will mingle with the cheese and other ingredients and release its flavors.

Sprinkle Some on Your Ramen

Ramen or instant noodles is a popular Japanese dish that can vary greatly in terms of ingredients and flavor.

You can top ramen with various items like corn, bean sprouts, mushrooms, sesame seeds, and more. The combinations of toppings are limitless and can be customized according to one’s preferences.

Pork jerky can be used as a crispy and tasty ramen topping. They can season the ramen and add a chewy touch.

Add to Casseroles

Casseroles are the kind of cuisine that generally comprises different ingredients which are baked in the oven until the flavors are combined.

You can make a casserole with pasta, vegetables, meat, mushroom, cheese, and other wholesome ingredients. For a smokey and flavorful flavor, add diced pork jerky to casseroles.

Try making a casserole and adding chopped or crumbled pork jerky on top. It will add a smokey and savory flavor to your casserole dish. You can also cut the pork jerky into small pieces and add them to the filling for some extra flavor and a nice texture.

Add Jerky to Sandwiches Instead of Cold Cuts

We make sandwiches with cold cuts all the time. If you run out of your favorite lunch meat and have jerky at home, you can easily use it to make delicious sandwiches. While making sandwiches with jerky sounds controversial, it can also become a tasty new thing to try.

Opt for softer pork jerky, as it will make the sandwich less chewy. You can also chop the jerky into but and mix it with mayo to make a chunky sandwich filling.

Pork Jerky in Eggs

You have heard of eggs and bacon, but have you ever heard of eggs and jerky? You can easily make scrambled eggs with chopped jerky.

You can also make a delicious omelet with your pork jerky. Chop onions, mushrooms, capsicums, onions, and, of course, your pork jerky and whip them into your eggs. Fry this mix into an omelet, and you can easily have this for a delicious and filling breakfast.

To Sum Up:

Everyone likes pork jerky starting, from children to adults. So to remove the monotony of just having it and try including it in different recipes, we suggested here. This way, you can have it daily without getting over its taste and flavor!

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Our sanitized story of Thanksgiving was adopted in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln, to divert attention away from his Emancipation Proclamation, which was causing riots in the North, even though it was meaningless. The story was taken from a short fiction piece written by Sarah Josepha Hale. President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a National Day of Thanksgiving in honor of the feast that never happened. Turkey became the traditional meal because at that time, there was a good supply of turkeys available, and turkeys were preferred over chickens for eating, because chickens were more valuable alive, and laying eggs.

Turkey Trivia – What you Might Not Know

• Wild Turkeys and Domestic Turkeys are completely different birds, except that they all belong to the Pheasant family. Domestic turkeys that you buy in the stores are all of 1 breed, the Broad-Breasted White, which has been selectively bred to produce the most white meat possible. It’s breasts are so large that they can barely walk, cannot fly, and cannot even mate by themselves, and have to be artificially inseminated to breed. They have a bland taste, and somewhat stringy meat. Wild turkeys are made up of 5 species, the Merriam’s, Gould’s, Rio Grande, Eastern and Osceola. They are about half the size of domestic turkeys, are very flavorful, and have great texture.
• Domestic Turkeys can top 30 pounds. Wild Turkeys seldom exceed 20 pounds.
• A wild turkey can fly up to 55 mph, and can run at over 25 mph.
• A wild turkey’s vision is 3 times better than a human’s, covers 270º, and they see colors very well, so that orange vest you wear when hunting is very visible to any wild turkey. Their sense of smell is over 100 times as acute as a humans, and their hearing is 50 times more sensitive. Now you know why you come home empty-handed so often when hunting turkeys.
• A wild Tom turkey’s gobble can be heard over 1 mile away. Male turkeys are Toms. Females are hens.
• Alaska and Hawaii are the only two states in the US without a population of wild turkeys.
• The bald head and wattles of a turkey change color, depending on what emotion the bird is felling. They can be red, white, pink, or blue.
• Turkeys are omnivorous, and will eat grass, grains, plants, insects, small reptiles, and will scavenge if given the opportunity.
• Wild turkeys almost became extinct in the 1930s due to over-hunting and loss of habitat. Luckily, massive conservation efforts were started and today there are over 7 million wild turkeys.
• The average lifespan of a wild turkey is 3 to 5 years. A domestic turkey….a few months, until it is large enough to eat.
• When the new United States was in the process of selecting a National Bird, Ben Franklin lobbied heavily for the Eastern Turkey. He said that since the eagle was a scavenger, the turkey was a more noble bird, and was native to the country. Mr. Franklin may have been a fair biologist and physicist, but he must have flunked biology, because the Bald eagle is not only native to the US, but is unique to it. But, the eagle probably looks better and more ferocious on our National Seal than a turkey would’ve. If I were an Army Ranger, I would hate to be in a unit called the Screaming Turkeys… I don’t see a fighter plane called the F-15 Turkey inspiring a whole lot of fear in our enemies… Can you imagine back in 1969, Neil Armstrong radioing back from the surface of the moon, “The Turkey has landed.”
• June is National Turkey Lover’s Day. It encourages people to eat turkey at other times besides just holidays.
• Wild turkeys are the most hunted bird in America, eclipsing ducks, doves, quail, and even geese.
• The US produces around 250 million domestic turkeys each year, and the average person consumes around 17 pounds of turkey annually.
• A domestic turkey has around 70% white meat and 30% dark meat.
• It takes 28 days to hatch a turkey egg.
• It takes around 30 pounds of feed to produce a 30-pound Tom turkey.
• Wild turkeys sleep in trees. Domestic turkeys cannot get up into trees.
• Only Tom turkeys ‘gobble’. Hens just click and squeak.
• Turkeys evolved over 5 million years ago.
• Native Americans have been raising turkeys as far back as 1000 BC.
• You can tell the sex of turkeys by their spoor. Toms leave a spiral spoor, while hens leave a J-Shaped one.
• An adult turkey has 3500 feathers. The really amazing thing is the fact that someone actually took the time to count the feathers on a turkey.

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The History of Smoking

It’s always helpful to understand a little about the cooking processes you are using. Smoking is a very, very old cooking method, and we’re pretty sure it started out as a way to preserve meat, making it also one of the oldest food preservation methods still in use.

The process of smoking meat is so old it predates written history, so we can’t be sure exactly when and where it began, but it started before any type of civilization as we know it, all the way back to the Hunter-Gatherer stage of our development. Soon after the last Ice Age, around 14,000 years ago, Homo sapiens were able to travel more extensively due to the melting of the huge sheets of glaciers, and were no longer confined to living in caves in the more southern latitudes. We learned to build shelters and create semi-permanent dwellings consisting of several families and groups. However, it was a while before we learned how to make chimneys, and the early huts were easily filled with smoke, which permeated strips of meat that were hung up to dry slightly, making them easier to carry and store. Someone noticed that meat hung up in smokey huts lasted longer than when hanging it outside, tasted better, and the smoke kept insects and other vermin away from their food stores. It wasn’t long before it became a widespread process, as did dehydrating, which probably came about when someone forgot about the meat and left it smoking too long.

Barbecuing is more of a recipe, than a cooking process. Before you can barbecue (or BBQ, which is how I will refer to it hence…), you have to have smoked meat. BBQ actually refers to a particular type of sauce added to the smoked meat during the last stages of smoking. We can thank Native Americans for this delectable process. When Spanish explorers arrived in the Caribbean Islands during the 16th century, they learned that local tribes (known collectively as the Caribs) often basted smoking meat with wonderful spicy sauces, which the locals called barbecoa. Knowledge of ‘barbecue” spread around the world, and before long, just about every culture on the planet developed its own version of BBQ.

What is Smoking/BBQ?

Smoking is a process that uses the phenols that are released when wood is burned to preserve and flavor meats, vegetables, fruits, cheeses, etc… Phenols are antimicrobial and anti-fungal. But it takes a little time for the phenols to be absorbed into the food, and does not occur at normal cooking temperatures, so the food has to be kept at low enough temperatures for smoking to occur, but high enough to retard any biological contamination during the process. This is why smoking is done at temperatures less than 300ºF. Roasting and baking occur at temperatures above 325ºF. In fact, in Cold Smoking, no heat is used at all on the food. It is placed on an ice bed and smoke is allowed to circulate around it. This is especially great for thin fish fillets, shrimp, very thin-sliced meats, cheeses, and other foods that are very sensitive to heating.

Turning smoked meat into BBQ simply requires the addition of a spicy sauce during the last hour or so of smoking. There are hundreds of different types of BBQ Sauces ranging from a simple catsup and Liquid Smoke mixture, to concoctions that rival Quantum Physics in complexity, and may someday create Cold Fusion… There are no set rules for making BBQ sauces, but the most common ones use readily available bases such as tomatoes, tomato sauce, catsup, mustard, vinegars, beer, wine, liquors, peppers, onions, garlic, spices, and even mayonnaise (which is the base for my all-time favorite BBQ sauce, Alabama White BBQ Sauce. If you’ve never tried it, you really need to….). The only real rule is that it probably shouldn’t be too toxic… Other than that, anything goes…

Tools Of The Trade

First off, you will need a smoker. This can be a smokehouse, or even a pit smoker, but these are usually only going to be available to people in very rural settings, and if this applies to you, you probably already have one, and don’t need me to tell you about them. For most people, you will need to buy, or build a smoker/grill. While it is possible to smoke food on a normal grill, it is a lot more problematic, and does not do as good a job. True smokers are inexpensive in their basic form, and can also be used as a normal grill, so there is really no reason not to have one.

There are three main types of smokers; an upright, or canister smoker, an offset smoker, and a cabinet smoker. There are advantages and disadvantages to each of the three types, and I can’t say that one type is any better than the other. I have all three, and use them all pretty much equally. If I am just smoking 1 turkey, I usually use my canister smoker. If I am doing more than one turkey, or combining it with other meats such as a ham, then I use my offset smoker because it holds a lot more food. But it also requires a lot more wood and charcoal to use. I use my cabinet smoker mostly for things that I want to hang, such as rib racks, making bacon, hams, whole fish, etc…

Canister Smoker

As you can see, a canister smoker is not very complicated. In fact, I have made several really nice ones from discarded 55-gal. steel oil drums. Coals and smoke wood are fed oxygen from the lower vent so they keep smoldering. The vents are usually adjustable so you can control the temperature. More air = more heat. Above the coals is a water bowl/drip tray. You can fill it with any liquid you want, from plain water, to beer, spirits, juices, etc.., or nothing at all, for dry smoking. It keeps your food from drying out, but also catches dripping juices from the food so that the fats will not ignite flames in the coals, which would ruin your food. The turkey is placed above all of this on a grate. The top of the smoker comes off for easy access. On the very top, there are more vents to promote smoke and air circulation. These are also adjustable. It is not in the drawing, but most canister smokers will come with a thermometer mounted on the lid, so you can monitor the internal temperature. The legs hold the entire unit up off of the ground so as not to start any accidental fires, but it should still be placed on a non-flammable surface, just to be safe. The advantages of canister smokers are that they are inexpensive, easy to use, do a fantastic job, and are easily transported, so they can be used at the lake, tailgate parties, etc…. They are light and easily cleaned. They also work as a straight grill for hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks, or whatever.

Offset smokers are usually much larger, some as large as 12-15 feet long, large enough for a whole hog or side of beef. As a rule, the average size of an offset smoker designed for home use is less than 5 feet long, big enough for several turkeys and maybe a few hams. As you can guess, offset smokers are great for smoking large volumes of food at once. They do require a lot more coals and smoke wood, but your are smoking a lot more food as well, so they are still economical. And, they make great large grills for cooking dozens of hamburgers, hot dogs, several chickens, etc… You can place the coals right under the grates, just like a regular grill, for direct heat cooking. The main advantage to an offset smoker, other than size, is that the coals can be placed in a separate fire box, so there is no danger of a flame up from dripping fats. On many units, the top of the firebox also doubles as a works station, or a place to keep things like sauces warm while the rest of the food is finishing. The firebox has an adjustable vent which draws in air and keeps the coals and smoke wood smoldering. Another vent placed above the coals leads to the main body, where smoke is drawn in, around the food, and out through the chimney, which also has an adjustable vent to control the temperature. Just as on the canister smoker, many units come with a built-in thermometer to monitor the smoking temperature.

Cabinet Smoker

Cabinet smokers, while appearing outwardly similar to the canister type, are somewhat less versatile, because they cannot be used as a grill. They most closely resemble a refrigerator sitting on a fuel box. They have heavy doors and the shelves are adjustable to accommodate different sizes and cuts of food. Although there are some rare models that are wood fueled, the vast majority of cabinet smokers are electric, or propane fueled. All you do is place your smoke wood in the bottom, turn them on, set the time and temperature, and pretty much forget about them until everything is done. The front loading doors make it easy to load and unload, and since they are electric or propane, much easier to control the temperature. They also have hooks for hanging meat while it is smoking.

Whichever type of smoker you decide on, be sure you understand how to use them before actually trying to smoke a turkey with them.

Wood Is Good

Different types of wood will give you different tastes. Most kinds of wood that are not toxic (unlike pine…never try to smoke with pine wood…) can be used to smoke food. But, some woods are more suitable. For instance, cedar can be used, but your turkey will probably taste like a set of dresser drawers. For turkeys, the best woods are hickory, mesquite, apple, cherry, and maybe pecan. You can mix your smoke woods, and my favorite mix for turkey is half hickory, or mesquite, and half cherry. It gives a wonderful sweet and smokey flavor with just a hint of fruit.

Most smoke wood will be in chunks or chips. If you want to use chunks, you can omit charcoal and just use the wood by itself, but it will burn a little hotter and quicker than charcoal, so keep a close watch on the temperature and adjust as needed. Chips will usually need to be soaked in water for a bit, so that they smolder rather than quickly burn up. Either way, you will probably be adding more smoke wood several times during the process. There is another alternative, however. Some companies, like A-Maze-N Smoking Products make wonderful little smoke wood pellets that burn great, are inexpensive and last for a long time. They have a special tray that you simply load with the pellets, light one end, and it burns like a fuse, for about 10-14 hours, so you usually never have to add more wood. They even work for cold smoking. There are other pellet brands available as well, and though I have not used all of them, the ones I have used all worked great. I highly recommend using pellets for consistent results.

To Brine is Divine…

I can’t recommend strongly enough that any meat destined for smoking needs to be brined. You will be subjecting the meat to hours and hours of heat and smoke, all of which can dry out meat. Brining causes the individual cells in the meat to become saturated with all the water (and flavor) they can hold. Without going into complicated chemistry, the salt n the brine causes the cells to suck in all the water they can hold. It is because of the natural tendency of everything in the universe to seek a state of equilibrium, also called homeostasis. If one area is hotter than another, the heat and cold will mix with each other to even out the temperature. If something has more salt outside than inside, it will attempt to draw the salty water into itself to equalize everything. Salt cannot cross the cell barrier because the molecules are too big, but the water can, so the cells become saturated. The salt stays on the outside, where it can be rinsed off.

Injecting liquid into the turkey does no good, because the liquid does not absorb into the cells, and most of it just leaks out of the same holes it went in during the long smoking process. Brining is the only way to guarantee a moist, flavorful finished product. It really does make a huge difference.

You can use just about any combination of liquid. Good choices are fruit juices, especially apple, beers and ales, modest amounts of spirits, condiments, etc… Or you can use just plain water. My personal favorite is apple cider. Limit the flavor liquids to no more than 10% of the total liquid, or it can interfere with the brining process.

The amount of salt needs to be 1 cup of salt for every gallon of liquid you use. Any less, and the meat will not absorb the liquid properly. It’s better to err on the side of more salt, rather than less. You will be rinsing the salt off before cooking anyway. The brining process takes about 1 hour per pound, so for a 20 lb. turkey you need to allow at least 20 hours brining time.

So how much liquid to you need? The easiest way to determine how much water you will need is to get your container (I use a cooler) that you will be brining the turkey in, place the turkey in it and cover it with water. Remove the turkey and one gallon of water, and what’s left is how much water you will need. Remember, your turkey must be kept cold during the brining process, so it will have to be in the ‘fridge, or you will be adding ice several times during the process. Unless you have a huge refrigerator, it is easier to use a cooler, and just add ice when needed. When using ice, remember, as it melts it will dilute the brine, so you should increase the salt content of the brine to 1-1/2 or even 2 cups per gallon of liquid to compensate.

There are lots of great brine recipes online. My favorite brine is 2 quarts apple cider, some sage, garlic, onion, a little rosemary, and a little thyme. Add this to one gallon of water and boil it for around 8 minutes. Add this to the rest of the water and stir. Allow this to cool (or g ahead and add the ice), then pour it over the turkey, put on the cooler lid, and check it ever few hours, adding ice when needed. It also doesn’t hurt to turn the turkey once in a while.

When the turkey is brined, rinse it very, very well inside and out, and discard the brine (never, ever use the brine to make a sauce or gravy, as it has been in contact with raw poultry). Pat the bird as dry possible, and let it sit in the refrigerator for a few hours, if you can, to allow it to dry some more. You can add a rub now, if desired.

Stoke the Smoke…

About 30 minutes before you want to start smoking, fire up the smoker and make sure it is putting out smoke ( it doesn’t really take that much smoke for the process to work… ), and it is at between 235ºF – 260ºF. Any less than 235ºF and you risk bacterial contamination. Any more than 260ºF and you stop smoking and start slow-roasting.

Once your smoker is right, put liquids in the water/drip tray if desired, add the turkey, close the smoker, and smoke it for 30 minutes per pound. This means our 20 pound bird will need to smoke for about 10 hours. There is no need to baste, but you can check the bird and turn it every few hours if you want. But do keep a close eye on the temperature and smoke wood, and adjust when necessary.

If you want to barbecue your turkey, begin basting the bird with your favorite sauce during the last 2 hours of cooking. I usually give it a good coat every 30 minutes. Don’t sauce it during the last 15 minutes of smoking, so that it will create a wonderful crispy, spicy crust.

Your turkey is done when the internal temperature in the breast is 180ºF. Remove the bird and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

The Payoff…

Your turkey should have a delectable reddish appearance and smell like a slice of Heaven. It will be tender, moist, and irresistible. There are few things in life that can equal eating smoked turkey. You worked hard. Now it’s time to enjoy the fruits of your labors.

But the smoking process is not over just because the food is done. You need to care for your smoker. After removing the turkey, extinguish the coals, or allow them to burn out by closing all the vents, and let the smoker cool. There is no big hurry, so go ahead and enjoy your banquet. Once everything is cool, remove the ash, but be careful. Even though it feels cool, hot embers can hide in ashes for hours. Kill any embers you find. I usually spray my ashes with the garden hose just to be sure that all embers are dead. Once you are sure all embers are dead, you can just scatter the ashes wherever you want, or place them in a garbage bag and dispose of them. Next, you need to scrub out the smoker. I use the garden hose and a wire brush, but sometimes I take the smoker to a local car wash and blast it with super-hot water and detergent. And don’t forget to clean the grates, as well. However you do it, be sure to rinse it well, then dry it completely. Once it is dry, I coat the insides and grates with a thin coat of olive oil, or food-grade mineral oil. If you don’t, the bottom of your smoker will eventually rust through and your grates will look nasty.

Once everything is done, cover the smoker and store it in a dry area. Now, you can congratulate yourself on a job well done.

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It has become somewhat trendy now to offer fried turkey during the holidays. And what’s not to like? The super crispy thin skin, or the moist, tender meat? When it’s done right, fried turkey is hard to beat.

But what about when things don’t go right? Reports come in every year about turkey frying disasters. Apparently, it is such a danger that the Department of Homeland Security has issued a warning this year on their Twitter feed about the dangers of frying turkeys. Who would’ve ever thought that a cooking method could become a matter of National Security? Is frying a turkey really that much more dangerous than other cooking methods? Let’s examine the issue…

According to the National Fire Prevention Association, each year, 5 people are killed, over 60 people injured, and over 900 homes are destroyed in incidents involving turkey fryers. Of course, all of these incidents are tragic, but in a country with a population of over 321 million, is that enough to constitute a threat to National Security? It seems a bit hysterical to me, but that’s just my opinion. By comparison, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, as of 2016, an average of 102 people die every day from car accidents, but no one seems to be afraid to continue driving. I haven’t heard anything from Homeland Security about that. And what about other home cooking methods? The same statistics for other cooking methods show that an average of 480 people die, over 4000 people will be injured, and over 700 million dollars of property will be damaged, all by cooking. These figures do not include restaurants, being cut by meat slicers and knives, slips and falls, or other common kitchen injuries. I really don’t understand why the focus seems to be all negative towards Turkey Fryers, but I seldom understand mainstream media anyway, so I’m not going to worry about it…

In reality, once all the hype and hysteria is weeded out, frying a turkey is no more dangerous than any other type of cooking, as long as the proper safety precautions and procedures are followed. There is no reason why you can’t enjoy a heaping helping of some delicious fried turkey this year. To this end, I am going to give you some tips to help you make your bird all that it can be.

Why Deep Fry a Turkey?

Frying turkey began as part of the Cajun Cooking craze in the 1970s. Large outdoor propane cookers were used in Louisiana to boil crawfish in massive quantities for huge get-togethers. Someone figured out that you could replace the water with oil, and fry whole turkeys with the same equipment, starting a national trend. It becomes more popular every year. But why?

Most people would agree that fried foods are incredible. A thin, potato chip-like crust with moist, tender and very flavorful meat is an almost irresistible treat. Turkeys are no exception. A properly fried turkey will have an incredible thin, crispy crust, and the meat will remain moist, with all of its flavor intact. The reason is because the hot oil immediately sears the outside of the bird, holding all of the juices and fats inside, so nothing is lost. The turkey cooks much faster (usually less than 1 hour), so there is less danger of the meat getting dry. Think of the difference between baked and fried chicken. Both are great, but most of the time, which do you prefer? Col. Sanders did not create his culinary empire with roasted chicken….

Of course, like anything else, there are also a few downsides to the issue. Many aficionados will try to tell you that frying a turkey is much quicker than roasting one, but this is only true if you don’t count the prep time, time to heat up the oil, clean-up time, and the task of storing and/or disposing of several gallons of used cooking oil. You are also limited as to the size of the bird you can safely fry. Many fryers claim that they can handle any bird up to 18 pounds, but I strongly recommend that you never try to fry any bird larger than 15 pounds, no matter what the manual says. Anything larger increases the risk of a spill-over exponentially. Besides, smaller turkeys fry better. Your better off frying 2 smaller turkeys rather than one large bird. Frying a turkey also requires the use of some specialized equipment, such as a fire-retardant apron, gloves, eye protection in the form of goggles, and a lot of oil. Is it worth it? Well,…several million people think so. And besides…, it’s fun and incredibly cool…

Know Your Equipment

One thing to keep in mind is that it is very important that you know your equipment, and understand how to use it properly and safely. Most mishaps involve people using their fryers for the first time. Be sure to read your Owner’s Manuals from cover to cover, or at least the parts that are written in your language. Make sure you understand how to properly assemble and use your unit. There are many great video tutorials on YouTube, absolutely free to watch. Take advantage of your learning resources. If you have a friend with experience in frying turkeys, it’s a really good idea to get them to supervise you on your first solo flight. Above all, think Safety First. If in doubt, always err on the side of caution. This is true for all types of cooking…

With that being said, let’s take a look at what kinds of equipment you may be using. Turkey fryers are pretty basic. There are two kinds; an outdoor fryer, which is the most popular, and an indoor type, which is basically a large deep fryer with a rotisserie attachment. Outdoor fryers are almost always propane-powered, while indoor fryers are invariably electric.

As you can see, an outdoor fryer consists of an aluminum pot to heat the oil in, and hold the turkey. They usually need around 5 gallons of oil. It has a lid, mostly for safety reasons, and two handles to facilitate moving the pot when necessary. The pot sits in a holder mounted above a propane burner, which is attached to a hose that runs to a standard propane tank, which is usually not included in the purchase, but can be found in almost any hardware store, as well as other places. There is sometimes a valve near the hose fitting that lets you adjust the propane gas flow, thus regulating the temperature. Or, you may just have to use the valve on the propane tank itself. Either way works fine. The entire unit is supported by 3 or 4 legs that hold everything up off of the ground to lessen the chance of starting a fire. Accessories will include a coat hanger-shaped wire rack, used to raise and lower the turkey into and out of the hot oil, and sometimes an oil thermometer. If not, you will definitely need to buy an oil thermometer, and it’s also a good idea to have a meat thermometer as well. We’ll get into those in the next section. As we said earlier, other things you will need are a fire retardant apron, gloves, goggles for eye protection, and a fire extinguisher rated for Class B fires (a large box of baking soda works well as a Type B extinguisher as well).

The advantages of outdoor fryers are that they cost a lot less than indoor fryers, are simple to use and maintain, and are safer, because any mishaps will be outside, and not in the house.

Indoor Turkey Fryers are pretty easy to use. All you have to do to heat them up is plug them in and set your temperature. They require less oil, because the turkey is only half-submerged, and they rotate while cooking so all sides get cooked evenly. Indoor fryers can use as little as 2-1/2 gallons of oil, maybe even less. They can also be used just like any other deep fryer to fry large amounts of french fries, chicken, fish, etc… They usually have a temperature control, and some even have timers. The spit spins the turkey slowly through the oil. The advantages of indoor fryers are ease of use, using less oil, and are less likely to start a fire in the event of a mishap. If you live up north, it may not be desirable to try to fry a turkey outside during a blizzard, snowstorm, rain, or very cold temperatures. An indoor fryer solves that problem.

Prepping For Frying

Before we get into the prep and frying part, the first thing to do is observe safety precautions. Before setting up your fryer, here are the things you should always do:

• The area should be under control at all times. Put your pets in the pen, or wherever, so that they cannot get into the area where you will be frying. Let the children play at a neighbors house, break out the video games, or whatever you need to do to make sure they stay away from the frying area.
• Always use protective gear when using the fryer.
• Never, never, never leave the fryer unattended when it is in operation, not even for a second. If you need to go to the restroom, or whatever, have someone spell you.
• Never use an outdoor fryer indoors, and vice versa. Never use an outdoor fryer in an enclosed space of any kind.
• Make sure the immediate area is free of anything that might be flammable, such as debris, paper, boxes, vegetation, paints and solvents, etc…. The area should be clear for at least 25 feet in all directions. This includes the house, and or garage, storage sheds, etc…
• Always have a fire extinguisher within reach while using the fryer.
• Make sure your turkey is completely thawed out and dry before lowering it into the oil. This is the #1 cause of turkey fryer mishaps. Any water will cause the oil to boil over into the burner, creating a spectacular flame up and fire show.
• Never fill your fryer with oil past the maximum oil marker. It is best to stay below the line.
• Alcohol and or drugs do not mix well with things that make flames or can explode. Leave the cocktails, beer, and wine for later, after you’ve earned it. If your prescription medications advise you not to drive while taking them, then don’t fry either. Let someone else do it, while you supervise… Make sure you are well rested, and don’t try to fry a turkey when you are sleepy. Be physically prepared, and alert.

Prepping for frying a turkey starts well before the actual frying, as much as 10 days in advance. The first thing to do is select a turkey. As we said earlier, smaller is better. A 15 pound bird is ideal. Whether you use a Hen or a Tom turkey is a matter of personal preference. Hens are smaller and have smaller bones, so they may be slightly preferable to Toms for frying.

A B-B-B-Bird, Bird, Bird. The Bird Is The Word…

All turkeys are not created equal. There is actually a very wide spread of quality available, ranging from what I consider to be marginally edible, to outstanding, and price is not always the indicating factor.

Whether you use a fresh or frozen turkey is up to personal preference and availability. Unfrozen turkeys are seldom available in time to properly prepare them for frying. They are usually only available right before the holidays, within a day or two. Heritage Turkeys must be ordered a year or more in advance, and are only killed and dressed when ready to be prepped and cooked. However, they have the best texture and flavor of any turkey you can buy, by a large margin. The best Heritage breeds are Narragansetts and Bourbon Reds. Wild Turkeys have to be harvested during the legal hunting seasons, but are superior to any other turkey in terms of taste, texture, and are perfectly sized for frying. The drawback is that they have less white meat than all other turkeys, but the dark meat is so good…who cares???

The next thing to consider is the way the turkey was processed. You have a few choices:

• Self-Basting, or Injected Turkeys: These birds have had vegetable oil and saline solutions injected into them during processing, supposedly to keep them moist during cooking, but actually, it is done to add preservatives, color enhancers and extra flavors to offset the blandness of the commercially raised turkey breeds. The meat texture is somewhat stringy. Since they are already injected, brining may give you a different and unexpected result. The only advantages to these are that they are cheap, and widely available.
• Natural Turkeys: By USDA Regulations, turkeys labeled as “Natural” have to be raised without the use of animal by-product feeds, must be free range, and never been given growth hormones, or antibiotics, except for external parasite control. They cannot be processed with any additives, preservatives, or extra flavorings whatsoever. These are only nominally more expensive than Self-Basting birds, and are much better in terms of flavor and texture.
• Organic Turkeys: By USDA Regulations, they must meet all the criteria for a “Natural” certification, and also be Free-Range. Free Range is sort of misleading as far as commercial turkeys go, for reasons I’ll explain shortly. Suffice to say you can ignore the “Free-Range” labeling on any commercial turkey.
• Heritage Turkeys: Top-of-the-Line for a purchased turkey, by any standard you want to set. These are very specific breeds, raised humanely, and actually are free roaming for their entire lives, have never been fed artificial, GMO, or processed feeds, antibiotics, hormones, and have no preservatives or artificial ingredients added during processing. They must be ordered at least a year in advance, as a rule, and are custom-raised to your specifications. They are only harvested at the last minute, when you are actually ready to prep them. The flavor and texture is superior to any other bird, save for a wild turkey you harvested yourself. They are leaner, and have less white meat than a commercial turkey, but the dark meat is superior in flavor to a commercial turkey’s white meat. They can cost upwards from around $6.00 per pound, but are more than worth it. Everyone should try a Heritage bird at least once in their lives…

*Note-A word about commercially bred turkeys: Any supermarket turkey you buy will be of one breed, and one breed only; the Broadbreasted White. They are so far removed from a real wild turkey that I don’t think they should be allowed to be called turkeys. They cannot breed with a wild turkey. These birds have been selectively bred to produce a turkey with the maximum amount of white meat possible. Their breasts are so large that they can’t even mate by themselves, and have to be artificially enseminated. As for “Free-Range”, Broadbraested Whites are so top-heavy that they can barely walk, so just because they left the pen door open, that doesn’t mean the turkey went out for a long stroll. Whites don’t ‘Range’ anywhere, and can barely waddle to the food dish. Without additives and flavorings, their meat is stringy and tasteless. If how the bird was raised and cared for is important to you, then your options are limited to Heritage or wild turkeys. I highly recommend Narragansetts and Bourbon Reds..outstanding birds.

Turkey Frying 101

We have our turkey. Now it’s time to go to work. If the turkey is frozen (most likely), we must thaw it out. Turkeys should be thawed in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours for every 4 pounds, so for a 15-lb. turkey, we are looking at 4 days to thaw. I will stress again, the turkey must be completely thawed before you attempt to fry it. Even ‘thawed’ or ‘previously-frozen” turkeys from the store are often still be frozen in the center, so they should also be thawed for at least a day, just to be sure.

This is going to sound really dumb, but the next thing to do is to remove the bag inside the body cavity that contains the liver, giblets, and the neck. It seems like common sense, but you would be surprised at how many people forget this and try to cook the turkey with the gut bag inside. It won’t ruin your turkey, but you will be the subject of many turkey jokes for years to come…. You can discard the parts, or re-freeze them to cook later in other things. The necks, in particular, make great turkey and rice or noodle soup, and the livers are wonderful fried by themselves, or wrapped in bacon and broiled. The giblets make outstanding gravy.

The next thing to do is to remove those dumb little plastic pop-outs, if your turkey has one. They are supposed to tell you when the turkey is done. They lie, and no decent cook needs a piece of plastic to tell them when a turkey is done. The plastic could melt during frying, or give off harmful chemicals when exposed to hot oil. Besides, they are just plain dumb and insulting.

Now we can get down to the important business of brining our bird. Nothing effects the outcome of your turkey as much as brining. It does more than just flavor the bird. It ensures that the moisture and flavorings become incorporated into each individual cell of the meat. You should always brine any meat you plan to roast, smoke or grill. The best way to do this is to get a food service bucket or large cooler, big enough to hold the turkey, and completely cover it with liquid and ice. Now, place the turkey in the container, and cover it with water. Next, remove the turkey and measure the water. This is how much brining liquid you will need. Be sure to adjust the water in the brine recipe to compensate for adding ice periodically. Make your brine according to your favorite recipe, and add it, and the turkey to your container. Top it off with as much ice as it will hold. Seal it with the lid. I allow 30 minutes per pound and it has always come out right, so for a 15 lb. turkey, allow at least 8 hours to brine. 12 hours is not too much, so overnight is fine. Check the ice every few hours and add more when necessary. Your turkey needs to stay in the 43º to 46º range while brining.

Once the brining is complete, remove the turkey from the brine, and discard the liquid. Do not ever use brine for anything after it has had raw meat in it. Next, rinse the bird very thoroughly inside and out, making sure to wash off all of the brine residue. Now, pat the bird completely dry inside and out. The drier the better. Place the bird in the refrigerator while you fire up the fryer. Be sure to use all the protective equipment and safety procedures. And most of all, make sure the turkey is secure when raising and lowering it, so as not to drop it into the oil.

If using an outdoor fryer, after you have gone through the safety checklist I previously mentioned, before you use any oil or apply any heat to the fryer, place the turkey in the fryer. Now, add enough oil to cover the bird, without going over the max fill line. If using an indoor fryer, follow the owners manual instructions for how much oil to add. Now, remove the bird, hold it over the pot and let as much oil drip off of if as possible. Some people use water to determine how much oil to use, but in my experience, you can never dry the pot back out enough by wiping it with a paper towel or cloth to be 100% sure it will not spit and splatter when the oil gets hot. My way is messier, but safer… Place the bird on a plate or tray and return it to the refrigerator or cooler until the oil is hot. You can wipe off the excess oil, or just leave it alone. It won’t hurt anything, but it may get your cooler messy.

*Note-A word about oils. For deep frying, I strongly suggest that you use nothing but either Cottonseed Oil or Peanut Oil. Cottonseed oil is the very best because it has no flavor or odor, an extremely high smoke point, and lasts longer than any other oil before breaking down or becoming rancid. Peanut oil has a very mild flavor and odor, a high smoke point, and last a good while before becoming unusable. All other oils have too low a smoke point, flame up easily, and break down in no time. Save the olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable oil, corn oil, etc… for pan frying and baking.

Now, according to your owners manual instructions, hook up your propane, light the burner and heat the oil to 350ºF, not 345ᵒ, not 365ᵒ, but 350ᵒ. Use a thermometer. When the oil gets hot, lower the turkey slowly into the oil, a little at a time. If the oil acts like it wants to boil up, raise the turkey a little until it calms back down. Once you have eased the turkey all the way in, unhook the handle. Allow the turkey to fry for about 3 minutes per pound, so a 15 lb. turkey will take around 45 minutes to fry. The turkey is done when the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 145ºF, but it’s not that critical. I have gone as high as 180ºF and the turkey was still fine. Turn off the burner and raise the turkey from the oil. Hold it over the pot for a few minutes and let the excess oil drain off. Your turkey is now perfect, and ready for presentation.

If using an indoor fryer, start by making sure the turkey is completely dry inside and out. Next, skewer the turkey on the spit. The bird must be secure on the spit, so the best way is to go through the breast just under the wishbone, and exit near one of the thighs. Now, you need to truss up all the loose parts like the wings and legs, so that they stay against the body, and not flop around while the bird is spinning. There are lots of ways to do this, so use your favorite method. I use kitchen string, and just tie everything against the body. Place the skewered and trussed turkey in the basket according to the manuals instructions. Give it a couple of spins to be sure nothing gets caught. If so, remove the turkey, fix it and try again. Once the turkey spins free, you are ready to fry. Fill the oil tank to the fill line or just below, and turn the unit on. When the oil reaches the correct cooking temperature, slowly lower the basket into the tank. From here, simply follow the manuals instructions. As a rule, allow 3 minutes per pound cooking time, so a 15 lb. bird will take about 45 minutes to cook. The bird is done when the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 145ºF. When the bird is done, turn off the rotisserie, raise the basket and place it in the drain holders so the oil can drain off the turkey. Turn off the unit.

Whichever fryer you use, your turkey is ready. Serve it however you want and enjoy. Once everything is cooled down, be sure to clean up and properly store everything. The oil can be stored and reused for up to 6 months. If you are disposing of it, please do it properly, and not just pour it out in the yard. It is very bad for the environment, Either place it into containers and take it to a recycling center, or put it in the trash. Never mix it with scented or disinfectant type kitty litters to solidify it. They can react with the oil and cause a spontaneous fire.

Conclusion

As long as proper procedures and safety precautions are followed, there is no reason why you can’t enjoy some delicious fried turkey this year. The extra work is more than worth it, and it is a lot of fun. Holidays only come around once a year, so make the most of it. Be a Frequent Fryer, and treat yourself, friends, family, neighbors, and whoever…to a memorable holiday feast this year.

Bon Apetit, and Happy Holidays…

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Even among professional grillmiesters, it is appalling to me how many do not understand why meat should rest before it is served. More delicious meat has been destroyed by this error than by any other mistake cooks have made in the entire known history of cooking. If you never learn anything else about food, please commit to memory the fact that most meat needs to rest before serving. Here’s why:

Meat is composed of protein chains (coils, actually) made up of amino acids. Amino acids, when heated, undergo a change called denaturing, which means their basic configuration changes somewhat, along with some of their physical characteristics. In the case of cooking, the protein chains contract, exerting pressure on the water contained within the molecules. Water is not compressible, so it has to go somewhere. One of the laws of physics is that non-compressable fluids will move from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure, in this case, a lower temperature. So what happens is all the juice moves from the surface areas of the meat, to the center, where it is cooler. The ‘sizzle’ you hear when meat is placed on a hot grill is some of the juices being forcefully expelled from the tissues before they have time to move to the center. This is not necessarily a good thing, but a small amount is unavoidable.

While we are cooking our cut of meat to an internal temperature of 180°F, the outside tissues can reach 200°F or higher. So, when we remove the meat from the heat, most of the juice is at the interior end of the protein fibers. If you then immediately slice into the muscle fibers, exposing them to cooler air, the juices will rush out in a flood, much like slicing into the side of a full plastic coke bottle. 15 to 20% of the flavor goes out with the juice. And the damage is irreparable. Simply dipping the meat in the juice as you eat will not place it back in the fibers where it belongs. The meat is permanently ruined.

When meat is removed from the heat, and cools, the process is reversed. The first thing that happens, is that the internal temperature of the meat continues to rise after cooking has stopped, due  thermodynamics (called Carry-Over Cooking by professional grillers). Now the juice will move back to the outside of the meat, as it cools, and the internal temperature rises, evenly distributing the juice and flavors throughout the meat. When the meat is sliced, the juices will tend to stay in the meat where they belong, due to surface tension (another physics principle). You now have a moist, succulent piece of meat that has the maximum flavor possible. Another benefit of resting meat is that it allows the temperature of the meat to even out, so that the outside is not hotter than the inside. This will also greatly improve the flavor of your culinary masterpiece.

You can prove this to yourself very easily. Get a good cut of meat that you really enjoy eating (boneless if possible) and cut it into 6 even pieces. Cook these 6 pieces equally, at the same time, and place them on 6 separate plates. Now, cut into one immediately and observe the results, and taste. You will most likely wind up with a gush of juice in the plate.  Next, slice into the other cuts at intervals of 3 minutes each, and observe the results. You will find that the longer the meat sets, the more juice it retains, and the more flavorful it will be.

The amount of resting time depends on the size of the piece of meat, and the temperature it was cooked to, but even thin cuts like chicken breasts and hamburgers benefit from 5 minutes of rest before serving. The times are not exact, but a good rule of thumb is that steaks, chicken pieces or breasts, burgers, pork chops, and fish should all rest for at least 5-10 minutes before serving. For larger cuts such as roasts, turkeys, and hams, 20-30 minutes is about right. Be sure to place the meat in a juice-catching tray and cover loosely with foil.

The next time you see juices flowing from a steak that you have ordered, you will know that it has been abused, and you can impress the cooking staff with your new-found knowledge.  You can proceed with confidence in explaining to them why meat should rest before it is served.

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Which brings us to the question; To sauce, or not to sauce…..I refuse to be drawn into the volatile argument on whether it is appropriate to pour sauce on a good steak, or not. It is your steak. Eat it anyway you want. I eat mine all kinds of different ways, depending on my mood, and what is available. I will, however, chime in on the relative merits of some of the more commonly available commercial steak sauces.

Here is my Top 5 Best Steak Sauce List

1. Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce – the oldest commercially-bottled condiment in the world, and still one of the best. A fish sauce called garum was a staple of the Roman Empire, especially in the Mediterranean. Like many great things, the modern evolution of this wonderful sauce was an accident. A few years prior to 1838, Lady Sandys, wife to the 2nd Baron of Worcestershire, had borrowed some special curry powder from a friend. It had been brought from India, and was somewhat unique, in that it contained dried anchovies, and was called garum. It was very difficult to obtain, so she took some of it to chemists John Lea, and William Perrins to see if they could duplicate it. They were doubtful, but tried anyway. The resulting spice mix was wonderful, and they wondered if, in a solution, it might make a good condiment. They mixed some up, but it was so strong they classified it as ‘inedible’, and stored the barrel in a back office at their shop on Midland Rd, Worcestershire. It was forgotten for a while, and it fermented, mellowing out significantly, much like soy sauce. In 1937, the barrel was discovered while trying to make more office space, and the contents was examined. The resulting sauce was outstanding, and in 1838, Lea and Perrins made it available to the public. Even though Heinz bought Lea and Perrins in 2005, the sauce is still made in the same Midland Rd. factory. Lea and Perrins is the only real Worcestershire Sauce. That being said, Worcestershire Sauce is one of the few condiments that actually compliments the taste of steak, rather than covering it up. It has a slightly tart, slightly smokey taste that is wonderful on most grilled meats, and as a base for other sauces.
2. A.1. Steak Sauce – another legendary sauce that originated in England. The original A.1. Sauce was created in 1824 by Henderson William Brand, personal chef to King George IV. He made a sauce for a special dinner from orange puree, raisins, vinegar, and other herbs and spices. It is said that the King declared it ,”A.1.”, which was a popular saying at that time, having to do with keeping ledgers. It meant, “top of the list’. It was a resounding success, and in 1831, Brand marketed his creation to the public. The Brand company changed hands many times over the years, finally to Kraft Foods in 1999, but the sauce remains unchanged for the most part. It has a slightly smokey, slightly sweet, slightly fruity taste that does not not stomp on the flavor of the meat. A true classic.
3. Catsup – this is such an old condiment that no one knows it’s exact origin, or the date of it’s birth. We do know that as far back as the 1690, the Chinese made a sauce from anchovies and spices, and by the 1800s, it had spread all over Europe and Asia. It was called (in Mandarin) kê-chiap, meaning “fish brine”. The modern version was created by an American, Sandy Addison, in 1801, and was identical to the original except for the addition of cooked tomatoes. By 1837, ‘Catsup’, or ‘Ketchup’ was being nationally distributed by a man named Jonas Yerks. F & J Heinz bought the company in 1876, and the rest is history. Catsup has become the #1 most loved condiment in the world. People put it on anything, and everything. You can get kids to eat anything, as long as you put catsup on it. You can go into someone’s house that only has a bag of potato chips, and a jar of instant coffee in their cupboard, but there will be a bottle of catsup on the shelf somewhere. You’d be hard-pressed to go into any kitchen in the US, commercial or private, that does not have catsup in it somewhere. Maybe because it makes such a good base for other sauces, such as barbecue sauce, and hot sauce. Heck, in an emergency, I have even used it as a base for a very passable spaghetti sauce. So it is little wonder that many people, especially youngsters, delight in pouring mounds of it on their steak. The sweet, fruity, tomato-y taste does blend pretty good with just about everything.
4. Barbecue Sauce – this one is tough, because there are so many different types, from vinegar-based, to mustard-based, to tomato-based, and in my opinion, they are all great. Many a fight has started over discussions of which barbecue sauce is best, so I will not dwell on that here. The origins of most of them are lost to antiquity, anyway. It’s enough to say that the universal smokey flavor of almost any barbecue sauce will certainly compliment the taste of any steak.
5. Heinz 57 – Developed in 1911 at H. J. Heinz and Co., it was never intended to be a condiment. It was made thick so that it could be used as a grilling sauce, while the meat was still cooking. Nevertheless, there are people who love the astringent, tart, slightly bitter sauce right from the bottle. Used as a grilling sauce, much of the tart and bitterness goes away, and it makes a delicious, slightly tart, smokey covering on burgers and other grilled meats. As a grilling sauce, it is one of the best. As a condiment, the taste always reminds me of bitter oranges, catsup, a lot of yellow mustard seed, and a little vinegary. Some people will use nothing else (except maybe catsup….). As the Vulcans say, “ Infinite diversity in infinite combinations”. Heinz 57 is most certainly a good example for that. Oh, the name…..despite all the urban myths surrounding how it got it’s name, the truth is that the company president, Henry J. Heinz, regarded the number ’57’ as his personal lucky number. For lack of a better name, they simply called their creation ‘Heinz 57 Sauce’.

These were listed in the order of my personal preferences. As always, your mileage may vary. Whether you sauce, or not, just remember, any steak is better than none at all (in my opinion….).

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It’s no secret that over-fishing is a major problem. Certain species, like Yellowfin, and some subspecies of Bluefin Tuna have been depleted to the point of being threatened and endangered. Yet, nothing has been done to realistically limit commercial fishing for them. A report issued by the PEW Environmental Group (view report) states that even though commercial tuna catches are regulated, the total amount of tuna sold commercially exceeds 141% over the allowable limit. How do we interpret this? Either some fish are being sold two or even three times (unlikely), or the quotas are not being enforced (most likely). Many scientists have estimated that at the current harvest rates, all species of tuna could collapse within 5 years (Global population trajectories of tunas and their relatives– PNAS 2011 108 (51) 20650-20655; National Academy of Sciences) , making them, in effect, a commercially extinct species. Newfoundland’s cod-fishing industry suffered a complete collapse in 1998, and has never recovered. Stocks of salmon are less than 30% of what they were just 10 years ago, on both the east and west coasts of the U.S. (Rebuilding Global Fisheries, Dr. Boris Worm, et al. Science 31 July 2009: Vol. 325 no. 5940 pp. 578-585 DOI: 10.1126/science.1173146). And we all know what happened with whales. Even though whaling has been outlawed, a few renegade countries (mainly Japan, Iceland, and Norway), and some Native American and other aboriginal peoples, will kill over 7400 whales this year (Report of the International Whaling Commission 2011, Chapter 5) .

Clearly, something needs to be done before it is too late. But what? Realistically, there are only two ways to address the problem. We either need to decrease the demand for fish, or increase the available amount. As the figures have shown, regulation has done little to help the situation. The problem with regulations are that they are only as good as your ability to enforce them. There is no world “Police Force” that has jurisdiction everywhere, and countries like Japan and Norway have demonstrated that there are those who will not honor the ‘Honor-System’. And even the countries that want to regulate fishing can only do it within their Territorial Waters, as a rule up to 200 miles from shore, less in some areas. International treaties would be required, and they are very difficult to get signed, and even harder to enforce. And it is unrealistic to think that the World-Wide fishing industry is going to voluntarily shut-down, or even slow down as long as they are making money.

So the other solution may be to increase stocks. Obviously, this isn’t going to happen in the wild as long as commercial fishing is still allowed. The other option is to commercially raise fish on fish farms. Fish farming (also known as Aquaculture) is actually a very ancient business, dating back as far as 6000 BC. China commercially raised carp as far back as 2500 AD, and the Romans raised fish in ponds, similar to modern catfish farms. So it’s not really a new idea. The only new part is the type of species we are trying to raise. Non-migratory fish like carp, catfish and tilapia are easy to raise. China developed a way to raise eels thousands of years ago, and many cultures have been raising shrimp, lobsters, crabs and shellfish for a long time. All these species really need is enough clean water, and food, and they do just fine. Pelagic and wide-ranging species like salmon, and tuna are more problematic. They have to be penned in the ocean, which is a harsh environment, and they are much more susceptible to diseases and parasites, namely, sea lice. However, just like any new technology, the bugs (sorry, I couldn’t resist the temptation….) are being worked out.

Some of the objections to fish-farming are:

• Farmed fish may escape and damage the ecosystem – this is due to confusion between farmed fish, which are just penned up wild fish, or their progeny, and GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) fish, which are both farmed, and released into the wild through stocking programs. As a rule, GMO fish don’t do well in the wild, with the exceptions being a few hybrids such as Tiger Trout (a cross between Rainbow and Brown Trout), and some bass hybrids. Albino Trout (A Rainbow trout genetically engineered to be white so anglers can see them), for instance, seldom survive one season in streams, are sterile, and fishermen hate them because the flesh is soft and tasteless. Almost all GMO fish are sterile females, meaning they cannot reproduce on their own. Genetic Engineering has had much more success with plants, than animals. So far, no species has become extinct, or even threatened because of GMO animals. Actually, all livestock is GMO. It just wasn’t done in a lab.
• The fish farms damage the environment – this is a legitimate concern, and some unscrupulous farms are guilty of damaging the ecosystem, just like some land farmers and ranchers do. This problem is easily solved by regulation and enforcement. It’s a new idea for us, and it may take a few years for the legislation to catch up, just like with computers, the internet, en vitro fertilizations, homosexuality, and this list goes on. The fact is, there are environmentally-friendly ways to operate fish farms, and most are doing it well. Good closed fish farms filter their water before allowing it to go back into the stream, pond or ocean, and they try not to over-crowd the fish. Open water farms use accepted and proven methods to limit the effect the farm has on the environment. Bad fish farms just deplete the environment, pack up, and start over somewhere else. But even in this case, the eco-system does recover in time.
• Fish Farms increase the spread of diseases like sea lice – this concern is over-rated. Sea lice are mostly dangerous to juvenile fish, which seldom hang around fish farms. Juvenile fish are trying to get back to the ocean. They can get sea lice from farmed fish while swimming by, but studies have show that the mortality rate is not much more than what they face anyway (fish have a high mortality in nature, which is why they lay thousands of eggs at a time…). Most antibiotics have been replaced by vaccines in farmed fish, which are much safer and more effective. Also, most pens are now using copper-alloy wire, which is anti-biotic in and of itself, corrosion-resistant, and much safer for both the fish, and the environment.
• Farmed fish are not as nutritious as wild fish – this one is pure hocum. Farmed fish are nutritionally identical to their wild counterparts, if they are the same species, and come from the same water. Farmed fish may have a slightly higher fat content (they get less exercise by not having to escape from predators….), but still far, far below what even extra-lean beef, chicken and pork have. GMO fish can be a little different, but they are seldom farmed, because they are so fragile, especially when young. GMO fish, especially the new strain of Atlantic salmon (called the AquaAdvantage Salmon), have been exhaustingly studied and pronounced perfectly safe to eat by the FDA, and most other regulatory organizations in the world. Most GMO fish come from hatcheries, or land-based fish farms. The truth of the matter is that to date, there has been no record of any deaths, or major health problems from the consumption of farmed, or GMO fish anywhere in the world. The Frankenfish myth is just that…a myth.

You can’t get something for nothing. If you will notice, a lot of the people that gripe about declining fish populations are the same ones complaining about fish farms and GMOs. A study is often quoted by detractors (Science 9 January 2004: Vol. 303 no. 5655 pp. 226-229 DOI: 10.1126/science.109144- Global Assessment of Organic Contaminants in Farmed SalmonRonald A. Hites, Jeffery A. Foran, David O. Carpenter, M. Coreen Hamilton, Barbara A. Knuth, Steven J. Schwager) purporting to show that farmed salmon have higher levels of PCBs and other contaminants in them, but the FDA and others found that the levels were still far below the safety-issue level, and the EPA guidelines are issued for all salmon, not just farmed. They also ignore the fact that wild fish contain very high levels of mercury, and other contaminants, and commercial fishing really does destroy environments. Nets often tear up fragile reef systems, the ships engines dump pollutants into the water, and they destroy thousands of other unwanted species through collateral damage, including some whale and dolphin species.

Private industry has risen to the challenge of dwindling fish supplies, and they are doing a very good job. At present, almost 50% of all fish and seafood sold in stores is farm-raised. That means more of those fish in the wild may survive to breed for another year. So go ahead and enjoy a nice farm-raised salmon steak. It won’t hurt you, and the worlds oceanic ecosystems will be better for it.

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Many people think that cooking a cut-up chicken is easier, but that is not necessarily true. There are many advantages to cooking a chicken whole:

• It is more economical. Chicken pieces are generally priced 30% more per pound, or even more, than whole chicken. In fact, whole chicken is probably the least expensive meat you can eat. On sale, sometimes whole chicken can be purchased for as little as .50 cents a pound. Dog Food costs more than that.
• It may seem like there is more waste to a whole chicken because of bones, the neck, gizzards and liver, but nothing could be further from the truth. The entire carcass, skin, fat, bones, liver, neck and gizzards can be boiled into delicious chicken stock, to be used in other recipes, to make gravy, and soups, and the liver, gizzards and neck can be broiled, baked or fried, and eaten by themselves.
• Whole chickens retain more moisture, are less prone to drying out, and retain more flavor than pieces.
• Whole chickens require less manual labor in preparation.
• Whole chickens can be cooked in more ways than pieces.
• Serving whole chicken is more elegant and impressive than pieces.

From a nutritional standpoint, chicken is an all-star. It has less fat, and cholesterol than any other meat except fish, is high in protein, and has no carbohydrates.

Any great chicken dish starts long before the bird gets anywhere near an oven or grill. You need to know how to select the best bird, proper care and handling, and safety tips. Chickens can be contaminated by e. coli bacteria, but proper selection, handling and cooking techniques reduce the risk to very near zero.

When selecting a chicken, only buy from a supplier you trust. Most reputable markets keep their coolers clean, and monitor temperatures closely. And stick to brand name chickens, like Tyson, Pilgrims Pride, or my favorite, Perdue. The larger producers exercise more quality control than smaller suppliers.

Next, decide what type of chicken you want. You can get a chicken 3 ways: live, fresh, and frozen. Live is best, but most people are too squeamish about killing one themselves for that to be an option. Likely, as not, a live chicken will wind up as a pet, rather than an entrée, so this is not much of an option. The next best is a fresh chicken, meaning that it is not frozen. This is a good option if you plan to cook it within the next few hours. If not, then you need a frozen chicken.

For fresh chickens, make sure the cooler they are kept in is at least 40 degrees F or cooler, the bird is tightly wrapped with no leaks or tears in the package, and it is within its Sell-By date. Never buy a chicken with a strong ‘birdy’ smell.

For frozen chicken, be sure it is rock-solid frozen, with no tears or rips in the package, and it is within the Sell-By date. Select your chicken at the very end of your shopping trip to insure that it stays cold as long as possible.

When checking out at the counter or register, be certain that your chicken is not bagged, or has any physical contact with any other unwrapped groceries, like produce. Chicken should be bagged separately from all other groceries.

You should go directly home, and place your chicken in the cooler, or freezer as soon as possible. Your chicken should not be out of a cooler or freezer for more than 30 minutes. Never re-freeze a thawed chicken. When handling chicken, wash your hands before touching anything else, and do not use any utensils, knives, cutting boards, rags or towels that have had contact with raw chicken, or juice, on anything else until after they are washed in very hot water, and chlorine bleach.

How to cook a whole chicken depends on what you want the end result to be. There are many different ways to prepare a whole chicken, but certain tips and guidelines are common to all methods.

Never leave a chicken out of the cooler or freezer for more than 30 minutes. You can cook a whole chicken without even thawing it out. Just multiply the cooking time by 1-1/2. If you are going to thaw a bird out in the sink, clean the sink out  very well with a chlorine bleach solution of at least 10% first, place the chicken in very cold water, and change the water every 30 minutes. Freezers should be at, or very near 0 degrees F.

If you plan to use the microwave to thaw your chicken (not recommended), follow the manufacturer’s direction. When thawing in the refrigerator, allow 5 hours per pound. If you are thawing the bird in the sink, allow 30 minutes per pound. After the bird is thawed, examine it closely. If there is any gray coloring, slime, sour, or strong ‘birdy’ smell, return it to the store. Do not use it. If all is well with the chicken, make sure you cook it the same day it is thawed.

Always remove the bag inside the cavity of the bird, that contains the neck, liver and gizzards before cooking, and wash the bird inside and out thoroughly. Avoid cross-contamination of towels, knives, cutting boards, etc… Wash your hands before handling any other foods or utensils. Once your chicken is thawed, get it prepped and in the fire as soon as possible. Never leave a chicken sitting out more than 30 minutes.

Always truss a chicken if you are stuffing it, or putting it in a rotisserie. This keeps the stuffing in the bird during cooking, and keeps the legs and wings from hitting the heating elements and burning as it spins in a rotisserie. It also helps the entire bird to cook evenly.

Most importantly, never serve any chicken until it has an internal temperature at the thickest point, of at least 180 degrees, or if smoking it, 165 degrees F.

Always allow a cooked chicken to ‘rest’ for 10-15 minutes before serving. This allows the juices to settle, and the flavors to develop more fully. It also keeps your dinner guests from burning their lips and mouths on very hot chicken.

There are many opinions on how to cook a whole chicken. They can be roasted, baked, cooked on a rotisserie, slow cooked in a crock pot, pressure cooked, boiled, steamed, grilled, smoked, or even cooked on a campfire. There are several tricks common to all of these methods.

• Assemble all of your ingredients, and tools you will need before prepping the bird.
• Turn on the oven, start heating the water for boiling or steaming, or fire up the grill or smoker before starting to prep your bird. Then, they will be ready to cook when the chicken is.
• Make any basting sauces or glazes up ahead of time. If your are stuffing the chicken, have the stuffing mixed and ready to go.
• When cooking a chicken, temperature is more important than time. Use a meat thermometer to monitor the chicken’s internal temperature. It is done when it is at 167 degrees F if smoking, or 180 degrees F for all other methods.
• If you intend to remove the skin, do it AFTER cooking. Otherwise you will end up with a dry, tough, inedible bird.
• If you are going to use the marinade, or brine as a baste, sauce, or gravy, boil it before reusing it.
• When brining a chicken, always do it in the refrigerator. Never leave a raw chicken out of the cooler for more than 30 minutes.
• Save the carcass, bones, skin and any unused parts. Pick as much meat as possible from them, and use that later in chicken salad, soup, etc… The bones, skin and carcass can be placed in boiling water with spices for an hour or so, then removed and discarded. The remaining liquid is chicken stock, known to most kitchen professionals as ‘liquid gold’. This can be used in soup, gravies, for cooking rice, potatoes, etc

Different cooking methods require some different tricks of the trade:

Brining a Whole Chicken

I learned to cook at a very early age, and I remember that anytime anyone was going to roast, bake, smoke or barbecue a chicken, or turkey, they always brined it first. It seems to have gone out of style in these days of fast food, and instant gratification, which is a shame. A brined chicken or turkey is very much superior, with a full robust flavor and juicy, tender meat. It is a lost cooking secret.

The word ‘Brine’ refers to any liquid with a high salt concentration. Brining works by a process called osmosis.  Poultry has little natural salt in its tissues, so when it is surrounded by a high-salt liquid, a chemical reaction takes place to attempt to equalize the amount of salt on the inside with that of the outside, drawing the salt and the water into the tissues and saturating them. If there are any herbs, spices and other flavorings in the water, they go into the tissues as well. This results in a very moist, plump, ultra tender bird, with a full, complex flavor.

Brining is easy, and just takes a little extra time and planning ahead. Use a large bowl that can be covered, or bucket with a lid, that will fit in the refrigerator. You can also use a marinating bag, but I have never been happy with the results using these. For a chicken up to 10 pounds, usually a gallon of water is plenty. You just need to cover the bird. If needed, you can place a weight in a zip lock bag, and insert it into the body cavity to keep the bird submerged. Just remember to take it out before cooking. Place the chicken in the bowl, or bucket, and prepare the brine.

The amount of salt to add is easy. The proper ratio is 1:16, or 1 cup of salt to a gallon of water. Dissolve the salt in the water, add your spices and flavorings, and slowly pour it over the chicken. Place a lid on it, and set it in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours prior to cooking, turning it over every couple of hours. The rule is to soak it for 45 minutes per pound of weight. When you are ready to cook it, just remove the bird from the brine, pat it dry inside and out, and use your favorite recipe. Do not re-use the brine, or let it come into contact with anything else. Discard it immediately.

Trussing a Chicken

I never cook any chicken without trussing it, unless it is going to be in a liquid, such as boiling, or in a pressure cooker/crock-pot/slow-cooker. This is another chef’s secret. If you do not truss your chicken or turkey, heat accumulates in the body cavity, causing the breast to get done before the rest of the chicken, so that it becomes dry and tough by the time the rest of the bird is finished. Trussing eliminates this problem. It also holds the legs and wings in close to the body so that the entire bird cooks evenly. It helps the bird keep its shape, especially when on a spit in a rotisserie. And lastly, if you are stuffing the body cavity, it keeps the ingredient inside the bird. Another good trick to keep the breast from becoming dry is to place lemon or lime wedges and onion quarters in the body cavity. These help to hold the moisture in, as well as imparting some wonderful flavors and aromas. To truss a chicken or turkey:

• Place the chicken on the counter, breast-side up, facing away from you (the body cavity opening will be facing away from you, and the drumsticks will be pointing away from you). Run your string underneath the tail.
• Bring the ends of the string up and cross them over the tail.
• Cross the strings under the tips of the drumsticks from the inside, then loop around them once and pull the strings tight.
• Turn the chicken over.
• Cross the strings over the back of the chicken or turkey, and center one string over each wing.
• Turn the bird back over.
• Pull the strings tight, pulling the wings against the body.
• Tie the strings in a knot and trim the loose ends as close to the knot as you can.
• Gently shake the bird a few times to make sure everything is secure.

Smoking a Whole Chicken

If you’ve never tasted a savory, smoked chicken, or turkey, then you have really missed out on one of life’s special treats It is one of my favorite cooking methods. Smokers can be purchased, or made very inexpensively. You don’t need anything fancy. It can be done on a standard grill, or Hibatchi if it has a lid. There are just two ‘secrets’ to perfect smoking: the bird must be cooked over indirect heat, and the temperature of the smoker must never exceed 255 degrees F, or drop below 240 degrees F. It’s a good idea to brine and truss your birds before smoking them.

Many different types of wood can be used, and experimentation will allow you to find your favorite. Here is a list of my favorite woods for poultry:

• Alder-mild with a slightly sweet overtone.
• Almond-sweet and nutty.
• Apricot-similar to hickory, but slightly milder. Good for when you don’t want as much ‘smokey’ flavor
• Cherry-sweet and very fruity.
• Cottonwood-mild, subtle and slightly woody. Works with all meats. A Texas favorite for camp-outs.
• Hickory-the undisputed King of Smoke Woods. Strong, pungent and ‘smoky’. Without hickory, there would be no bacon, or ham, and the world would be way less fun. Hickory can be used for all meats and fish.
• Mesquite-second only to hickory, strong, earthy and very woodsy. The absolute best for chicken, beef, and most game.
• Pecan-similar in character to oak, but milder, sweeter, and a little less ‘woody’. Great for chicken and fish

Soak your wood chips for several hours in water, then wrap them in foil packets and punch lots of holes in them. Then all you have to do is throw them on the coals periodically, and they last for hours.

To use a normal grill, put your charcoal on one side of the grill, and start it just as you would for grilling. You can adjust the temperature by the number of briquettes you use, and the air vent. When the coals are ready, throw a packet of wood on them, and put the bird on the rack on the other side of the grill, not over the coals. Now close the lid and find something to do for a few hours.

Check the temperature every so often, and rotate/flip the bird about every hour. Use a meat thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of the meat. The bird is done when the temperature of the meat is 167=175 degrees F.

The cooking time is about 1 hour per pound. If you are doing more than one bird, add 10 minutes per pound for each extra bird. Just average the weight between all the birds. So, for two birds, one 4 pounds, and the other 5 pounds, I would time them for 4-1/2 pounds, or 4 hours and 30 minutes. If you are going to add barbecue sauce, do it in the last 45 minutes of cooking.

Cooking times are approximate, and can vary by as much as 30 minutes, so go by the bird’s temperature, not the time. The trick to smoking is not to overcook the meat. It is OK to pull the bird just a degree or two shy of the mark, because it will continue to cook for a few minutes after being removed.

If you want to grill a whole chicken, use the same procedure, except you want the heat to be around 375 degrees, and cook the chickens for 15 minutes per pound, adding 5 minutes for every additional chicken. Flip and rotate the bird every 15 minutes or so. You can omit the smoke wood, or use it, your choice.

The last tip is that when you are removing the birds from the smoker, PREPARE FOR THE ATTACK! When I fire up the smoker, friends and neighbors (and sometimes even strangers) show up from nowhere, and tear into the birds like barbarians. There is something about smoked and griiled meat that brings out the Cro Magnon in all of us. It is satisfying on a very primitive level.

Roasting, Baking Rotisserie

These are wonderful ways to prepare whole chicken. They are pretty straight forward, so I’ll just list a few tips.

• There are those that advocate a 2-stage cooking process, where you roast the bird at 375 degrees until it is close to done, then turn the heat up to 425 to brown the skin. I have never been happy with the results of this, as it introduces too many variables. If the chicken is cooked properly, this is unnecessary. At 375 degrees, allow 30 minutes per pound, and check the meats internal temperature frequently. The chicken is done when the internal temperature is 180 degrees F, no matter how long it has been cooking. At 375 degrees, the skin will brown nicely, at the same time as the chicken is done.
• For the best results, brine and truss your chicken before cooking.
• Placing a pan of water in the bottom of the oven, or rotisserie will help keep the chicken breast from drying out. So will placing lemon/lime wedges and onion quarters in the body cavity. If dryness is still a problem, try covering the breast with foil for part of the cooking time.
• When roasting, use a roasting pan with a lid, or wrap the bird in foil to hold in flavors. If using foil, unwrap the bird for the last 45 minutes of cooking.

Pressure Cooking / CrockPot

A pressure cooker works just like a crock pot, but it uses pressure instead of time to accomplish the same purpose. The idea is to place the chicken in close proximity to vegetables and herbs, with water as a medium, and allow the flavors from the bird, veggies and herbs to infuse inside each other, creating a wonderful explosion of flavors, and tenderizing them in the process. This is the way to get the absolute most tender, moist bird possible. You can touch it with a fork, and the meat just falls apart. A crock-pot does this by using low heat to start the reaction, and time to allow it to complete. A pressure cooker does the same thing, except it uses pressure to force the infusion in a much shorter time. It is sort of like the difference between a drip coffee maker, and an espresso machine.

Whichever one you use, the procedure is the same. There is no need to brine, or truss the chicken. There is no way it is going to dry out, and the flavor has nowhere to go but in. Also, a lot of spices aren’t really needed, because the process allows the natural flavors to develop. A little salt, pepper, and maybe a dash of garlic and onion is more than enough. Just spray the inside of the cooker with non-stick cooking spray, and  place the chicken in the bottom of the pot, then cut carrots, celery, potatoes, onions, and anything else you want in it in large cubes, and toss them in on top and around the bird. Throw in a pinch of salt, an pepper, and put the lid on. If it’s a slow-cooker/crock pot, just plug it in and set it on high for the first 4 hours or so. This raisss the temperature faster and allows less time for any bacteria to invade your supper. Lower the temperature after 4 hour or so, and let it cook 4-6 hours on high, or 7-10 hours on medium, depending on the size of the chicken. If you are into simple food, you can just place the chicken in a crock pot, forget the vegetables, and just throw min a pinch of salt and pepper, put the lid on and let it cook. The chicken will actually stew in its own juice. Absolutely wonderful! It doesn’t get any more fool-proof than this. You can even start it, then go to work, and it will be ready when you get home. It is difficult to over-cook in a crock pot/slow cooker. If you left it on when you went on vacation or something….maybe, but I’m not even sure about that.

Pressure cookers are a little more involved. You need to put a little water in the bottom to generate steam. Use the same procedureas for crock-pots, then follow the manual that came with your unit for pressures and cooking times. Every unit is different.

The two main things are not to let the food dry out, and not to open the lid until the pressure has dropped to the same as the room…unless you want to scrape your dinner off of the ceiling. You can remove the chicken from your crock-pot or pressure cooker with a pair of tongs and a large spatula, or spoon. Don’t worry if it falls apart. No one will care. You can de-bone it, pull it into pieces, or use the meat and stock in other recipes. Slow and pressure-cooked chicken is excellent with rice and mixed steamed vegetables.

Boiling a Whole Chicken

Boiling is a much under-rated and under-used cooking method, especially for chicken. Boiled chicken has a natural, savory deliciousness about it. It is like good Amish cooking; simple, hearty and wonderful. You do not want it overly spiced, so that the natural taste of the chicken comes to the front unadulterated. It is easy, and almost foolproof. The only way to mess this up is to let the water boil completely away, and burn the bird. This is unlikely, but not impossible.

To boil a chicken, get a pot large enough to submerge the chicken in. Place the chicken in the pot, completely cover it with water, and set it on the burner on high. Cut up celery, onions, and carrots if you like and drop them in with the bird. You can add a little salt and pepper, but don’t over-do it.

When the water boils, lower the heat to a low boil. Put a lid on the pot, and let it cook. Check the water level frequently and add more when needed. The chicken is done when you can touch it with a fork, and the meat falls off the bone. That is all there is to it. Remove the chicken carefully from the pot, using tongs, and a large spatula or spoon. Don’t worry if it falls apart. No one will care. Use the meat and stock as is, or pull the meat off the bones and use it in other recipes like chicken salad, etc

Microwave

Every microwave manual has a recipe in it for cooking chicken. It is possible, in theory anyway, to raise the internal temperature of a chicken to something that outwardly resembles cooking, with microwaves. This is a viable cooking method if you are really into dry, tough and tasteless.

Microwave ovens are invaluable for re-heating, melting butter, heating water, and cold beverages like old coffee and tea, quick-thawing some foods that can tolerate it, and even cooking eggs. However, for general cooking, it is a great way to ruin your food.

I have sampled the efforts of those brave and misguided souls who have attempted this. I cannot say that I would classify the results as exactly edible….abominable would be a more accurate description. Microwave Ovens are where food goes to die. If you want to save your chicken, find another way to cook it.

This is by no means a complete list of the possible ways on how to cook a whole chicken. Entire books can, and have, been written about cooking chicken.  But maybe this will help get you started. Be bold, and don’t be afraid to experiment. If you follow these basic guidelines, and proper kitchen procedures, it is hard to mess up completely.

I hope you enjoy using these tips as much as I have writing them for you.

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It’s not really that complicated. Most of the techniques and rules for chicken apply equally to turkey (and most other gallinaceous fowl). They are just bigger. Let us start with basics:

To cook a turkey, the first thing you need is…a turkey. You can either shoot one, or buy one. Most people will buy one (wild turkeys are the most difficult animal to hunt in North America. They can see the darkness, hear the silence, and all of them have ESP).

When you get to the store, you have three choices. Only two of them are viable. You can get a fresh turkey (unfrozen), a frozen turkey, or pre-stuffed (fresh or frozen). Ignore the pre-stuffed ones. They are garbage. If you are not going to prepare the turkey immediately, get a frozen one. Only buy reputable brand name turkeys, and avoid the ones that have things pre-injected into them. Make sure that the cooler is at least 40 degrees or colder for fresh turkeys, or if frozen, at 0 degrees. If not, go somewhere else to find a turkey. A frozen turkey should be rock hard, and able to break a bowling ball. Buy your turkey at the end of your shopping trip, so that it spends the least amount of time away from the cold.

Go straight home with your turkey and put it in your freezer, or on a tray in the fridge to thaw out. Then, you can go to the library, or wherever else you wanted to go.

You can thaw a turkey out in 3 ways. Only 2 are real options. You can thaw it out in the fridge, using the method I mentioned above, which may take a day or two, or you can thaw it out in the sink. To thaw it in the sink, fill it with cold water, leaving enough space for the turkey and not overflow, wrap the turkey tightly, right over the original wrapping, so that there are no leaks, and submerge the turkey in the water. Change the water every 30 minutes. Allow 30 minutes per pound thawing time.

The third option is to thaw it in the microwave. Only do this if you really want to ruin your bird and make it unfit even for a stray dog to eat. Your bird will be tough, and tasteless. There is a fourth option. It perfectly alright to cook a frozen turkey. Just increase the cooking time by 50%, and do not forget to remove the neck, liver, and gizzards from the body cavity as soon as you can. The drawback to this method is that you cannot brine the bird, or truss it.

After your turkey is thawed, examine it closely. If there are any gray areas, sliminess, or a sour, or extra-strong ‘birdy’ smell, return it to where you bought it immediately. If it has one of those little Jack-In-The-Box buttons that pop out when the turkey supposed to be done, remove and discard it. They lie.

No matter which cooking method you plan to use, I highly recommend brining your turkey before cooking it. Brining imparts wonderful nuances to the meat, and makes it super-tender and moist. I do not cook any birds without brining them first.

To brine your turkey, use any one of thousands of brine recipes to make your brine.

Turkey Brine Recipe

1-gallon water (2 gallons if it is a big turkey 20+ pounds)
3 cups apple juice or cider (double if it is a large bird)
2-1/2 cups coarse, or kosher salt, or 2 cups table salt.
6 Bay Leaves

Mix all the ingredients together.

Place the turkey in a large bowl with a lid, or bucket big enough to submerge the turkey in. Unwrap the turkey, and remove the neck, liver and gizzards from the body cavity. Rinse the turkey well, inside and out, in the sink. Place it in the bowl/bucket. Cover completely with the brine and cover with a lid, or cling-wrap. Place in the refrigerator. Allow 15 minutes per pound brining time. A 20-pound turkey is ready in 4 hours. At the halfway point, turn the turkey over once. This allows even brining. Discard the brine immediately after removing the turkey. Do not re-use it.

Now you can decide how to cook your turkey. You can either roast it, in a roasting pan, or directly on the rack, or smoke it, which is the most delectable way to fix it. Some go out and purchase the new-fangled and widely popular Turkey Fryers and deep fry the turkey. Do yourself a favor, and don’t. Fried turkey is dry and tasteless. Many a good gobbler has been ruined with these things. If you have one, they make fantastic deep fryers for fish and chicken. Use them for that.

How ever you decide to cook it, always truss a turkey. It keeps stuffing and herbs in, and keeps the breast from drying out. Some people just place the leg ends under the skin fold and the wing tips in the other fold in a technique known as “akimbo”, but It has never worked for me because the turkey is going to change size as it cooks, and the appendages always come loose during cooking. They also do not hold the legs and wings in tight enough.

Smoking a turkey is easy, and you don’t even have to have a special smoker. You can do it on a normal outdoor grill. Just build a fire under one side of the grill, and put the turkeys on the other. The absolute best smoke wood for turkey is Mesquite, but Hickory works well, if that’s all you can get. Keep the temperature close to 235 degrees. Make sure you place the turkeys in the smoker breast side-down to start. You will turn them over halfway through the smoking process.

Notice, I said TURKEYS. I never smoke one turkey. People always ask me why I smoke two turkeys at a time. It is because my smoker is not big enough to hold three or four. Once you taste fresh smoked turkey, you will understand.

Allow 30 minutes per pound cooking time for one turkey. Add 20 minutes for each additional bird. The turkey is done when the internal temperature is 165 degrees, no matter how long it has been cooking. Don’t go by time. Go by temperature. Allow the turkeys to rest for 20 minutes before allowing everyone to attack them. If you’ve ever seen piranhas attacking something, then you know what is about to happen. Get out of the way quickly, or you could be injured in the rush. Nothing on the planet tastes better than smoked turkey.

Cooking Time for a Turkey

If you plan to roast the turkey, just place it in a roasting pan, or right on the rack, breast-side down. I always brush the skin with olive oil to give the skin nice sheen, and a little extra ‘crunch’. If you’ve brined the turkey, no further seasoning, or basting is necessary. Cook the bird at 325 degrees. If you are worried about dryness, place a pan of water in the bottom of the oven. Alternatively, you can cover the breast with a piece of foil for the first half of cooking. Normally, this is not necessary, but high altitudes and very dry climates can do some weird things to food while it is cooking. Allow 15 to 20 minutes per pound cooking time and flip the bird over halfway through cooking. When the internal temperature is 165 degrees, it is done. Go by temperature, not time. Allow the bird to rest for 20 minutes before serving, to let the juices settle down.

If you have a rotisserie big enough for the turkey, you can cook the turkey the exact same way. After trussing, place the turkey on the spit. The same cooking times apply. You just don’t have to flip the bird. Rotisserie turkey is second only to smoked turkey as the most delicious thing there is.

If you have a large slow cooker, or roaster, you can cook the turkey in that as well, but it will not have the same skin texture, nor will it brown in these. I wouldn’t recommend them. And stay away from the microwave. It will kill your turkey! Microwaves are where food goes to die. They are great for re-heating, but not cooking.

Do not forget to observe all the safety rules as for chicken. Avoid cross-contamination of all tools, pans, the counter, and your hands. A kitchen cannot be too clean, nor can your hands.

I hope this takes some of the mystery out of how to cook a turkey. As with most things, practice makes perfect. The more you cook, the better you will get.

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To cook a steak over low heat, you can cook it outdoors in your barbecue or campfire by moving the coals away from the grate where the meat is placed; the smoke of the wood or the charcoal cooks that steak. This method is called indirect heating because the heat is not as hot as it would be if the steak was placed directly over the fire. The hot gases of the fire contribute to the cooking of the meat. Restaurants can cook a steak over low heat in a large brick or metal oven used specifically for this purpose; and when they do, the steak is called barbecued. The barbecuing process is slow, sometimes taking more than an hour to complete the cooking.

Like grilling, barbecuing a steak can include a marinade, spice rub or basting sauce to the meat.

Since most Americans think of barbecuing as the process of cooking the food on their barbecue grill, our instructions on how to barbecue a steak will be how to use smoke to cook your steak on your outdoor barbecue.

Many food experts recommend that for best results, a pan of water usually in an aluminum tin, is under the grate for best results in smoking or barbecuing the steak. The steak is not placed in the water, but rather directly on the grate on the indirect heat side or in an aluminum pan on the grate itself on the indirect heat side.

How Do You Want the Steak to Taste?

The final flavor of the barbecued steak depends on the type of steak chosen (tender cuts versus tougher cuts), the flavor added directly to the meat (rubs, marinades, sauces), and the type of hardwood chips you add to the barbecue.

How to Effectively Use Hardwood Chips

When learning how to barbecue a steak, you’ll spend some time learning all about hardwood chips. That’s because the smoke flavor is created partially from these chips. Hardwood chips can be fine chips, larger chips, pellets, or chunks. Whichever size you select determines how many you’ll add to your barbecue. If using fine wood chips, one to two tablespoons are enough.

When using wood chips, add about one cup at a time. These can be used dry or wet and are wrapped in aluminum to make a packet. The advantage of wet chips is that they produce more smoke. Wood chips should be added every 45 minutes.

If using wood pellets, you’ll only need about 1/3 cup. Wrap them in a foil packet just like the wood chips.

And lastly, when using wood chunks, which are usually two to three inches long, soak these in water 30 minutes before using and place them directly on hot coals. If you’re using a gas grill barbecue, stick with the pellets or chips. Wood chunks are added to the fire every 30 minutes.

By the way, the reason why you should not put unwrapped wood chips in the bottom of the barbecue or directly on top of lava rocks is that the residues in the wood chips could end up blocking the holes in the gas burners.

Flavor of the Wood Chips

When considering how to barbecue a steak, decide what type of smoky flavor you prefer. Mesquite wood produces the strongest smoke flavor and hickory comes in second place, producing a hearty flavor for beef.

For a medium smoke flavor, use pecan or oak. Apple and cherry wood produces a sweet smoky flavor, better suited with pork or poultry. And the light aromatic smoky flavor of alder is great for seafood, not steak.

All other types of wood should be avoided.

Now that you understand these basics of how to barbecue a steak, see part 2 for the very next steps.

How To Barbecue a Steak, Part 2

After you’ve assembled all the tools needed for the barbecue which includes the steak, the barbecue itself, charcoals, wood chips, long-handled tongs and a heavy duty oven mitt, the next step is to light the fire. However, the fire must be exactly correct in temperature for you to end up with the best-tasting steak of your life.

To determine whether the barbecue is ready for the steak, hold your hand 5 inches from the indirect side of the grill. If you can hold your hand there for 5 to 6 seconds, the fire is exactly right and you’re ready to add the steak to the grate.

What About the Marinade?

Some barbecue masters who teach classes on how to barbecue a steak will tell their students to marinate the meat in the refrigerator the night before barbecuing to give it a great flavor. Others will report that marinating it 30 minutes before cooking is plenty of time for the flavor to soak into the meat.

Some will marinate the meat in a non-metallic bowl that’s covered while others will marinate it in a zip-lock bag. Whether the steak is marinated in a bowl or in a bag, it’s done under refrigeration. Don’t ever leave the meat out at room temperature during marination unless the time is limited to 30 minutes; avoid the potential of food poisoning at all costs.

Are Marinades Sauces?

While you’re learning how to barbecue a steak, you’ll discover that there are marinades and also there are sauces. Some sauces can be used as marinades but marinades that are leftover from soaking the steak should not be used after the cooking process. This way you can avoid potential food poisoning since anything – food or utensils – that touches uncooked meat should not touch cooked meat.

When do you add sauces during the process of barbecuing a steak? It depends on the preferences of the barbecue chef. Some prefer to use the barbecue sauce as a marinade before cooking and then a few times during the cooking process, they will add the sauce to the meat again. Others prefer to wait until the end of the cooking process and brush the sauce on later, believing that the true taste of the meat can emerge first and then be enhanced by the sauce later. Another benefit of this method is that the sauce won’t burn during the cooking process. This is especially important for tomato-based sauces.

Close the Hood of the Barbecue During the Smoking Process

Keeping your cooking temperature even during the cooking process is your main concern after you’ve added the steak onto the grate. Closing the hood or lid of the barbecue allows the heat to stay inside the barbecue, much like closing the oven door keeps the heat inside the oven.

If the temperature drops, simply open the side vents or add more charcoal. If the temperature is too hot, use one of two strategies: either close the lid if it was open or slightly close the side vents on a charcoal grill. Don’t do both because the fire will go out.

If you have a gas grill, simple adjust the control knobs to a hotter or colder setting.

Total Cooking Time

Most barbecue masters won’t give you an iron clad number for how long it takes to barbecue a steak, simply because there are too many factors that influence cooking time. Generally speaking, allow about 15 –20 minutes for a steak cooked rare, and add at least 10 minutes for medium and 20 minutes for well done.

Learning how to barbecue a steak is a skill that is well worth perfecting. The more you experiment with it, the more you’ll find your own variations and your own secrets of barbecuing.

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