Our Thanksgiving will be very simple as usual. Just the to of us so we only buy a turkey breast or two so there is little waste. Most of the “fixins” are instant although my wife likes to cook actual sweet potatoes. The turkey goes in the smoker because it’s tasty that way and doesn’t heat up the kitchen. The only other solution is to go out for Thanksgiving and we considered that but it’s expensive and a crap shoot if it will be any good.
Neighbors keep asking us but we really don’t want to be in on their family dinner. They are already revving up for it and we aren’t that excited about it.
We’re heading to my inlaws for Turkey day this year for the standard turkey dinner with family. Past couple years friends of ours have hosted Friendsgiving one day in November for multiple families and that has been an absolute blast that I look forward to more than Thanksgiving. My buddy smokes his turkeys as well for the feast and everyone brings something along, plus a lot of beer.
I smoked a turkey last year on my traeger. It was pretty underwhelming. Visiting family in Boise this year, looking forward to checking out the local beer.
Taking wife and kids back home to Buffalo for some great food and extended family time. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it was always family and food. My wife could care less. My father in law normally worked and her and her mom and sister would go to the movies on Thanksgiving. To each their own though.
Me as dutch person. We dont do thanksgiving. But we are invited. By some friends of us for. Thanksgiving dinner. Jummy turkey. And gravy. My daughter will come as well she did buy some pumpkin ale beer. I bring. A keg of. Citra magnum ipa.
We’ll have 2 of the three kids here along with my mom and MIL. Getting a locally grown free range turkey and will have the usual mix of southern and ecuadorian sides with leftovers for days.
My middle son and I will go to what’s becoming a traditional ham, fresh virginia oyster and craft beer lunch on Friday. I now look forward to that more than the turkey day feast.
We took over hosting Turkey Day when my Grandmother could no longer handle it years ago. It’s a load of work but something we now look forward to each year. My wife makes some of the best roasted turkey I’ve ever eaten so she does her thing with that. We make a bunch of sides and most guests bring something to share as well. I will fry an 8lb breast during each of the 3 football games as friends and family come and go throughout the day. Doing so allows everybody to get it fresh regardless of their arrival time. The fridge is packed full of craft beer and the taps are at 75% so there’s plenty to drink on top of the spread we put out. We always have a 4 day weekend, too, so that is used for the recovery and clean up time.
I used to do the fried turkey. That’s a good idea doing the turkey as needed. You can do that with the fryer since it only takes like what 15 or 20 minutes? The only drawback is keeping the oil hot for all the games will use alot of gas no?
I use a Butterball electric fryer and unplug when not in use. It cools down in between use but not a big deal unless it’s super cold outside. I typically let them go for 5 minutes per pound giving the bird a nice color and crisp skin with no worries of not being done all the way through. Always a hit and what most look forward to!
We bought two turkey breasts since they were on sale as usual right before Thanksgiving. One will get cooked Thursday the other stay in the freezer for some time after we are sick of it. I do miss the drumsticks and dark meat but for two this is the way to go.
We smoke them because it is a neat way to do it and unless you leave it on way too long or have the heat up too high it’s hard to over cook. I might even brine this one because the chicken we have brined always came out great unless you leave it in the brine too long. Guess how I know that.
The smoker is a Masterbuilt electric, one of the ones that looks like a black fridge. I use one of those little digital thermometers with a corded probe to keep an eye on it but after finding it’s sweet spot on the dial it’s really not necessary. Would probably have popped for a Traeger but where we are there might not be a source for pellets other than ship them and like sacks of grain that can get expensive.
Got a little off topic but for us it will be pretty basic but stress free. Do miss the big dinner and family gathering but not some of the drama.
The only way I used to cook a turkey was to deep fry it. They tasted great and cooked super fast. I always managed to make some kind of mess though and cooking them outdoors up north meant I might be standing in freezing rain or something. Cleaning and storing the oil was another minus.
I’ve only smoked a turkey 1 time and didn’t care for the way it turned out but that was early in my smoking days. May give it another try in future but for now it’s deep fried here. Frying has some extra clean up and storage issues but well worth it IMHO. I have the trio thawing now and will rub them down Wednesday to let the spices soak in a bit.
Don’t. Seriously. I’ve smoked a whole turkey a couple times and will never do it again. Takes forever and is underwhelming. Not to mention the cost of the charcoal and wood all day.
I do as @hd4mark and smoke just a breast. Much better.
Turns out my friend. Besides turkey and all the other good stuff. He will do pulled pork this year as well. Jummy craft beer. Turkey. Pulled pork. Me will be sitting with the girls. I dont like football so much. Now ice hockey different thing. So me drink eat. And get tips about. Hair. Nails clothing proberly. We are being expected. 2 pm. Gonna be long fun day
When I was a kid my mom made turkey sandwiches with the standard turkey (duh) lettuce, maybe tomato, mayo, salt & pepper and slices of Ocean Spray jellied cranberry sauce. My wife had never heard of putting cranberry sauce on a turkey sandwich but now won’'t make one without it. Real turkey that is. Luncheon meat doesn’t count.
