I think it was Alton Brown that myth busted basting. And opening the oven drops the temp and releases the water vapor from the oven.
Makes sense.
I went down a rabbit hole on turkey 15 years ago when I was determined to never eat dry turkey again. Was a fun time, make it to this day for Thanksgiving, learned all the tricks, and still working on my gravy. Would recommend, good way to practice cooking fundamentals.
This just proves that all Everett True fans are handy. Just like the big man himself.
Cook the turkey upside down and it will baste itself. Then flip the turkey over and broil for 5 min to crisp the skin and make it look a little nicer.
On the topic of turkeys, just get into frying:
- Cooks it perfectly, quickly
- Moves the cooking process outside, so you and the guys can throw on a jacket and shoot the shit.
- Frees up the oven for all the great things that can only be baked.
I know it seems dangerous, but so is shooting or driving. Just follow the rules, have a plan, and don’t get cocky.
I'd counter that with suggesting sous vide
- Hard to fuck up
- Also frees up the oven (for most of the cook time)
- The equipment is cheaper than the equipment for frying a huge ass bird
- Impossible to burn your house down with hot water
My grandpa does that. He also injects the turkey with hot sauce before cooking it. It's awesome
Basting is messy AF anyways, it ends up everywhere but in the meat. Why not lard it or inject it?
