What is the best way to cook a heritage turkey?
I bought my first heritage turkey this year and want to do it justice. Do I do a wet or dry brine? Do I not brine it at all? I don't want to compromise the taste of the meat or dry it out by overcooking it. I have a 14 pound bird. Thank you!
2 Comments
SipaNovember 26, 2018
I cooked my second heritage turkey on Thanksgiving. I spatchcocked it and salted it 3 days ahead of cooking. It was then roasted with indirect heat on a Weber grill. It took less than an hour, it was about 13 pounds. The meat was moist and flavorful. We will not be buying anything but heritage since both times I've cooked it everyone was blown away by the taste.
PieceOfLayerCakeNovember 26, 2018
I normally dry brine my birds simply because I don't really have the space to wet brine. I've never been disappointed with the results though. I feel like wet brine can lead to, well...."wet" meat, whereas dry brining leads to simply moist meat. I always brine chicken/pork, though. I can't imagine how it would ever hurt. Otherwise, I wouldn't really treat the turkey differently. No matter what you add, you'll still be able to taste the difference.
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