35 minutes ago, Bacarty2 said:

Wet. Alton Brown did a show on it a couple years back, he's the smartest "scientific" food guy I know, I trust his opinion. 

I do Peppercorns, brown sugar, salt, whiskey, quartered lemons, Q'd Oranges, Q'd Onions, bay leaves so 18 hours. 

Pat dry and have your self a good time. 

I tried that once. Hated it. Pan drippings for gravy? Nope. Alton has forgotten more about food than I will ever know but that recipe sucked. 
 

Full disclosure: wet brining means no gravy, at least not from the bird.

Can't wait to make the stuffing!

 

58 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Debate for the Blog. 

Turkey brining, dry vs wet and why.

 

Go. 

Neither.  Turducken this year!! 

When cooking a turkey, I like wet, because it's never very fun dry.

48 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Dry brine, smoked.

 

Dry brine is easier to do than wet.  And when you smoke the turkey, spatchcocked, the seasoning gets everywhere.

Wet is actually very easy to do.  I use an Igloo cooler (approximately 24"by 12" by 12") and then put a the turkey and the brine mixture into a 13 gallon white plastic trash bag. then the bag goes in the cooler.  The cooler volume is too large for the turkey alone, so we fill a one-gallon milk jug with water (for weight) and use it to take up 1/3 of the cooler's volume.  That way the turkey stays immersed/submerged in the brine.  The recipe for the brine is as follows:

CHEZ PANISSE'S BRINE FOR TURKEY

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 ½ gallons cold water
• 2 cups kosher salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 bay leaves, torn into pieces
• 1 bunch fresh thyme, or 4 tablespoons dried
• 1 whole head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled
• 5 whole allspice berries, crushed
• 4 juniper berries, smashed

INSTRUCTIONS:

Place the water in a large pot that can easily hold the liquid and the turkey you intend to brine.  Add all ingredients and stir for a minute or two until the sugar and salt dissolve.  Put your turkey into the brine and refrigerate for 24 hours.  If the turkey floats to the top, use a plate or other weight to keep it completely submerged in the brine.

Note: The recipe may be halved or doubled; the important thing is to have enough brine to completely cover the turkey.  Before roasting, remove the bird from the brine and drain well. Pat dry.  Follow The Best Way instructions, see above.

 

7 minutes ago, Mike030270 said:

Regular season games on Saturdays?

Its been a thing for years and years... once the College football season ends, 2 games go to Saturday.

8 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I wonder what the halftime show would be. Lol

Smelling salts.

2 minutes ago, EricAllenPick6 said:

Neither.  Turducken this year!! 

When cooking a turkey, I like wet, because it's never very fun dry.

I’m jealous. I’ve had that 3 times on thanksgiving before. I was craving it this year. 

1 minute ago, mattwill said:

Wet is actually very easy to do.  I use an Igloo cooler (approximately 24"by 12" by 12") and then put a the turkey and the brine mixture into a 13 gallon white plastic trash bag. then the bag goes in the cooler.  The cooler volume is too large for the turkey alone, so we fill a one-gallon milk jug with water (for weight) and use it to take up 1/3 of the cooler's volume.  That way the turkey stays immersed/submerged in the brine.  The recipe for the brine is as follows:

Dry remains easier... No cooler needed, no bag... no extra jug... 

1 minute ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I’m jealous. I’ve had that 3 times on thanksgiving before. I was craving it this year. 

I did one myself one year... too much work.

58 minutes ago, justrelax said:

Stuffing is dangerous. It slows internal cooking, which means either you have undercooked meat, which is really bad or, if cooked through, really dry meat.

Do your stuffing outside the bird.

If you had a really fresh bird the danger is less - probably your case.

Agreed ... when the stuffing is done outside the bird, the bird cooks better and the stuffing is better ... and safer from a health perspective.

2 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Dry remains easier... No cooler needed, no bag... no extra jug...

Your threshold of easy is very low.  None of the three things you cited are hard ... all are easy.

40 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Thaw it, chop the spine out, season it, butter it, smoke it.

Now smoking ... that is hard.

6 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

 

I was thinking about this last night.  In the "old days" defenses used to put 8 in the box (4 DL, 3 LB, SS) to shut down the run.

Nowadays there are more than a few defenses who just don't have enough personnel qualified to shut down a run game.  Nickel is usually the base package now for most NFL defenses and so many guys are drafted on defense for speed over strength 

1 minute ago, mattwill said:

Your threshold of easy is very low.  None of the three things you cited are hard ... all are easy.

Eas-ier - note the suffix.   I'll add... the dry is also better, especially for a spatchcocked bird.

11 minutes ago, dawkdaballhawk said:

Can't wait to make the stuffing!

 

Oh! I didn’t realize you were supposed to put your hand in there!

 

3 minutes ago, mattwill said:

Now smoking ... that is hard.

.  Not with a pellet smoker. 

2 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

I was thinking about this last night.  In the "old days" defenses used to put 8 in the box (4 DL, 3 LB, SS) to shut down the run.

Nowadays there are more than a few defenses who just don't have enough personnel qualified to shut down a run game.  Nickel is usually the base package now for most NFL defenses and so many guys are drafted on defense for speed over strength 

Eventually the pendulum was going to swing to defenses being undersized and vulnerable to a big bully run game. It was a question of what team would take the leap to run that kind of an offense, and has the pendulum swung enough when attempted? We may be finding out. Tho you really need an opportunistic defense to assist a strong run game 

38 minutes ago, Bacarty2 said:

https://heygrillhey.com/smoked-sausage-stuffing/

Thanks for sharing that.  We have found an absolutely over the top butcher shop in Napa that does some truly outstanding sausages.  It is called The Fatted Calf.  I'll ask them about which of their plethora of sausages they would recommend for that recipe. 

 

1 minute ago, TorontoEagle said:

Eventually the pendulum was going to swing to defenses being undersized and vulnerable to a big bully run game. It was a question of what team would take the leap to run that kind of an offense, and has the pendulum swung enough when attempted? We may be finding out. Tho you really need an opportunistic defense to assist a strong run game 

TEN and CLE are the closest examples; they've become playoff teams but haven't ascended to the Conference Championship level yet as run-centric offenses.

Tannehill has become quite efficient running the Titans offense (transformed from his MIA days) and Mayfield might get a second contract out of the Browns, where he probably wouldn't if he had to pass 35-40 times per game.  

10 minutes ago, DEagle7 said:

 

Speaking of college, Colin Cowherd on his show said Doug Pederson is 1 of 2 candidates likely to get the USC job, the other is Raheem Morris.

I think Doug would be great at USC and would genuinely enjoy coaching college kids.

26 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I wonder what the halftime show would be. Lol

Aretha Franklin singing the star spangled banner for 45 minutes

10 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

I was thinking about this last night.  In the "old days" defenses used to put 8 in the box (4 DL, 3 LB, SS) to shut down the run.

Nowadays there are more than a few defenses who just don't have enough personnel qualified to shut down a run game.  Nickel is usually the base package now for most NFL defenses and so many guys are drafted on defense for speed over strength 

I didn’t keep count but when I rewatched, it was shocking how many light boxes the Saints used. It’s almost like they dared us to run. 

8 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

 

19 minutes ago, justrelax said:

I tried that once. Hated it. Pan drippings for gravy? Nope. Alton has forgotten more about food than I will ever know but that recipe sucked. 
 

Full disclosure: wet brining means no gravy, at least not from the bird.

I have had no trouble making gravy from a brined turkey's pan drippings.  I've done it at least a half dozen times.  The first time was a disaster because I followed the gravy recipe and added ... the recommended amount of salt.  Had to throw it all out.  Year two didn't add salt and the gravy was still a bit over salty.  Years three through six (probably closer to ten or more when I think of it) I was able to eliminate the salt problem in the pan drippings by giving the turkey a thorough fresh water rinse after taking it out of the brine.  We get our turkeys from a local turkey farm Brannigans, and they sell turkey parts and giblets.  We always buy four turkey wings and an extra giblet pack.  Then we roast the wings at 500 degrees until they are just short of charred.  That really concentrates the flavors.  We boil the giblets, but not the livers, reducing them to an essence liquor.  The pan drippings and the roasted wings and the chopped up giblets (and giblet boiling water) all provide the base for the gravy. 

It is easy.

3 hours ago, mattwill said:

I sent the following e-mail to Tommy Lawlor earlier today ... while I understand your thoughts about Siriani taking too long to adjust the Offense, I keep in mind that his two Guards right now are a rookie and a sophomore, both of whom were not starters when the season began.  Having some uncertainty about how Dickinson and Driscoll were going to perform is understandable, especially with Johnson missing three games and Mailata missing two.  The Raiders game was the first time that the starters were Mailata - Dickerson - Kelce - Driscoll - Johnson.  Your point still stands, but with a caveat.

My comment to Tommy is a variation on your comment above.  I agree with you that he did it to help the OL ... especially since he had a stable OL assembled for the first time in week 7.

But I also think the focus on the run was also to Gannon with the flip of the ToP.  If so, it seems to be working.