Turkey is over-rated
Turkey is over-rated
I’ve had turkey just about every possible way it can be cooked, and it just isn’t that good.
Doesn’t matter how juicy or dry and it doesn’t matter what herbs or spices are used, it just not that tasty.
Give me a brisket or a standing rib roast or just about anything that isn’t turkey for thanksgiving.
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I shared your opinion until I recently had a properly smoked turkey for the first time. It was juicy and smokey and incredibly flavorful.
Because of the smoke. But while I don't have as strong a feeling as op on this since it's very much a first world problem, turkey really has a bland, inoffensive taste while I could smoke a rat to be delicious.
Hey you the guy selling smoked rats?
[Whips open one side of long coat revealing a display of smokey smelling rats]
Mesquite, hickory or applewood?
Post oak?
That’s probably because they’re domesticated and bred for breast size and not flavor. The same thing happened to pork.
You can fix this by brining the turkey and adding aromatics to the chest cavity before roasting if you don’t have a smoker.
My point is, if you gotta do that, it's not good meat.
If that's the case then chicken, pork, and most cuts of beef aren't "good meat" either. I can't think of a food that doesn't benefit from added flavor. Even pork belly gets cured and smoked to become bacon.
I guess wild foods have flavor without needing cooking and seasoning. But a lot of cooking techniques are there to disguise their gamey flavor.
Fair enough. Good food is good food. And I wouldn’t say no if I thought there was a chance it could be amazing. But I would also never request it, nor would I decide to make it myself.
I’ve had turkey roasted, brined, smoked and fried. People eating it would say “Mmmm this turkey is AMAZING!”, and I’d be interested thinking this would be the time that I’d like turkey. But each time I’m left with a plateful of disappointment and sadness, and I’m thinking my friends and family are insane.
Could just be that my tastebuds aren’t tuned for turkey.