Adina Adler said:
>>> 1 cup kosher salt (has more flavor, but regular salt will work)
>
> WARNING: Kosher salt and regular salt are very different and you can't
> substitute them one-for-one. Kosher salt is preferred by a lot of
> chefs because it dissolves more readily and doesn't have any
> additives. I believe that regular salt is "saltier" than kosher salt and
> therefore you'd want to use less of it, but unfortunately my books are
> all at home and I can't find anything useful on-line.
You need to use less table salt than kosher salt not so much
because of any difference in "saltiness", but because kosher
salt's larger granule size means there're more air in your
measuring cup.
If a recipe specifies table salt, use 1.5 times the specified
amount of kosher salt. (according to a number of FoodTV chefs)
> That's interesting. I've brined chickens before using kosher salt and
> white sugar dissolved in water, and I never had to boil the mixture
> ahead of time. As I said above, kosher salt dissolves really quickly.
> There are lots of recipes that call for many spices besides salt and
> sugar, but I've also seen articles saying that the additions don't
> really do much more for the flavor. What I've noticed after brining
> poultry is that it ends up being moister and a little saltier all
> through. The brined turkey had the most tender white meat I've ever
> experienced.
You boil all the spices for the same reason you boil a pickling
brine. Boiling it "cracks open" the spice kernels (especially
peppercorns) and releases more of their flavor into the brine,
and in turn, into the meat as the brine moves into the bird.
>>Ooh. Lost me on the stuffing bit. The purpose of the turkey is
>>largely to provide flavor to the stuffing, which is the centerpiece of
>> the meal. It's mere coincidence that I actually like the turkey.
>
> I'm with David on this one. Also, my mother's traditional stuffing has
> large quantities of chopped carrot, onion, and celery, so that
> probably does contribute to the bird's flavor.
>
> You might be interested in a book called _The Perfect Recipe_. It
> doesn't have a lot of recipes, but each one is accompanied by a long
> article discussing all of the alternatives that the author tried
> before deciding that she'd found the perfect way of making roast
> turkey (or meatloaf, or chicken soup). Everything from there that I've
> tried has been superb.
See previous post. You can still make tasty stuffing while
cooking it outside the bird, getting the best of both worlds.
-Rick