Something I really appreciate about Adam's videos is that when he has do something twice in a recipe (like deboning the turkey legs), he shows us both times to help explain it. It makes it so you don't have to keep rewinding the video to catch all the details
@@JD-wu5pf I think it helps it stick in your memory, even if you got it the first time. I definitely also get frustrated by the repetition sometimes but I appreciate how he can condense what he says more and more as he repeats it, almost into a rhythmic chant sometimes (Twist, and pull! Twist, and pull!). He feels more like a teacher than any other food channel (or any other procedural type channel) I've watched.
A friend of mine was very sceptical of bay leaves. So one time when I asked him to come to me to eat I made two batches of soup. One with and one without bayleaves. When he tasted the one without he did not say anything, but when he tates the one with her said that the taste was richer. When I told him why his scepticims faded.
@@topilinkala1594 I feel like bay leaves definitely provide flavor, but they particularly shine in things like soup. In more bold dishes (such as demi glace) I'm unsure if you would still notice. Definitely something to test.
@@gutrench9489 I'm sure a butcher would do it for you for a bit of extra cash but really deboning a bird is about anatomy. I say food knowledge because anatomy of animals is an important factor of cooking them.
@@gutrench9489 By putting in all this effort in advance, he minimized effort on the day of the feast which kinda is a big deal when you have multiple families of hungry people and you want to be able to relax and enjoy time with loved ones as soon as possible (for some jobs, thanksgiving and christmas day are the only days you have off).
My grandmother always admired the chef she worked for, and spoke with reverence of the fact that he could “debone a turkey and put it back together.” I inherited my grandmother’s passion for cooking, so, since it sounded challenging, i eventually eventually did try it for thanksgiving one year. A challenge it was, interesting, and it made serving much easier. It also cut the baking time. I am glad i did it, but once was quite enough. It really did not seem worth doing more than once, since doing a large dinner and deserts for my family on my own is quite challenging enough. These days, at my advanced age, my son does the cooking for family holiday dinners dinners, and i just do the pies. (I retired from my office job the better part of two decades ago, but i’m not quite ready to retire from all cooking. It is still too much fun!)
I love stock recipes because they always seem like the best attempt of someone who has only vaguely heard of cooking: "Yeah just throw some onions in there. Cut them in half first for good measure. Add some water probably."
I made this turkey for Thanksgiving and, wow, it was a hit. The hardest part really was deboning the bird, and even then, it wasn't that hard. I started this the day before Thanksgiving, so I had time to go slowly. It was worth the effort. This bird was juicy, it was done in about 75 minutes, and the white meat and dark meat were cooked perfectly. Carving it up was a breeze and honestly, nobody minded that this wasn't a "traditional" bird. All the extra bones from the bird went into making gravy (no demi) so very little was wasted. This will be my preferred turkey-cooking method going forward. Thanks, Adam, for this video!
I've been deboning a turkey for about 4 years now. It really cuts down the cooking time and the headache. I've usually rolled the thing up with nuts and dried fruit inside, but this looks delicious and even easier. Thanks Adam!!
I usually roll it up, too. I tuck the dark meat on the inside and roll it up. I skewer the skin around it so it looks like a log with skin on it. The slices have a nice contrast of white meat on the outside and dark meat in the center.
@@rbtmdl Trouble with that is that you want the dark meat cooked to a higher temperature than the white. But since the roll is cooked from the outside in, the peak temp of the inside will be lower than that of the outside.
I love that this sounds like you have been deboning a single Turkey for 4 years in preparation for thankgiving. Adam said start well in advance, but that seems a little overkill!
Bay leaves ABSOLUTELY do something in stocks/sauces. It doesn't give a lot of direct flavors but it does add a lot of background flavors and depth of flavor, it's the same way you use tomato paste to get more umami but not a tomato flavor, you use bay leaves for more depth of flavor
Same here... I've known myself to keep on tasting time over some dish or another, looking for the missing base line.... Till I realize I forgot the bay leaves. If the food actually tastes of them (except for adobo, where they're a statement all together), it just means you put too much! But without them, it's like the cellos walked out on the orchestra... And where's the sage, BTW, in that demi-glace?! Or savory, or smthg?...
Make a point to keep relatively fresh bay leaves too. If they're old a lot of the flavor compounds aren't there anymore. Had a friend that said they did nothing - his bay leaves were 2 years old 🤦♀️
I switched to an electric pressure cooker for all my stock making. It's just so easy to push a button and walk away. No smell, no burning your house down and it finishes a lot quicker.
@@DuJonTHomas I have a gallon sized plastic bag in my freezer that I keep chicken bones and scraps in. Once it's full, the bag goes in the instant pot and is filled with water to the "pc max" line. After 6 hours on low pressure, everything is passed through a strainer and cheesecloth and salted to taste before being transferred into quart size jars and cooled/frozen. It's really more "bone broth" than chicken stock since I don't add any vegetables, but you absolutely could!
I dont know how but adam has the ability to make me zone out when watching his videos, I just start to consume the knowledge he is giving me and only when its done do I realise how much I was focused on it.
In some parts of Germany exists a drink called a "Schoppen" which is most of the time wine with a little bit of soda water and is served in so called Schoppen glasses. These glasses range in size between 0.25 and 0.5 liters, which translates roughly to one to two cups. So maybe these are the glasses Adam uses... 😄
It was a big hit! The juiciness of this meat can not be overstated. I served a trial version of this using a six pound chicken to my family today. I followed all the directions and split the difference between Mr. Ragusea's preference to skip the brine by adding some but not a lot of salt to the meat. I used the pressure cooker method for the stock and it worked great. After separating the solids, the stock took much longer to reduce than I expected, but I was also conservative with heat to prevent burning. As a result, I didn't have enough time to reduce the glace enough either. It really didn't make a difference because the more runny glace was just fine. The six pound chicken cooked at 400F in my active convection oven in about 30 minutes. Much faster than I expected but it makes sense with less meat. Instead of basting during the roast or adding oil to the skin, I basted once right when I took them out of the oven. I tilted the pan to get all the juices in the corner and bastey mcbaste face was quick and simple. The skin was still crispy as sin with that little extra flavor. You know that moment when your wife wants to know how the magic happened? Well, that happen to me tonight. Thanks again for sharing with me and the rest of the world.
I was a mechanic at the Macon Water Authority for a bit, after I got out of the Navy. Went from distribution, to the water plant. I can tell you we had pretty good water. I worked the mechanic side keeping things running, but had to know the steps from the inlet of the Okmulgee River, all the way to the water towers, or clear wells. Had to dose the chlorine as the water worked its way out of the plant and into the distribution system. Pretty cool if your into that sort of thing. We had a pretty neat filter system at the old plant. It started with floculation chambers, then over and under weirs, and into the filter beds. From there it went to giant clear wells under the ground. Then on out to the city and surrounding area. We used polymer sometimes to help clear the water if muddy, various ph modifiers, and a few other things such as fluoroacetic acid for your teeth. Some things I've forgotten about. We had an old pneumatic/mechanical system to monitor the flow through the pipes leaving the filter beds. Really old. It involved mercury wells to act as a counter balance from the compressed air that worked against a plate. Think of it as a liquid spring. It had to different sized stand pipes to act as references to water pressure. Atmospheric head pressure that is. It had hand cut cams to give a profile to replicate the flow through a venturi in the pipes, it worked much like a carburetors. The cams were actuated by a gear and a chain that moved in relation to the water flowing through the over sized venturi. This raised and lowered an arm with a plate attached, and that provided a back pressure to the nozzle that blasted the plate with compressed air from big double acting vertical air compressors found in the plant. The back pressure was read by electronics and this increased or decreased the amount of water flowing down through the filter beds and out. A mix of the very old and new. Quite a bit more was involved, but I have yapped to much. Never did work at the new plant. Heard the lake made the water even better. Good video as always. Have a nice weekend.
Thanks for this inspiration, Adam. I tried deboning a 10 lb turkey this week. It went well thanks to your careful instruction! Instead of baking in oven, I grilled it in Weber 22.5" grill @ 350 for about 1.5 hours (indirect method) with dark meat in a foil pan and white meat on ceramic pan. I used charcoal + mesquite + hickory wood chips. I was hoping the exposed meat would absorbe the smokey flavors more than cooking on the bone. It did! Turned out great.
I did the turkey recipe at the channel "That Dude Can Cook." He doesn't debone it the way Adam does here, but he does cut the meat off of the carcass which allows you to cook white and dark meat separately, and it turned out really excellent. I was thinking about throwing it on the grill, and I'm glad to see your experiment turned out well as that makes me want to try grilling a turkey.
Thanks Adam, for using the anatomical terms when talking about peeling the meat off the bone. The anatomist in me understood completely! Even if it didn't help others, rest assured that it helped me out enormously.
The visuals were first-rate, so even if people are unfamiliar with the terminology(that level of anatomy gets taught in about sixth grade around here, but elsewhere, who knows?), it should be easy enough to follow along for everyone, WHILE simultaneously teaching them some vocabulary everyone should know.
Adam - my roommate and I just deboned a whole friggin’ turkey - and there’s absolutely no way we would’ve been able to do it if it weren’t for you. Happy thanksgiving man 👍🏼
I made this twice this year with 18 pound turkeys. The second time I put it over Dave Arnold's stuffing recipe. Both ways were huge hits. I'll never cook it any other way because being able to chuck the turkey in for just 45 minutes to an hour day of was a huge revelation for my kitchen work.
Last thanksgiving I was in charge of the turkey and I did something similar--I butchered the bird the weekend ahead and cooked the pieces sous vide. I don't remember my breast time and temp, but the legs were 165 for either 12 or 24 hours. I also roasted the carcass for stock then too. It was effort that took place over the course of several days, requiring planning and logistics, and it wasn't any better than I could roast a turkey normally, but I'd do it again for a specific reason. Traditional roasting occupies the oven for hours and can be tricky and require a lot of attention, especially if you're using an oven at a relative's house and aren't familiar with it. This method took less than 15 minutes in the oven on the day itself! I reheated the cooked turkey in a waterbath and then took it out of the bags and broiled the skin for a bit. It was the easiest and most painless turkey I've ever done.
Nowadays we almost have to make a federal project out of whole turkey. That's because nobody gets a private farm raised bird anymore. I worked at a travel guide listed diner in Logan, Utah. They roasted large turkeys on the daily and they were consistently the same, never dry or bloody. But fresh turkeys I've had in the past few years appear unfrozen (they're never deep- frozen like "FROZEN" turkeys) are always undercooked in the leg joints if the breast isn't overcooked. No matter what weight. Ugh, why is that?
Adam. I love that, on some level, your videos, your cooking, and your skill was all developed for your family. For your Lauren. For your children. It's beautiful.
Right after Thanksgiving turkeys are so cheap! I always buy 2 of them and debone them before freezing. This saves so much space in the freezer, preparation time before cooking and so much money over buying turkey at any other time of the year. This is definitely a great skill to learn.
I used a Bay Leaf once and the damn thing climbed up out of the sauce and raised its fists. It wanted to fight! Since that day I never use Bay Leaves, I don't give a hoot what Pliny the Elder thinks
This technique, while time consuming, is outstanding. Better than spatchcocking. I did one the other day with a turkey I got on sale. Next time, I am definitely putting it in the smoker at high heat instead of the oven. It can only make it better!
In a matter of 18 minutes, all my Thanksgiving roasting plans have been thrown out the window and replaced - yet again - with a much improved set of plans. Thanks, Adam. ;)
@Adam, I have a tip for "crazy crispy skin" (re: 14:25). Scald the skin with boiling water. Do that before you apply seasoning and putting it in the fridge to dry. The way to do this is to put the bird on a cooling rack, and use a coffee pour-over kettle, and pour boiling water all over the skin until it contracts to the point where it can't contract anymore. Skin isn't so good at conducting heat, so what this does is it pre-cooks the skin somewhat, breaking the subcutaneous fat vesicles in the fat cells, letting it render out much more thoroughly. Also, the proteins in the skin pre-cook, so when you finally roast, they have a head start in cooking, so the skin proteins squeeze out more water during the cooking process. This results in crispier skin. This method is used in Chinese restaurants to make duck skin crispy. Try it. It also works great for whole roasted chicken if you want crispy chicken skin. The Chinese restaurant method involves two rounds of dunking the whole bird in a stockpot of boilng water, then quenching it in ice water, but the at-home method that works just as well is to use a pour-over kettle. Try it both with one scalding, and with two. I am not sure whether the second round is as impactful, but I leave that for you to investigate.
Brushing the side of a pan with whilst reducing the stock is very important, you had all that residue left on a side of a pan just congealed and burnt. Love your videos keep spreading the knowledge.
Best turkey I've ever made, Adam. I did the Miglore->Sharma sweet potatoes; Chef John's Stuffing, Mashed potatoes, and gravy; Kenji's cranberry sauce; And Sam TCG's garlicy mushrooms. Grandpa's turning 88 this year. He came and knocked on my door later to tell me that it was the best Thanksgiving meal he's had since he was in Vietnam, a month into eating nothing but combat rations, and his command decided to airdrop his company a real Thanksgiving meal. I took full credit. I don't feel bad.
I deboned the turkey the first time this year and it's actually a HUGE time saver when factoring in how much it decreases cook time on a huge bird. Oh, and also delicious. Thanks for the great idea!
Having just done this tonight, there are a couple things I'd like to share: 1.) The most difficult part is deboning the lower leg, and removing all the tendons. The thigh is fairly straightforward, but those tendons are a pain in the ass to deal with. Honestly, if you're doing what I did (repackaging the meat for freezing) then just separate the legs whole and put them in a pressure cooker or slow cooker to completely break it down for a stew. 2.) I personally found it easier to start from the breastbone and work my way down than to go from the back in order to remove the breast meat, and for the thighs to work from the inside first with the bird on it's back; in both cases I think the carcass is more stable and easier to work with.
Deboned and roasted a whole chicken using these instructions as a prep for doing it with a turkey on Thanksgiving this year. Easily one of the best roast chickens I've ever eaten. I love dark meat and being able to slice it without working around a bunch of bones is awesome. And the crispy skin is next level. Pretty excited to do this with a turkey!
You have convinced me! I shall do this for Christmas, we are rearing free range pasture turkeys for the first time this year and they look massive already so I think they would be perfect. Thank you for the tips!
Thanks for this idea. Made it this weekend for early Christmas festivities. Didn't have time to dry out long enough, and turned the bones into gravy instead of demi-glaze, but it was super juicy meat and fun to do the deboning. The video had good to follow explanations.
Adam I was in charge of the Thanksgiving turkey this year when meeting my in-laws at a vacation rental which was a 5-hour drive from my home. This recipe not only saved me a huge hassle on Thanksgiving after a day of driving, but was also was a big hit with everyone. It's a lot easier transporting ziplock bags of brined turkey than a full bird. Thanks for the inspiration and detailed instructions.🤘 Tip for anyone who needs to do this: Go easier on the salt if you end up having to brine for more than one day.
Made this yesterday for the big day. Turned out great, all the advantages Adam described are there. The end product was delicious, super crispy skin, in the oven for about an hour (14lb bird for me), super easy to slice and serve. My tips: Removing the tendons from the leg section is not quite as easy as Adam shows. A few did pull out with the pliers (be sure to use your other hand to grasp at the meat otherwise you might be pulling some big chunks of meat off with the tendon, but more of them (esp the bigger ones) had to be cut out. It took me about an hour to debone the bird. I reduced my demi down I think a little too much maybe? My demi is solid at room temp, it needs to be heated up a bit to be pourable. I used leave in probe thermometers. I roasted at 400F, dark meat on top rack in oven, white meat on bottom rack. The dark meat does cook quite a bit faster. Once the dark meat was at 150F, I increased the oven to 450F and let both the dark and white meat finish and they ended up with crispy skin and a nice coloring. When I first tried the demi, it's very intense with a super strong meat umami flavor. I wasn't sure if anyone would actually like it, but when I added the butter, that changes the taste, it mellows it out and makes the mouth feel absolutely insane and the sauce is really good. Also when I finished the stock and refrigerated it, I had it in the fridge for a good 4 hours or so and I did use the ice method to cool it down to around 70F prior to putting it in the fridge. Removing the fat was a little trickier than Adam, I think letting it cool longer in the fridge would have helped. I did add the gelatin but my stock was not quite a firm, at least after 4 hours, as Adam's and I had a little tougher time finding getting the fat off, but ultimately it worked. If I did it again, I would cool it down further below 70F using the ice bath (I ran out of ice) and/or give it more time in the fridge. My family REALLY likes stuffing that is stuffed into the bird. I made stuffing that was darn close to the flavor of in the bird stuffing by using an intensely flavored homemade chicken stock (made separately, used chicken parts + veg + boxed chicken stock + better than bullion) and what I think really helped was using rendered chicken fat/shmaltz I picked up from the kosher section of my grocery store in lieu of most of the butter in the stuffing recipe (I used about 1/4 butter, 3/4 rendered chicken fat).
My brother has been deboning a 35lb local bird for the last 3 Thanksgivings. The meat comes out so much better, as it cooks evenly and stays moist, and there's seasoning everywhere. SO GOOD
It’s nice to hear someone not blindly praising dry brining, I’ve experienced the same negative aspects with dry brined steak. I reverse-seared two ribeyes, one dry brined and one seasoned just before cooking, the brined steak was noticeably less tender and the salt seasoning throughout the meat was not particularly desirable either. I think it’s a fad that will fall out of fashion eventually.
How long did you brine the meat for? In my experience, anything over 10 hours makes steak in particular taste gamier and feel a bit more tough the same way ham does.
Thanks. This worked well for me. I started the deboning on Tuesday, two days before the big meal as you suggested. The demiglace was appreciated by family and friends as once-in-a-lifetime. The turkey was moist. The dark meat took a good 20 min less than the white meat, and I was glad they were on separate trays for roasting.
I make a weird ramen variation and use a bay leaf and I can tell you that it really does make a difference. It's a kinda sage-parsley-umami flavor that's really nice. Two to three bay leaves for that stock is enough. since he's
adam we don't agree on everything (not that it should be a concern of yours) but your approach to thanksgiving is one I appreciate deeply and will emulate completely. thank you.
Thank you for doing this. I did this for my thanksgiving dinner that had to feed about 20 people with a 20lb turkey. I took me about 2 hours to completely debone the turkey the day before. It was the best turkey I or anyone at my party ever had. And I've done the oven whole, smoker, Kamado, and turkey fryer. By far the best. Also the demi-glace everyone loved and even used it on the prime rib, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and everything else. It was worth the prep time in the day before cause it saved me so much stress on the day of.
I tried this deboned turkey method this year, this is how I will cook turkey from now on. I just followed this video and all I can say is thankyou! After this I will never cook a turkey any other way! I have never had such a moist juicy bird with such crispy skin, it was amazing! Once you get through the deboning, it is so easy to cook and prepare! I did invest in a good set of poultry sheers I found at Bed Bath & Beyond, they really helped a lot, that and a good knife is all you need. Pulling some of the tendons out of the leg meat was not as easy as it looked in the video, some I had to cut out, but other than that it was not to bad. Just make sure you have room to work and be prepared for a bit of a mess, but it is so worth it! On the day of your meal you will be so thankful you did this! The best part is once you get through it and have your meat seasoned in the fridge, the rest is super easy and the results are beyond what I had hoped. I put the dark meat up high and the breast meat down low at 400, when the dark meat was at 150-160 I bumped the oven to 450 for the last 10 minutes to get the skin nice and crispy brown. The breast meat was a lot lower/slower on the bottom, so when the dark meat was crispy and brown and the internal temp hit 185 I took it out and moved the breast meat up high to get it crispy golden brown for its last ten minutes with an internal temp of around 165. it was the best turkey I have ever cooked or had anywhere else for that matter. I have tried every other method of cooking turkeys, nothing else comes close IMO. It allows you to cook the meat to perfection in a way you just cannot do with a full bone in bird. I only wish I had known about this method years ago.
My oh my how long I've waited for a turkey deboning video that I could understand. You broke the mold with this video. I'm glad I'm subscribed to you. Keep up the good work.
Now THIS is why I subscribed! I love this sort of video. I mean beer, salt and vitamins are all interesting topics and you did a great job on those vids, but you're cooking techniques and personal thoughts on how you like food (heterogeneity anyone???) are the cream of the crop. Thanks for all your efforts and keep up the good work.
I came to your channle because I remembered wanting to do your spatchcock turkey, but saw this. So this year, the first turkey I've ever made was done by your video. I didn't do the glaze, nor did I de-bone the dark meat because people are very into their drum sticks here. However, it cut down the amount of work I had to do the day of a ton! Cooking time for my 25lbs turkey went from 5h to just above 1h. It was delicious, not at all dry, great skin, perfect all around, thank you! I had never even cooked a chicken before, in fact, the day before was the first time I put an egg into Raman thinking I was fancy, then the next day I deboned, and cooked my very first turkey! Not having to deal with bones the day of was such a big help! They are now simmering in my crock pot. Adam, thank you for helping me host my first family thanks giving!
So glad you made this video. Ever since your original turkey video I've been hoping you'd try this method. I don't disagree with your OG video, turkey made the traditional way can be very bland, but this type of method really allows you to enjoy both gravy (or demi glace), AND the turkey meat.
I just finished using this method to break down my first ever turkey. I've never tackled any other butchery before. (Let alone breaking down several whole chickens cooked and raw) I debated trying all this last week, going back and forth based on that warning, but I managed it without too much grief with these instructions. Phenomenally easy to understand. Thank you Adam! Maybe my texturally upset by turkey grissle/bones/blubbery bits kid will partake in dinner tomorrow! (Fingers crossed)
Even if turkey didn't cost 100$ in India I think I'd rather go to a restaurant and eat something like this. way too much work! But the results are EPIC!
Your method going down from the back is absolutely wonderful I did it and I did it well. I wrestled at 18 lb turkey for a while about an hour. the legs were a pain. This is definitely My Method now thanks for sharing. I did a dry brine and left in frig 48 hrs. Never a juicier delicious bird!
@@abhishekpawar5126 No way. This is actually really practical, for people that regularly cook an entire turkey for thanksgiving/christmas. Imo cooking a whole turkey in the oven for 5ish hours is much more difficult and impractical than this
I’ve done this every year for the last several thanksgivings. Absolutely worth doing (disclaimer; I’m a professional cook so…but deboning a turkey is easier than doing a chicken!).
I followed this recipe for thanksgiving this year. Deboned the turkey, made the demiglace from the bones, gravy from the fat i scraped off the top. I think from here on out ill be doing this every year. thank you.
You are a lifesaver. Thanksgiving is at my daughter-in-law's with her small oven and range. I was thinking of grilling the turkey to save space but still need to make gravy and this this pops up in my recommendations and there we go, the perfect small-kitchen grilled turkey and gravy (demi-glace).
I did this once.. laid the whole bird out flat and covered with stuffing, rolled it into a log and tied it all up with butchers twine and made a turkey log. Best thanksgiving bird I ever made.
Made the attempt this year, and was super pleased with the results. Got several comments from guests about how this was the best turkey they'd ever had.
"This white meat is almost done." Thermometer: 152°F Pfft, that _is_ done, and almost perfectly for a fast, dry cook. Carryover will take to it at least 157°F, maybe 160+. Even at 152°F, the bad bug kill time is under a minute, and the exposed parts are already much higher. If you rolled it up into a roulade to cook it, AND you had someone immunocompromised eating, then I'd maybe worry about a few more degrees so carryover takes it to 165°F. Otherwise, you're taking a much bigger risk of dryer meat for what is a vanishingly small risk of getting sick from it. Worth it if even a bad cold might kill Meemaw, but not if everybody is relatively healthy.
Followed the deboning instructions, and it only took literally 1hr to cook an 18lbs turkey. It was the moistest turkey breast ever. Thank you Adam. Only suggestion I’d make is swapping breast with the dark meat to the top rack at the 45 min mark to help crisp its skin more.
We did this for Christmas dinner. Had the butcher bone out the turkey for us. We still had to use pliers on the leg tendons and butterfly but that was pretty quick. General agreement: this was the best turkey we've had at home in living memory. It edges out the prior frontrunner, the deep fried turkey. The only snag we ran into was that the demi-glace never really gelled or separated, but it was still absolutely fansastic. Way better than gravy.
Awesome video Adam. I think we've been deepfrying our turkey for over a decade at this point; crispy skin everywhere, and dad is a pro from doing it so long. it's safe as long as you don't let the kids outside near it, and that you displace the turkey in water first to mark how much oil you need to fill first so you don't burn the house down.
Chicken is more delicate, turkey is more forgiving since it's huge and meat is thick so it's unlikely to poke through it My advice with chicken is using really REALLY sharp boning knife + taking your time. There is no rush, you should be fine)
From a chef's perspective- what's said above is true. Turkey is more forgiving. However chicken is a good place to start and get to know the anatomy of the bird. It takes practice and practical knowhow to execute it well. Take a sharp knife and do it with confidence. It'll take a couple of tries but you'll get there. And please make sure to secure the board with damp paper towel or cloth. Be safe and enjoy!
What's been said is all good. A great tip for chicken however, remove the wishbone. It takes 20 seconds and makes carving off the breast pieces easier.
I just made this at home. The demi ended up being pretty salty so I added a bit more wine and about a teaspoon of brown sugar. Skin wasn’t as crisp as I wanted, but I think I know what to do for next time. It was moist and salty to perfection. I was so pleased! Thank you so much for this video!
I followed this recipe and technique as closely as I could. Including the demi glace. All 4 of us at dinner agreed that this was the best turkey any of us have ever had. It required a tremendous amount of effort, but I almost cried when everybody agreed it was the best. Thank you for providing the recipe and instruction. It really made this Thanksgiving special.
Me: * hasn't deboned a whole chicken in almost 10 years * Also me: * will debone a TURKEY for Christmas this year * My family: "YOUR CHRISTMAS DINNER DISHES ARE ALREADY INSANE COMPLEX TO MAKE!!!!" Me: "I DON'T NEED Y'ALLS HELP, I NEED SOME GOD DAMN SUPPORT
Good thing this is the kind of recipe that would (theoretically) reduce your levels of stress, since you're not scrambling to get everything done on the day of. You'll have more time for the insanely complex stuff!
This turned out great! The demi-glace really is amazing stuff, well worth the extra effort. A few notes: - The tendons are quite difficult and numerous and you'll have to work harder than Adam did in the video, most likely. - When drying the turkey in the fridge, I should have had it on a wire rack (at least during cooking). The underside ended up a little soggy, gray, and less-appetizing in appearance. - I had chosen to oil the skin and do no basting. I think I put on too much oil, which may have led to gummier / less crispy skin. - Also, because I didn't baste, the 400-degree oven may have been too hot (since I wasn't opening the oven door regularly). The meat probably would have benefitted from being cooked longer at a lower temperature. I'll be sticking with this general method in the future, I think -- the convenience on the day-of, and the ease of carving/serving the finished product, make it preferable to the standard way. And the demi-glace really is the star of the show here and adds a lot!
Ragusea, as a fellow Penn Stater, you make me proud. As a Culinary school grad and 27+ year former Chef/F. S. Manager/Grunt, I love your style and your intrepid food journey. Keep this going, I'm loving it!
That's a really great way of doing a Demi glace, I've seen lots of "cheat" ones like this on RUclips but this one definitely gets all the right parts in whilst keeping it as simple as possible.
Just finished deboning my turkey per your instructions and it went great! Had a couple of tendons give me trouble, but kept at it and came out eventually. And he wasn't kidding, you need the whole counter, and keep a few towels ready for any lingering liquids in your bird if you try this!
As I have about 6 turkeys to work thru over the next 2 weeks (possibly up to 8), this is going to the 2nd position of order to tackle them. Just the demi glace looks like heaven in a pan, but I haven't tried this method of deboned turkey before, turkey mountain seems the perfect time to do it! (If that sounds like an insane amount - no, I'm not cooking for an army. At sale prices of $0.33lb - $0.79lb, for good quality meat and enough bone broth by the gallons to drown in, this time of year is a massive chest freezer stockup and will make up a whole lot of the meat eaten at home for the rest of the year. If you have freezer space, I highly suggest it as well. With meat prices skyrocketing right now, if you want at least a bit of meat in your meals, or even just broth to add to grains and veggies, now is a godsend of a time to do so if you can.)
One of my favourite parts about being a meat eater and meat cooker is that there's just a pile of hollywood gore on your kitchen counter that you can just magic your way into making delicious.
I usually butterfly my turkey, but this year, I went with deboning as you recommend. I'm excited for a shorter cook time, juicier meat, and crispier skin! Going for a multi-day dry brine, but otherwise, followed this video to the T! I can already hear myself thanking me for making carving easier too. Great video!
I deboned a Turkey this week thanks to your vid - incredible results. As i was doing it thought it was going to be a hot mess of ground up meat bits (i dont have a boning knife). But your tips about just using the knife point, pulling the drum tendons with pliers, and 1hr cook time made for the moistest tastiest turkey. Thank you!
Deboned (mostly) my turkey last night; roasted the bones, giblets, and trimmings this evening; and I've got the stock going right now to turn into demi glace tomorrow while I make the rest of the sides. Really looking forward to how this turns out!
Something I really appreciate about Adam's videos is that when he has do something twice in a recipe (like deboning the turkey legs), he shows us both times to help explain it. It makes it so you don't have to keep rewinding the video to catch all the details
i think it's a legacy of his past in teaching and journalism, which i too find rather helpful. it feels like a class , in the best way possible lol
he said somewhere that he likes to show the whole process, no magic swaps or off-camera action
and i like that he does that too
@@JD-wu5pf I think it helps it stick in your memory, even if you got it the first time. I definitely also get frustrated by the repetition sometimes but I appreciate how he can condense what he says more and more as he repeats it, almost into a rhythmic chant sometimes (Twist, and pull! Twist, and pull!). He feels more like a teacher than any other food channel (or any other procedural type channel) I've watched.
Hes an educator at heart.
I love your consistent skepticism with regards to Bay leaves, and yet consistent usage of them. Never gets old lmao
A friend of mine was very sceptical of bay leaves. So one time when I asked him to come to me to eat I made two batches of soup. One with and one without bayleaves. When he tasted the one without he did not say anything, but when he tates the one with her said that the taste was richer. When I told him why his scepticims faded.
@@topilinkala1594 I feel like bay leaves definitely provide flavor, but they particularly shine in things like soup. In more bold dishes (such as demi glace) I'm unsure if you would still notice. Definitely something to test.
The thing I love about Adam is his food knowledge is maximised while unnecessary effort is minimized.
Epitome of working smarter, not harder
Unnecessary effort?? The dude turned a few hour roast into a multiple day procedure where the entire bird is dissected. Yes looks a lot easier
@@gutrench9489 I'm sure a butcher would do it for you for a bit of extra cash but really deboning a bird is about anatomy. I say food knowledge because anatomy of animals is an important factor of cooking them.
@@gutrench9489 What? You can debone the bird in 20-30 minutes. You dont need to do the demi glace or brine it if you dont want to.
@@gutrench9489 By putting in all this effort in advance, he minimized effort on the day of the feast which kinda is a big deal when you have multiple families of hungry people and you want to be able to relax and enjoy time with loved ones as soon as possible (for some jobs, thanksgiving and christmas day are the only days you have off).
My grandmother always admired the chef she worked for, and spoke with reverence of the fact that he could “debone a turkey and put it back together.” I inherited my grandmother’s passion for cooking, so, since it sounded challenging, i eventually eventually did try it for thanksgiving one year.
A challenge it was, interesting, and it made serving much easier. It also cut the baking time. I am glad i did it, but once was quite enough. It really did not seem worth doing more than once, since doing a large dinner and deserts for my family on my own is quite challenging enough.
These days, at my advanced age, my son does the cooking for family holiday dinners dinners, and i just do the pies. (I retired from my office job the better part of two decades ago, but i’m not quite ready to retire from all cooking. It is still too much fun!)
I love stock recipes because they always seem like the best attempt of someone who has only vaguely heard of cooking: "Yeah just throw some onions in there. Cut them in half first for good measure. Add some water probably."
He should worry more about blackening his onions than the turkey bones
"Uhh, just put whatever you got in there. The cut-off ends of fifteen different vegetables? Yeah, that'll be good for... flavor complexity?"
So where's a proper stock recipe?
@@Fred_P cut up a bunch of vegetables, brown them and then throw them in a pot with water, simmer that until it's done
@@nisnast by your implication, this isn't a good stock recipe or...?
I made this turkey for Thanksgiving and, wow, it was a hit. The hardest part really was deboning the bird, and even then, it wasn't that hard. I started this the day before Thanksgiving, so I had time to go slowly. It was worth the effort. This bird was juicy, it was done in about 75 minutes, and the white meat and dark meat were cooked perfectly. Carving it up was a breeze and honestly, nobody minded that this wasn't a "traditional" bird. All the extra bones from the bird went into making gravy (no demi) so very little was wasted. This will be my preferred turkey-cooking method going forward. Thanks, Adam, for this video!
That ending…. Adam really is the most relatable cook
Haven't you done enough?!
Somebody give you a beer
Vinegar leg is on the right
Definitely tried more of his recipes than anyone else's
I've been deboning a turkey for about 4 years now. It really cuts down the cooking time and the headache. I've usually rolled the thing up with nuts and dried fruit inside, but this looks delicious and even easier. Thanks Adam!!
I usually roll it up, too. I tuck the dark meat on the inside and roll it up. I skewer the skin around it so it looks like a log with skin on it. The slices have a nice contrast of white meat on the outside and dark meat in the center.
@@rbtmdl Trouble with that is that you want the dark meat cooked to a higher temperature than the white. But since the roll is cooked from the outside in, the peak temp of the inside will be lower than that of the outside.
@@wwoods66 It works, though. Explain that.
I love that this sounds like you have been deboning a single Turkey for 4 years in preparation for thankgiving. Adam said start well in advance, but that seems a little overkill!
Have you finished debining that turkey yet?
Bay leaves ABSOLUTELY do something in stocks/sauces. It doesn't give a lot of direct flavors but it does add a lot of background flavors and depth of flavor, it's the same way you use tomato paste to get more umami but not a tomato flavor, you use bay leaves for more depth of flavor
Same here... I've known myself to keep on tasting time over some dish or another, looking for the missing base line.... Till I realize I forgot the bay leaves. If the food actually tastes of them (except for adobo, where they're a statement all together), it just means you put too much! But without them, it's like the cellos walked out on the orchestra... And where's the sage, BTW, in that demi-glace?! Or savory, or smthg?...
Not something you will notice until you compare side by side.
Bay leaves are my secret weapon. It's something you usually can't pick out but you know something is missing if it's not there.
@@NatiShen This seems like a video he should do, try making a sauce twice: once with bay leaves and once without and see which one tastes better.
Make a point to keep relatively fresh bay leaves too. If they're old a lot of the flavor compounds aren't there anymore. Had a friend that said they did nothing - his bay leaves were 2 years old 🤦♀️
The level of useful information, pro-tips-for-average-home-cook and general knowledge these videos deliver is immense. IMO the best RUclips cook.
absolutely the best youtuber for home cooks
Tied with J.Kenji Lopez Alt, I think
I switched to an electric pressure cooker for all my stock making. It's just so easy to push a button and walk away. No smell, no burning your house down and it finishes a lot quicker.
Absolutely. 6 hours on low pressure, and you can go and do other things. I just made a batch of chicken stock from bones and scraps on Wednesday
@@FrenchTheLlamaFTL what’s ur process/portions to make the stock?
@@DuJonTHomas I have a gallon sized plastic bag in my freezer that I keep chicken bones and scraps in. Once it's full, the bag goes in the instant pot and is filled with water to the "pc max" line. After 6 hours on low pressure, everything is passed through a strainer and cheesecloth and salted to taste before being transferred into quart size jars and cooled/frozen. It's really more "bone broth" than chicken stock since I don't add any vegetables, but you absolutely could!
@Server Meta thank you thank you
@@FrenchTheLlamaFTL thank you very much
I dont know how but adam has the ability to make me zone out when watching his videos, I just start to consume the knowledge he is giving me and only when its done do I realise how much I was focused on it.
I think it's the absence of pauses in speech it's like he's having a conversation with you
Can you send help with your mother and thanksgiving I am so sorry I didn’t need to do anything else but you have to be safe
@@AVeryHydratedGentleman I guess the answer would be about 4
"A glass of white wine in there", proceeds to empty half the bottle.
How big are your wine glasses exactly, Adam?
It’s Adam, he might drink a bottle at a time we don’t know
is a wine glass ever really big enough?
comically large glass
"Two shots of vodka..."
In some parts of Germany exists a drink called a "Schoppen" which is most of the time wine with a little bit of soda water and is served in so called Schoppen glasses.
These glasses range in size between 0.25 and 0.5 liters, which translates roughly to one to two cups.
So maybe these are the glasses Adam uses... 😄
It was a big hit! The juiciness of this meat can not be overstated.
I served a trial version of this using a six pound chicken to my family today. I followed all the directions and split the difference between Mr. Ragusea's preference to skip the brine by adding some but not a lot of salt to the meat.
I used the pressure cooker method for the stock and it worked great. After separating the solids, the stock took much longer to reduce than I expected, but I was also conservative with heat to prevent burning. As a result, I didn't have enough time to reduce the glace enough either. It really didn't make a difference because the more runny glace was just fine.
The six pound chicken cooked at 400F in my active convection oven in about 30 minutes. Much faster than I expected but it makes sense with less meat. Instead of basting during the roast or adding oil to the skin, I basted once right when I took them out of the oven. I tilted the pan to get all the juices in the corner and bastey mcbaste face was quick and simple. The skin was still crispy as sin with that little extra flavor.
You know that moment when your wife wants to know how the magic happened? Well, that happen to me tonight. Thanks again for sharing with me and the rest of the world.
I was a mechanic at the Macon Water Authority for a bit, after I got out of the Navy. Went from distribution, to the water plant.
I can tell you we had pretty good water. I worked the mechanic side keeping things running, but had to know the steps from the inlet of the Okmulgee River, all the way to the water towers, or clear wells. Had to dose the chlorine as the water worked its way out of the plant and into the distribution system. Pretty cool if your into that sort of thing.
We had a pretty neat filter system at the old plant. It started with floculation chambers, then over and under weirs, and into the filter beds. From there it went to giant clear wells under the ground. Then on out to the city and surrounding area. We used polymer sometimes to help clear the water if muddy, various ph modifiers, and a few other things such as fluoroacetic acid for your teeth. Some things I've forgotten about. We had an old pneumatic/mechanical system to monitor the flow through the pipes leaving the filter beds. Really old. It involved mercury wells to act as a counter balance from the compressed air that worked against a plate. Think of it as a liquid spring. It had to different sized stand pipes to act as references to water pressure. Atmospheric head pressure that is. It had hand cut cams to give a profile to replicate the flow through a venturi in the pipes, it worked much like a carburetors. The cams were actuated by a gear and a chain that moved in relation to the water flowing through the over sized venturi. This raised and lowered an arm with a plate attached, and that provided a back pressure to the nozzle that blasted the plate with compressed air from big double acting vertical air compressors found in the plant. The back pressure was read by electronics and this increased or decreased the amount of water flowing down through the filter beds and out. A mix of the very old and new. Quite a bit more was involved, but I have yapped to much.
Never did work at the new plant. Heard the lake made the water even better.
Good video as always. Have a nice weekend.
Thanks for the insight :) best regards from Hamburg, have a good Thanksgiving
Make a video on this I am sure @adamragusea will love to shoot this. Hey Adam a video about water. Whatcha think?
This is amazing. Thank you for the explanation.
I was looking for a comment on this after Adam's remark
@@kunalpareek8321 agreed this would be a helluva video
Thanks for this inspiration, Adam. I tried deboning a 10 lb turkey this week. It went well thanks to your careful instruction! Instead of baking in oven, I grilled it in Weber 22.5" grill @ 350 for about 1.5 hours (indirect method) with dark meat in a foil pan and white meat on ceramic pan. I used charcoal + mesquite + hickory wood chips. I was hoping the exposed meat would absorbe the smokey flavors more than cooking on the bone. It did! Turned out great.
how was the skin of the turkey? did you use any dry rub for it?
@@zoulzopan I didn't use any dry rub. If I recall the skin turned out quite nice but it is important to let it dry for 24 hours in the refrigerator
I did the turkey recipe at the channel "That Dude Can Cook." He doesn't debone it the way Adam does here, but he does cut the meat off of the carcass which allows you to cook white and dark meat separately, and it turned out really excellent. I was thinking about throwing it on the grill, and I'm glad to see your experiment turned out well as that makes me want to try grilling a turkey.
Thanks Adam, for using the anatomical terms when talking about peeling the meat off the bone. The anatomist in me understood completely! Even if it didn't help others, rest assured that it helped me out enormously.
There's an anatomist inside you?!?!, those damn creeps love crawling into bodies, hope you'll get well soon
I was thinking the exact same thing about the anatomical terms. They helped me to visualize perfectly.
@@akshaydalvi1534 hhehe
The visuals were first-rate, so even if people are unfamiliar with the terminology(that level of anatomy gets taught in about sixth grade around here, but elsewhere, who knows?), it should be easy enough to follow along for everyone, WHILE simultaneously teaching them some vocabulary everyone should know.
@@akshaydalvi1534 I mean, how else do you learn about anatomy, right?
Adam - my roommate and I just deboned a whole friggin’ turkey - and there’s absolutely no way we would’ve been able to do it if it weren’t for you. Happy thanksgiving man 👍🏼
That crunch from Lauren without even a mic up close is all I need to hear to want to try this.
And then her giggle
I made this twice this year with 18 pound turkeys. The second time I put it over Dave Arnold's stuffing recipe. Both ways were huge hits. I'll never cook it any other way because being able to chuck the turkey in for just 45 minutes to an hour day of was a huge revelation for my kitchen work.
Last thanksgiving I was in charge of the turkey and I did something similar--I butchered the bird the weekend ahead and cooked the pieces sous vide. I don't remember my breast time and temp, but the legs were 165 for either 12 or 24 hours. I also roasted the carcass for stock then too. It was effort that took place over the course of several days, requiring planning and logistics, and it wasn't any better than I could roast a turkey normally, but I'd do it again for a specific reason.
Traditional roasting occupies the oven for hours and can be tricky and require a lot of attention, especially if you're using an oven at a relative's house and aren't familiar with it. This method took less than 15 minutes in the oven on the day itself! I reheated the cooked turkey in a waterbath and then took it out of the bags and broiled the skin for a bit. It was the easiest and most painless turkey I've ever done.
Nowadays we almost have to make a federal project out of whole turkey. That's because nobody gets a private farm raised bird anymore.
I worked at a travel guide listed diner in Logan, Utah. They roasted large turkeys on the daily and they were consistently the same, never dry or bloody.
But fresh turkeys I've had in the past few years appear unfrozen (they're never deep- frozen like "FROZEN" turkeys) are always undercooked in the leg joints if the breast isn't overcooked. No matter what weight. Ugh, why is that?
Adam.
I love that, on some level, your videos, your cooking, and your skill was all developed for your family.
For your Lauren. For your children.
It's beautiful.
The fact that Lauren's reaction to the skin was LAUGHING, tells you that skin was just stupid good.
We're a family of skin thieves; I could feel exactly why she was laughing.
@@EverettWilson *skin walkers
Shapeshifters irl? :D
@@EverettWilson 4?
Reminded me of that Brooklyn 99 scene where Holt ate a marshmallow.
Right after Thanksgiving turkeys are so cheap! I always buy 2 of them and debone them before freezing. This saves so much space in the freezer, preparation time before cooking and so much money over buying turkey at any other time of the year. This is definitely a great skill to learn.
I feel like you're gonna make a video about Bay Leaves someday with how many times you doubt their effectiveness
Not gonna get sponsored, that’s for sure.
I used to doubt Bay leaf but if you try to just boil it in water, you can really taste it.
I used a Bay Leaf once and the damn thing climbed up out of the sauce and raised its fists. It wanted to fight! Since that day I never use Bay Leaves, I don't give a hoot what Pliny the Elder thinks
@@Platonic_fish But can you taste it in the dish? If not it's pointless.
Ethan Cheblowski did a vid on them a little while ago. I believe the consensus was side-by-side, it's noticeable.
This technique, while time consuming, is outstanding. Better than spatchcocking.
I did one the other day with a turkey I got on sale. Next time, I am definitely putting it in the smoker at high heat instead of the oven. It can only make it better!
This is prolly gonna sound stupid, but I've never had access to a smoker where I live, so
Do things get crispy in the smoker?
@@abaddonthelordofavernus.4353 same as in an oven. High heat.
In a matter of 18 minutes, all my Thanksgiving roasting plans have been thrown out the window and replaced - yet again - with a much improved set of plans. Thanks, Adam. ;)
@Adam, I have a tip for "crazy crispy skin" (re: 14:25). Scald the skin with boiling water. Do that before you apply seasoning and putting it in the fridge to dry. The way to do this is to put the bird on a cooling rack, and use a coffee pour-over kettle, and pour boiling water all over the skin until it contracts to the point where it can't contract anymore. Skin isn't so good at conducting heat, so what this does is it pre-cooks the skin somewhat, breaking the subcutaneous fat vesicles in the fat cells, letting it render out much more thoroughly. Also, the proteins in the skin pre-cook, so when you finally roast, they have a head start in cooking, so the skin proteins squeeze out more water during the cooking process. This results in crispier skin.
This method is used in Chinese restaurants to make duck skin crispy. Try it. It also works great for whole roasted chicken if you want crispy chicken skin. The Chinese restaurant method involves two rounds of dunking the whole bird in a stockpot of boilng water, then quenching it in ice water, but the at-home method that works just as well is to use a pour-over kettle. Try it both with one scalding, and with two. I am not sure whether the second round is as impactful, but I leave that for you to investigate.
Awesome explanation! This is also done for traditional Hainanese chicken rice
Woah! Thanks for the information!
Brushing the side of a pan with whilst reducing the stock is very important, you had all that residue left on a side of a pan just congealed and burnt. Love your videos keep spreading the knowledge.
Adam's still getting used to cooking with gas.
I have completed every part of the recipe except cooking the turkey and I can confidently say it's worth all of the effort.
You know, that "Somebody gimme a beer" would have been a great transition to a beer sponsor.
malt
The WTF is beer vid is next on suggested video
@@zzzzzz69 lol same
this was secretly an 18 minute ad for beer and none of us knew
Best turkey I've ever made, Adam. I did the Miglore->Sharma sweet potatoes; Chef John's Stuffing, Mashed potatoes, and gravy; Kenji's cranberry sauce; And Sam TCG's garlicy mushrooms. Grandpa's turning 88 this year. He came and knocked on my door later to tell me that it was the best Thanksgiving meal he's had since he was in Vietnam, a month into eating nothing but combat rations, and his command decided to airdrop his company a real Thanksgiving meal. I took full credit. I don't feel bad.
Well, you did cook the food yourself. The recipes may not have been yours, but you put in the effort!
I deboned the turkey the first time this year and it's actually a HUGE time saver when factoring in how much it decreases cook time on a huge bird. Oh, and also delicious. Thanks for the great idea!
Having just done this tonight, there are a couple things I'd like to share:
1.) The most difficult part is deboning the lower leg, and removing all the tendons. The thigh is fairly straightforward, but those tendons are a pain in the ass to deal with. Honestly, if you're doing what I did (repackaging the meat for freezing) then just separate the legs whole and put them in a pressure cooker or slow cooker to completely break it down for a stew.
2.) I personally found it easier to start from the breastbone and work my way down than to go from the back in order to remove the breast meat, and for the thighs to work from the inside first with the bird on it's back; in both cases I think the carcass is more stable and easier to work with.
Deboned and roasted a whole chicken using these instructions as a prep for doing it with a turkey on Thanksgiving this year. Easily one of the best roast chickens I've ever eaten. I love dark meat and being able to slice it without working around a bunch of bones is awesome. And the crispy skin is next level. Pretty excited to do this with a turkey!
Yo! Do this y'all! It was worth it! I did it last year and I had no leftover turkey like past years! I marinated the turkey for a whole night instead.
You have convinced me! I shall do this for Christmas, we are rearing free range pasture turkeys for the first time this year and they look massive already so I think they would be perfect. Thank you for the tips!
Thanks for this idea. Made it this weekend for early Christmas festivities. Didn't have time to dry out long enough, and turned the bones into gravy instead of demi-glaze, but it was super juicy meat and fun to do the deboning. The video had good to follow explanations.
6:11 “Frog and Toad.” Great choice Adam. One of my favorite book series when I was a kid.
Adam
I was in charge of the Thanksgiving turkey this year when meeting my in-laws at a vacation rental which was a 5-hour drive from my home. This recipe not only saved me a huge hassle on Thanksgiving after a day of driving, but was also was a big hit with everyone. It's a lot easier transporting ziplock bags of brined turkey than a full bird. Thanks for the inspiration and detailed instructions.🤘
Tip for anyone who needs to do this: Go easier on the salt if you end up having to brine for more than one day.
Made this yesterday for the big day. Turned out great, all the advantages Adam described are there. The end product was delicious, super crispy skin, in the oven for about an hour (14lb bird for me), super easy to slice and serve.
My tips: Removing the tendons from the leg section is not quite as easy as Adam shows. A few did pull out with the pliers (be sure to use your other hand to grasp at the meat otherwise you might be pulling some big chunks of meat off with the tendon, but more of them (esp the bigger ones) had to be cut out. It took me about an hour to debone the bird. I reduced my demi down I think a little too much maybe? My demi is solid at room temp, it needs to be heated up a bit to be pourable. I used leave in probe thermometers. I roasted at 400F, dark meat on top rack in oven, white meat on bottom rack. The dark meat does cook quite a bit faster. Once the dark meat was at 150F, I increased the oven to 450F and let both the dark and white meat finish and they ended up with crispy skin and a nice coloring.
When I first tried the demi, it's very intense with a super strong meat umami flavor. I wasn't sure if anyone would actually like it, but when I added the butter, that changes the taste, it mellows it out and makes the mouth feel absolutely insane and the sauce is really good. Also when I finished the stock and refrigerated it, I had it in the fridge for a good 4 hours or so and I did use the ice method to cool it down to around 70F prior to putting it in the fridge. Removing the fat was a little trickier than Adam, I think letting it cool longer in the fridge would have helped. I did add the gelatin but my stock was not quite a firm, at least after 4 hours, as Adam's and I had a little tougher time finding getting the fat off, but ultimately it worked. If I did it again, I would cool it down further below 70F using the ice bath (I ran out of ice) and/or give it more time in the fridge.
My family REALLY likes stuffing that is stuffed into the bird. I made stuffing that was darn close to the flavor of in the bird stuffing by using an intensely flavored homemade chicken stock (made separately, used chicken parts + veg + boxed chicken stock + better than bullion) and what I think really helped was using rendered chicken fat/shmaltz I picked up from the kosher section of my grocery store in lieu of most of the butter in the stuffing recipe (I used about 1/4 butter, 3/4 rendered chicken fat).
My brother has been deboning a 35lb local bird for the last 3 Thanksgivings. The meat comes out so much better, as it cooks evenly and stays moist, and there's seasoning everywhere.
SO GOOD
It’s nice to hear someone not blindly praising dry brining, I’ve experienced the same negative aspects with dry brined steak. I reverse-seared two ribeyes, one dry brined and one seasoned just before cooking, the brined steak was noticeably less tender and the salt seasoning throughout the meat was not particularly desirable either. I think it’s a fad that will fall out of fashion eventually.
How long did you brine the meat for? In my experience, anything over 10 hours makes steak in particular taste gamier and feel a bit more tough the same way ham does.
The salt throughout the meat is a debated thing, it comes down to preference really
I keep coming back to this video the deboning and the recipe is so satisfying. Plus the cinematography in this video is so well done!
"Flip the bird..."
11 year old me just chuckled for five minutes!
Ion get it
@@ForeverDakota1 flip the bird is a way of saying give them the middle finger
@@skinnylegend-7330 Oh I thought you meant flip the bird-
*giggles* I get it
@@skinnylegend-7330 people say that ?
Thanks. This worked well for me. I started the deboning on Tuesday, two days before the big meal as you suggested. The demiglace was appreciated by family and friends as once-in-a-lifetime. The turkey was moist. The dark meat took a good 20 min less than the white meat, and I was glad they were on separate trays for roasting.
I make a weird ramen variation and use a bay leaf and I can tell you that it really does make a difference. It's a kinda sage-parsley-umami flavor that's really nice. Two to three bay leaves for that stock is enough. since he's
adam we don't agree on everything (not that it should be a concern of yours) but your approach to thanksgiving is one I appreciate deeply and will emulate completely. thank you.
The city of Macon actually has won several awards for the taste of their water…. If you’re into that kinda thing.
Thank you for doing this. I did this for my thanksgiving dinner that had to feed about 20 people with a 20lb turkey. I took me about 2 hours to completely debone the turkey the day before. It was the best turkey I or anyone at my party ever had. And I've done the oven whole, smoker, Kamado, and turkey fryer. By far the best. Also the demi-glace everyone loved and even used it on the prime rib, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and everything else. It was worth the prep time in the day before cause it saved me so much stress on the day of.
I live in Europe but decades of US media have made me crave Thanksgiving food at this time of the year
I tried this deboned turkey method this year, this is how I will cook turkey from now on. I just followed this video and all I can say is thankyou! After this I will never cook a turkey any other way! I have never had such a moist juicy bird with such crispy skin, it was amazing! Once you get through the deboning, it is so easy to cook and prepare! I did invest in a good set of poultry sheers I found at Bed Bath & Beyond, they really helped a lot, that and a good knife is all you need. Pulling some of the tendons out of the leg meat was not as easy as it looked in the video, some I had to cut out, but other than that it was not to bad. Just make sure you have room to work and be prepared for a bit of a mess, but it is so worth it! On the day of your meal you will be so thankful you did this!
The best part is once you get through it and have your meat seasoned in the fridge, the rest is super easy and the results are beyond what I had hoped. I put the dark meat up high and the breast meat down low at 400, when the dark meat was at 150-160 I bumped the oven to 450 for the last 10 minutes to get the skin nice and crispy brown. The breast meat was a lot lower/slower on the bottom, so when the dark meat was crispy and brown and the internal temp hit 185 I took it out and moved the breast meat up high to get it crispy golden brown for its last ten minutes with an internal temp of around 165. it was the best turkey I have ever cooked or had anywhere else for that matter.
I have tried every other method of cooking turkeys, nothing else comes close IMO. It allows you to cook the meat to perfection in a way you just cannot do with a full bone in bird. I only wish I had known about this method years ago.
My oh my how long I've waited for a turkey deboning video that I could understand. You broke the mold with this video. I'm glad I'm subscribed to you. Keep up the good work.
wait what you’re that msm guy
@@chewnip86 yeah I can watch other things then fanmade islands.
@@HexTheTrashPanda it’s just cool to see people here
Now THIS is why I subscribed! I love this sort of video. I mean beer, salt and vitamins are all interesting topics and you did a great job on those vids, but you're cooking techniques and personal thoughts on how you like food (heterogeneity anyone???) are the cream of the crop. Thanks for all your efforts and keep up the good work.
“Macon water was way better”
*Beautiful Macon, Georgia*
Macon keeps winning baybe
Macon Bacon
I came to your channle because I remembered wanting to do your spatchcock turkey, but saw this. So this year, the first turkey I've ever made was done by your video. I didn't do the glaze, nor did I de-bone the dark meat because people are very into their drum sticks here. However, it cut down the amount of work I had to do the day of a ton! Cooking time for my 25lbs turkey went from 5h to just above 1h. It was delicious, not at all dry, great skin, perfect all around, thank you! I had never even cooked a chicken before, in fact, the day before was the first time I put an egg into Raman thinking I was fancy, then the next day I deboned, and cooked my very first turkey! Not having to deal with bones the day of was such a big help! They are now simmering in my crock pot.
Adam, thank you for helping me host my first family thanks giving!
So glad you made this video. Ever since your original turkey video I've been hoping you'd try this method. I don't disagree with your OG video, turkey made the traditional way can be very bland, but this type of method really allows you to enjoy both gravy (or demi glace), AND the turkey meat.
I just finished using this method to break down my first ever turkey. I've never tackled any other butchery before. (Let alone breaking down several whole chickens cooked and raw) I debated trying all this last week, going back and forth based on that warning, but I managed it without too much grief with these instructions. Phenomenally easy to understand. Thank you Adam!
Maybe my texturally upset by turkey grissle/bones/blubbery bits kid will partake in dinner tomorrow! (Fingers crossed)
Even if turkey didn't cost 100$ in India I think I'd rather go to a restaurant and eat something like this. way too much work! But the results are EPIC!
Why would such a bird be so expensive in India since you are so close to the country?
@@annarboriter um....turkeys are native to the Americas.
@@annarboriter wdym close to the country lol we have large urban areas in india and they're densely populated
@@eggist A lot of commenters failed to get this joke, but you got it the least
@@annarboriter you're right, i don't get it. what do you mean by it anyway?
Your method going down from the back is absolutely wonderful I did it and I did it well. I wrestled at 18 lb turkey for a while about an hour. the legs were a pain. This is definitely My Method now thanks for sharing. I did a dry brine and left in frig 48 hrs. Never a juicier delicious bird!
This both looks delicious and like something I would never ever ever bother doing
I feel like I might try it if I ever had to feed a ton of people, but the most people I ever cooked for was like 4 people, so yeah, unlikely.
So basically just an average youtube food video
@@abhishekpawar5126 No way. This is actually really practical, for people that regularly cook an entire turkey for thanksgiving/christmas. Imo cooking a whole turkey in the oven for 5ish hours is much more difficult and impractical than this
I’ve done this every year for the last several thanksgivings. Absolutely worth doing (disclaimer; I’m a professional cook so…but deboning a turkey is easier than doing a chicken!).
I'm all for recipes that minimize labor on the day itself. This looks great!
I followed this recipe for thanksgiving this year. Deboned the turkey, made the demiglace from the bones, gravy from the fat i scraped off the top. I think from here on out ill be doing this every year. thank you.
Hey Adam! Can you do a video on Pumpkin Pie since Thanksgiving is coming.
Nein
@@Dctctx Are you German? Cos nein is German for no.
Pecan is better
@lusy ♋️ Worthless!
Sweet potato is also really good
I like the accurate terminology of the bones and muscles it reminds me back to my sportsmed class in high school
Today history was just made. Adam Ragusea released his best video so far. Thanks for solving world peace Adam ✌️
You are a lifesaver. Thanksgiving is at my daughter-in-law's with her small oven and range. I was thinking of grilling the turkey to save space but still need to make gravy and this this pops up in my recommendations and there we go, the perfect small-kitchen grilled turkey and gravy (demi-glace).
I did this once.. laid the whole bird out flat and covered with stuffing, rolled it into a log and tied it all up with butchers twine and made a turkey log. Best thanksgiving bird I ever made.
Made the attempt this year, and was super pleased with the results. Got several comments from guests about how this was the best turkey they'd ever had.
You can tell it was really good by her genuine laugh when she bit into it.
I tried making this and it was the very first time in my life that turkey was GOOD. Not just good for turkey but actually good. I'm blown away.
"This white meat is almost done."
Thermometer: 152°F
Pfft, that _is_ done, and almost perfectly for a fast, dry cook. Carryover will take to it at least 157°F, maybe 160+. Even at 152°F, the bad bug kill time is under a minute, and the exposed parts are already much higher. If you rolled it up into a roulade to cook it, AND you had someone immunocompromised eating, then I'd maybe worry about a few more degrees so carryover takes it to 165°F. Otherwise, you're taking a much bigger risk of dryer meat for what is a vanishingly small risk of getting sick from it. Worth it if even a bad cold might kill Meemaw, but not if everybody is relatively healthy.
Amen
Followed the deboning instructions, and it only took literally 1hr to cook an 18lbs turkey. It was the moistest turkey breast ever. Thank you Adam. Only suggestion I’d make is swapping breast with the dark meat to the top rack at the 45 min mark to help crisp its skin more.
We did this for Christmas dinner. Had the butcher bone out the turkey for us. We still had to use pliers on the leg tendons and butterfly but that was pretty quick. General agreement: this was the best turkey we've had at home in living memory. It edges out the prior frontrunner, the deep fried turkey. The only snag we ran into was that the demi-glace never really gelled or separated, but it was still absolutely fansastic. Way better than gravy.
Awesome video Adam.
I think we've been deepfrying our turkey for over a decade at this point; crispy skin everywhere, and dad is a pro from doing it so long.
it's safe as long as you don't let the kids outside near it, and that you displace the turkey in water first to mark how much oil you need to fill first so you don't burn the house down.
I was just wondering, how long did the deboning process take, and, approximately, how long will it take with a smol chicken?
will be a lot harder with a small chicken, fyi
Chicken is more delicate, turkey is more forgiving since it's huge and meat is thick so it's unlikely to poke through it
My advice with chicken is using really REALLY sharp boning knife + taking your time. There is no rush, you should be fine)
From a chef's perspective- what's said above is true. Turkey is more forgiving. However chicken is a good place to start and get to know the anatomy of the bird. It takes practice and practical knowhow to execute it well. Take a sharp knife and do it with confidence. It'll take a couple of tries but you'll get there. And please make sure to secure the board with damp paper towel or cloth. Be safe and enjoy!
A 4 lbs chicken took me about 30 mins to debone fully.
What's been said is all good. A great tip for chicken however, remove the wishbone. It takes 20 seconds and makes carving off the breast pieces easier.
I just made this at home. The demi ended up being pretty salty so I added a bit more wine and about a teaspoon of brown sugar. Skin wasn’t as crisp as I wanted, but I think I know what to do for next time. It was moist and salty to perfection. I was so pleased! Thank you so much for this video!
Putting white wine in the demi-glace felt like a jumpscare
I followed this recipe and technique as closely as I could. Including the demi glace. All 4 of us at dinner agreed that this was the best turkey any of us have ever had. It required a tremendous amount of effort, but I almost cried when everybody agreed it was the best. Thank you for providing the recipe and instruction. It really made this Thanksgiving special.
Me: * hasn't deboned a whole chicken in almost 10 years *
Also me: * will debone a TURKEY for Christmas this year *
My family: "YOUR CHRISTMAS DINNER DISHES ARE ALREADY INSANE COMPLEX TO MAKE!!!!"
Me: "I DON'T NEED Y'ALLS HELP, I NEED SOME GOD DAMN SUPPORT
@Ice Wallow Come cope
Good thing this is the kind of recipe that would (theoretically) reduce your levels of stress, since you're not scrambling to get everything done on the day of. You'll have more time for the insanely complex stuff!
@Ice Wallow Come shut up bro
It's amazing how you can see. the difference between white and dark meat in this video. Really cool!
This turned out great! The demi-glace really is amazing stuff, well worth the extra effort. A few notes:
- The tendons are quite difficult and numerous and you'll have to work harder than Adam did in the video, most likely.
- When drying the turkey in the fridge, I should have had it on a wire rack (at least during cooking). The underside ended up a little soggy, gray, and less-appetizing in appearance.
- I had chosen to oil the skin and do no basting. I think I put on too much oil, which may have led to gummier / less crispy skin.
- Also, because I didn't baste, the 400-degree oven may have been too hot (since I wasn't opening the oven door regularly). The meat probably would have benefitted from being cooked longer at a lower temperature.
I'll be sticking with this general method in the future, I think -- the convenience on the day-of, and the ease of carving/serving the finished product, make it preferable to the standard way. And the demi-glace really is the star of the show here and adds a lot!
Ragusea, as a fellow Penn Stater, you make me proud. As a Culinary school grad and 27+ year former Chef/F. S. Manager/Grunt, I love your style and your intrepid food journey. Keep this going, I'm loving it!
05:49 me: yeah, well it also looks like a... yeah
The ol' forbidden axe wound 😂
After effect of nnn
What does it look like I don't understand
@@icecube7685 Your parents will tell you when you're old enough if this godforsaken Internet doesn't get there first.
That's a really great way of doing a Demi glace, I've seen lots of "cheat" ones like this on RUclips but this one definitely gets all the right parts in whilst keeping it as simple as possible.
LMAO Adam's skepticism on bay leaves is always hilarious
I love your unconventional methods ! I’m sure I’m not the only one who gets excited when you post a video. That’s for enhancing my skills !
“Lauren is always the skin thief”
Oh boy the YTP are gonna love this one
Just finished deboning my turkey per your instructions and it went great! Had a couple of tendons give me trouble, but kept at it and came out eventually.
And he wasn't kidding, you need the whole counter, and keep a few towels ready for any lingering liquids in your bird if you try this!
Cooking video: "Lauren the skin thief" 😆
Horror movie: "Lauren the skin theif..."😱
As I have about 6 turkeys to work thru over the next 2 weeks (possibly up to 8), this is going to the 2nd position of order to tackle them. Just the demi glace looks like heaven in a pan, but I haven't tried this method of deboned turkey before, turkey mountain seems the perfect time to do it! (If that sounds like an insane amount - no, I'm not cooking for an army. At sale prices of $0.33lb - $0.79lb, for good quality meat and enough bone broth by the gallons to drown in, this time of year is a massive chest freezer stockup and will make up a whole lot of the meat eaten at home for the rest of the year. If you have freezer space, I highly suggest it as well. With meat prices skyrocketing right now, if you want at least a bit of meat in your meals, or even just broth to add to grains and veggies, now is a godsend of a time to do so if you can.)
One of my favourite parts about being a meat eater and meat cooker is that there's just a pile of hollywood gore on your kitchen counter that you can just magic your way into making delicious.
Well, cooking beets would come quite close to that. Those suckers have more red liquid than all 8 seasons of Dexter.
Love that gore
Adam does not shut up and I love it. He explains everything and goes off on tangents but it’s all informative.
"I think I'll throw a glass of..."
SAY THE WORDS
"white wine in there..."
-The crowd goes wild
I usually butterfly my turkey, but this year, I went with deboning as you recommend. I'm excited for a shorter cook time, juicier meat, and crispier skin! Going for a multi-day dry brine, but otherwise, followed this video to the T! I can already hear myself thanking me for making carving easier too. Great video!
Adam: "You do you"
Pierre: *rails a knorrs stock cube
Who is Pierre
@@liamsparling Marco Pierre white.. Idk why I didn't say Marco but the knorrs cubes should give it away :p
@@urbanweekendwarrior7238 I have no idea who that is and will be looking him up now
@@urbanweekendwarrior7238 ruclips.net/video/blrNxVyNgPs/видео.html
God damn dude
@Ahmad Adnan can you read? You’re 5 months late bud.
I deboned a Turkey this week thanks to your vid - incredible results. As i was doing it thought it was going to be a hot mess of ground up meat bits (i dont have a boning knife). But your tips about just using the knife point, pulling the drum tendons with pliers, and 1hr cook time made for the moistest tastiest turkey. Thank you!
15:13 Yes Adam, we really wanted to see that your spoon slipped into the sauce.
Deboned (mostly) my turkey last night; roasted the bones, giblets, and trimmings this evening; and I've got the stock going right now to turn into demi glace tomorrow while I make the rest of the sides. Really looking forward to how this turns out!