MS2SB
07-30-2014, 11:21 AM
This was my toughest cook yet, and not in a wow that was difficult sort of way, but in a hey I was not expecting to eat raquet balls for dinner sort of way.
If the best way to get better is to learn from mistakes, reading this thread should improve your cooking exponentially.
This cook happened a couple of weeks back but I'm just getting around to posting pics now. It all started as I was making an afternoon trip though the grocery store and came across something I don't usually see out around this time of year, turkey wings. I love wings, I love turkey, I'm gonna love me some turkey wings. I grab two of the monsters and get plotting. Its a little late in the afternoon for me to do a standard brine which is usually a 5% salt to water solution by weight, so I thought I would do a quick brine, which I had read about and increase that to 10% salt to water. I brought some water to a boil, added salt, peppercorns and bay leaves, thyme, garlic, rosemary and lemon and let this steep for a couple of minutes before adding enough ice to quickly cool it down. Then in went the wings for a very short 45 minute brine.
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg556/dgoldman17/Turkey%20Wings/IMG_8177_zpsc8eda7e8.jpg (http://s1243.photobucket.com/user/dgoldman17/media/Turkey%20Wings/IMG_8177_zpsc8eda7e8.jpg.html)
Looks pretty good doesn't it? Well, I get to doing something else around the house and forget about those wings sitting in the fridge and they end up brining for about an hour and a half rather than the planned 45 minutes. I figured no big deal, these are each a couple of lbs each and could take the extra time. I pulled them out rinsed them real good patted them down with a paper towel to get them as dry as I could. Everyone knows the key to crispy skin on the grill is to make sure that the skin is as dry as possible. Now that I'm an extra 45 minutes behind schedule I decide to help mechanically aid the drying process. Put the wings on a wire rack and set a box fan up to circulate air over them while I get the OTS going.
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg556/dgoldman17/Turkey%20Wings/IMG_8179_zps74ed5e97.jpg (http://s1243.photobucket.com/user/dgoldman17/media/Turkey%20Wings/IMG_8179_zps74ed5e97.jpg.html)
Let that go for a few minutes while the coals get to where I want them and then rub down the wings with some softened butter, pepper and herbs d'provence.
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg556/dgoldman17/Turkey%20Wings/IMG_8181_zpsdfb95b16.jpg (http://s1243.photobucket.com/user/dgoldman17/media/Turkey%20Wings/IMG_8181_zpsdfb95b16.jpg.html)
Still looking good aren't they? It was at this point that I add in the second nearly unchewable element to the meal, grill braised leeks! I use a recipe from Alton Brown. Split the leeks, brush with olive oil, S&P then put directly over high coals until you get nice grill marks and a little char, then drizzle with some balsamic, wrap tightly in foil and cook along side the wings for 30-40 minutes. I get these all prepped and onto the coals they go. Hey those coals are HOT!!! Recipe says about 6-minutes on the grill to develop those nice grill marks, well this sucker appears to be running under nuclear power right now and those leeks started to char after about 60 seconds. Now they're far from over done, but they probably could have stood a little more direct heat in order to soften just a bit before foiling. No matter, into the foil they go!
Now it's wing time! Onto the grill they go indirect with a some cherry pellets from the Traeger hopper, not ideal on the OTS, but I'm out of wood chunks and these have done in the past. Again, I'm rushing a little bit so I get a little over eager and don't wait for the TBS before tossing on the wings, figuring it shouldn't be long before everything settles in how I want it. Now the Mrs. and I settle in at the patio table to enjoy a frosty beverage on a beautiful summer evening. 5 minutes goes by and the kettle is pumping out copious amounts of white smoke from every nook and cranny, I used a pretty generous handful of pellet and figured they were just taking a little longer than normal to burn down, 10 minutes goes by and its still belching away! I get up to take a look and realize that the exhaust damper is mostly closed, oh no! I open up the lid to clear the excess smoke and get the damper open which seems to resolve the issue, however those wings are already a little darker in color than I would like and boy, that fire is still running awfully hot. I'm keeping an eye on the grill and the smoke goes thin blue quickly this time so I figure everything is OK. I let them go for another 20 minutes or so and take a quick peek, figuring they would need another 15 minutes or so. Open up the lid, give the wings a little poke and wouldn't you know it, those farkers are done!
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg556/dgoldman17/Turkey%20Wings/IMG_8183_zps51177e0c.jpg (http://s1243.photobucket.com/user/dgoldman17/media/Turkey%20Wings/IMG_8183_zps51177e0c.jpg.html)
Off they come and a few minutes rest. They look alright, if a little greasier than I was expecting but not too bad. I cut them into sections and plate with the leeks.
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg556/dgoldman17/Turkey%20Wings/IMG_8185_zps92366766.jpg (http://s1243.photobucket.com/user/dgoldman17/media/Turkey%20Wings/IMG_8185_zps92366766.jpg.html)
(sorry for the poor photo quality)
I take my first bite from the drum section and it was the toughest, chewiest bird I have ever eaten. It was litterally like chewing on a rubber ball! The skin just kind of stretched when I bit it and I had to pull with all of my jaw power to get any meat off the bone, it wasn't dry, just insanely chewy. The Mrs. goes to take a bit and can't even get through it, like she was chewing on one of the dogs toys. Absolutely terrible! Well at least I have some nice braised leeks to eat, I attempt to cut the leek and it doesn't cooperate, just kind of smooshes a little and the more pressure I add it breaks up into a tough fibrous mess. A completely inedible meal. We ate scrambled eggs and toast for dinner.
Where did I go wrong? Well, to start, picking up turkey wings in June may not have been the best idea. Who knows how long those things had been frozen for and under what conditions. Next, the brine completely destroyed the texture of the skin, I brine my Thanksgiving turkey, but usually allow it to dry out in the fridge for a few hours before cooking, this skin absorbed a lot moisture very quickly and didn't have a chance to dry properly before cooking. Fire management was a big issue here as well. Half a chimney would have been enough and I really should have paid attention to my equipment to make sure it was setup properly. Finally time management, don't try to cook something if you don't have time, I should have just grabbed a couple of pork chops to throw on the grill. I tried the leeks again, gave them a lower heat sear and then an extra 20 minutes in the foil and they turned out great.
Now in an attempt to keep this meal from being a total loss I put the wings in the freezer and used the pressure cooker to make a nice turkey stock to use in some blackeyed peas. The stock turned out quite nicely, however as I was prepping something else the Mrs. was cleaning up after me. She asked me if I was using the water in sink for anything, not paying attention to what she asked I told her no, because I didn't have any water in the sink. What I did have was a pot filled with the just strained turkey stock. Before I knew it she was dumping it right on down the drain. Turkey wing dinner is now a complete and total loss.
If the best way to get better is to learn from mistakes, reading this thread should improve your cooking exponentially.
This cook happened a couple of weeks back but I'm just getting around to posting pics now. It all started as I was making an afternoon trip though the grocery store and came across something I don't usually see out around this time of year, turkey wings. I love wings, I love turkey, I'm gonna love me some turkey wings. I grab two of the monsters and get plotting. Its a little late in the afternoon for me to do a standard brine which is usually a 5% salt to water solution by weight, so I thought I would do a quick brine, which I had read about and increase that to 10% salt to water. I brought some water to a boil, added salt, peppercorns and bay leaves, thyme, garlic, rosemary and lemon and let this steep for a couple of minutes before adding enough ice to quickly cool it down. Then in went the wings for a very short 45 minute brine.
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg556/dgoldman17/Turkey%20Wings/IMG_8177_zpsc8eda7e8.jpg (http://s1243.photobucket.com/user/dgoldman17/media/Turkey%20Wings/IMG_8177_zpsc8eda7e8.jpg.html)
Looks pretty good doesn't it? Well, I get to doing something else around the house and forget about those wings sitting in the fridge and they end up brining for about an hour and a half rather than the planned 45 minutes. I figured no big deal, these are each a couple of lbs each and could take the extra time. I pulled them out rinsed them real good patted them down with a paper towel to get them as dry as I could. Everyone knows the key to crispy skin on the grill is to make sure that the skin is as dry as possible. Now that I'm an extra 45 minutes behind schedule I decide to help mechanically aid the drying process. Put the wings on a wire rack and set a box fan up to circulate air over them while I get the OTS going.
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg556/dgoldman17/Turkey%20Wings/IMG_8179_zps74ed5e97.jpg (http://s1243.photobucket.com/user/dgoldman17/media/Turkey%20Wings/IMG_8179_zps74ed5e97.jpg.html)
Let that go for a few minutes while the coals get to where I want them and then rub down the wings with some softened butter, pepper and herbs d'provence.
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg556/dgoldman17/Turkey%20Wings/IMG_8181_zpsdfb95b16.jpg (http://s1243.photobucket.com/user/dgoldman17/media/Turkey%20Wings/IMG_8181_zpsdfb95b16.jpg.html)
Still looking good aren't they? It was at this point that I add in the second nearly unchewable element to the meal, grill braised leeks! I use a recipe from Alton Brown. Split the leeks, brush with olive oil, S&P then put directly over high coals until you get nice grill marks and a little char, then drizzle with some balsamic, wrap tightly in foil and cook along side the wings for 30-40 minutes. I get these all prepped and onto the coals they go. Hey those coals are HOT!!! Recipe says about 6-minutes on the grill to develop those nice grill marks, well this sucker appears to be running under nuclear power right now and those leeks started to char after about 60 seconds. Now they're far from over done, but they probably could have stood a little more direct heat in order to soften just a bit before foiling. No matter, into the foil they go!
Now it's wing time! Onto the grill they go indirect with a some cherry pellets from the Traeger hopper, not ideal on the OTS, but I'm out of wood chunks and these have done in the past. Again, I'm rushing a little bit so I get a little over eager and don't wait for the TBS before tossing on the wings, figuring it shouldn't be long before everything settles in how I want it. Now the Mrs. and I settle in at the patio table to enjoy a frosty beverage on a beautiful summer evening. 5 minutes goes by and the kettle is pumping out copious amounts of white smoke from every nook and cranny, I used a pretty generous handful of pellet and figured they were just taking a little longer than normal to burn down, 10 minutes goes by and its still belching away! I get up to take a look and realize that the exhaust damper is mostly closed, oh no! I open up the lid to clear the excess smoke and get the damper open which seems to resolve the issue, however those wings are already a little darker in color than I would like and boy, that fire is still running awfully hot. I'm keeping an eye on the grill and the smoke goes thin blue quickly this time so I figure everything is OK. I let them go for another 20 minutes or so and take a quick peek, figuring they would need another 15 minutes or so. Open up the lid, give the wings a little poke and wouldn't you know it, those farkers are done!
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg556/dgoldman17/Turkey%20Wings/IMG_8183_zps51177e0c.jpg (http://s1243.photobucket.com/user/dgoldman17/media/Turkey%20Wings/IMG_8183_zps51177e0c.jpg.html)
Off they come and a few minutes rest. They look alright, if a little greasier than I was expecting but not too bad. I cut them into sections and plate with the leeks.
http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg556/dgoldman17/Turkey%20Wings/IMG_8185_zps92366766.jpg (http://s1243.photobucket.com/user/dgoldman17/media/Turkey%20Wings/IMG_8185_zps92366766.jpg.html)
(sorry for the poor photo quality)
I take my first bite from the drum section and it was the toughest, chewiest bird I have ever eaten. It was litterally like chewing on a rubber ball! The skin just kind of stretched when I bit it and I had to pull with all of my jaw power to get any meat off the bone, it wasn't dry, just insanely chewy. The Mrs. goes to take a bit and can't even get through it, like she was chewing on one of the dogs toys. Absolutely terrible! Well at least I have some nice braised leeks to eat, I attempt to cut the leek and it doesn't cooperate, just kind of smooshes a little and the more pressure I add it breaks up into a tough fibrous mess. A completely inedible meal. We ate scrambled eggs and toast for dinner.
Where did I go wrong? Well, to start, picking up turkey wings in June may not have been the best idea. Who knows how long those things had been frozen for and under what conditions. Next, the brine completely destroyed the texture of the skin, I brine my Thanksgiving turkey, but usually allow it to dry out in the fridge for a few hours before cooking, this skin absorbed a lot moisture very quickly and didn't have a chance to dry properly before cooking. Fire management was a big issue here as well. Half a chimney would have been enough and I really should have paid attention to my equipment to make sure it was setup properly. Finally time management, don't try to cook something if you don't have time, I should have just grabbed a couple of pork chops to throw on the grill. I tried the leeks again, gave them a lower heat sear and then an extra 20 minutes in the foil and they turned out great.
Now in an attempt to keep this meal from being a total loss I put the wings in the freezer and used the pressure cooker to make a nice turkey stock to use in some blackeyed peas. The stock turned out quite nicely, however as I was prepping something else the Mrs. was cleaning up after me. She asked me if I was using the water in sink for anything, not paying attention to what she asked I told her no, because I didn't have any water in the sink. What I did have was a pot filled with the just strained turkey stock. Before I knew it she was dumping it right on down the drain. Turkey wing dinner is now a complete and total loss.