Thanksgiving Turkey Carving with Mark Estee

A few weeks ago we asked Mark Estee, of Liberty Food & Wine Exchange, if he’d be interested in doing a demo for the Reno Dads (and our awesome community) on how to carve a Thanksgiving turkey. We sat down this weekend and “talked turkey” about family traditions, how to prepare the bird for roasting (or frying), and how to prepare a great centerpiece to the Thanksgiving meal.

We’ve posted the video in 2 parts: Talking Turkey and Carving the Bird.

Talking Turkey

Mark’s got over 15 years in hotels and restaurant experience, and his primary piece of advice: buy a good bird. If you can find a heritage/organic butcher in your town, the fresh birds are a better option, but even a frozen supermarket bird can be very tasty, if you leave yourself enough time and prep it properly.

The brine should be 1 cup of kosher salt to 1 gallon of water, and brining should take 24-36 hours, which means that you need to have time to thaw the turkey completely before it goes into the brine. Add to the brine whatever spices you like — Mark recommended rosemary, thyme, fresh bay leaves, sage, Italian seasoning, garlic, salt & pepper.
Roasting the turkey: 325°F for 15 minutes / pound of turkey. Mark recommends starting the bird upside-down, for the first 30% of cooking time. Only use foil if the legs need it at the end.
Rest the bird on top of the oven for at least 30 minutes.
Using the giblets (other “bits”) to make the gravy. Brown the parts, add some turkey/chicken stock, add the drippings, and add flour to make gravy.
Frying a turkey: make sure to measure the amount of water and mark that volume so not to overfill the oil.