Toe

@Branno He's a senior this year... and probably next year, too.

@Loebarth Applauding 300 people losing their jobs? Classy!

Oh.

Reminds me, I need to find a supplier for wood for my smoker around here...

Cooking it to the proper temperature is by far the most important thing with turkey (and chicken for that matter). If it's dry, it's overcooked. When it's done, an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast will read 160-165F (check a couple spots). Never, ever rely on those stupid pop-up timer with any method of cooking a turkey - they pop at like 180-185F, when the turkey is already way overcooked. Far too many people think turkey breast is just always dry, when in reality they've just been eating overcooked turkey.

The cooking temperature actually isn't very important, so long as you stop when the bird is around 160. Obviously it'll cook faster at higher temperatures. If you cook at a low temp (under 300) the whole time, the skin will often come out mushy or rubbery. Some start low and finish high for that reason.

I recommend spatchcocking the turkey for smoking. Basically, you take a good pair of scissors (or poultry shears) and cut out the backbone, and then press the turkey flat. This leaves you with a shape that's much more even in thickness, so it cooks more evenly. Toss the backbone in with the giblets to make a stock for gravy.

If you're going to leave the skin on, having the skin be dry when you start cooking helps it to crisp up. At least pat it dry with paper towels, and consider keeping it unwrapped in the fridge overnight. Personally though, these days I tend to take the skin off to let the smoke penetrate deeper into the meat.

Wet brines are kinda dumb, IMO. More of a pain than they're worth. All you really need for a brine is salt and time - the water is unnecessary. Use a spice blend with salt in it and let it sit on the bird overnight in the fridge - that's really all you need to do. If you're leaving the skin on, stuff the seasoning between the skin and the meat.

When you're picking your turkey, note what the label says about 'retained water' or 'solution added' or something like that. If it says something like 'contains 8% solution of XYZ', that's a pre-brined turkey. If you do a heavy brine with it, it'll probably come out too salty, and tender to the point of being kinda mushy. If it just says something like 'contains 3% retained water', that's not brined. Often those will be labeled as 'fresh' or 'natural' or something.

Watching this season feels somewhere in between a regular season and a spring game. It matters, but less than usual.

Hm, I know I've reacted to a lot, but it doesn't feel like it's been a hundred...

Apparently there's a limit to how many times you can react to posts in a day. I have a lot of feelings about a lot of posts since the Ohio State game, alright?!

Indiana's first win over a top-10 team in 33 years.

Yeah, I was hoping for a more interesting game to start the Big Ten season, but it doesn't look like that's happening, lol. Mertz looks legit, but we'll see how he does against legit competition...

There's an ad at the bottom of the window?

Looks like the same stuff is missing on my end.

@admo I went to the freezer and didn't find any T-bones, I only have these eight pounds of ribeyes.

Probably either an option to turn on the menu isn't active, or there's one or more theme files that need to be updated...

https://invisioncommunity.com/forums/topic/432814-magnum-theme-support-topic/page/56/?tab=comments#comment-2830949

Dang, didn't see this until now. But yeah, if it's a store-bought corned beef (pre-brined), then I just coat it in a spice rub and toss it on the smoker, no extra rinsing. Smoke it like you would a brisket, wrapping it in foil at around 160℉ and then cooking it until a skewer (or thermometer probe) can be poked through all parts with almost no resistance.