{"id":16094,"date":"2012-11-28T12:47:44","date_gmt":"2012-11-28T19:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/foodembrace.com\/?p=16094"},"modified":"2012-11-28T12:47:44","modified_gmt":"2012-11-28T19:47:44","slug":"thanksgiving-turkey-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foodembrace.com\/2012\/11\/thanksgiving-turkey-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Thanksgiving Turkey 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> This year I had to approach things a little differently with the Thanksgiving turkey, due to new living arrangements and the state of the turkey when it arrived.<\/p>\n

Normally I would brine the whole turkey<\/a> in a large bucket and store it away in the second fridge that we had.<\/p>\n

However, moving and living in a rental home means things are much different. \u00a0There’s no second fridge anymore leaving me with no room to brine a whole bird. So I had to plan a different approach.<\/p>\n

I decided to break down the bird and only roast half, saving the other half for another time. \u00a0However the bird came to me already frozen which meant once thawed, all of it had to be cooked.<\/p>\n

Ok, no big deal. \u00a0Go with the flow and all that.<\/p>\n

I still broke down the bird into quarters and used the back to make stock (which turned out lovely!).<\/p>\n

I brined one breast and wing, and one leg quarter. \u00a0The other breast-wing and leg quarter got a dry rub slapped on. I did not have room in the fridge for four large brining bowls or else the entire turkey would have been brined.<\/p>\n

I was actually excited to do this little experiment! We have been eating brined turkey for years so I was curious to be able to do a side-by-side comparison of brined verses not brined.<\/p>\n

Maybe they would taste the same? Maybe not? We would soon find out!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Instead of using butter to rub on the skin and underneath, I used lard that I recently made. It went on a lot smoother than the butter! \u00a0I then sprinkled the turkey with:<\/p>\n