Dark turkey meat in oil

[HowardLi]

My next turkey is going to be cooked with white and dark meat separated. I want to use SV to the first phase of a double-fry on the dark meat like Kenji does to his buffalo wings in his "fry, fry again" article. However, I have concerns that the dark meat may end up over-softened and lack the traditional chew that many people are used to.

Any advice? Is fully-decollagenized dark meat better than semi-decollagenized?

[bmdaniel]

I think this is in the realm of what you are considering?

http://modernistcuisine.com/2010/11/a-modernist-thanksgiving/

[Dave Hatfield]

I have found that Julia Child's deconstructed turkey works beautifully.

You can easily get both white & dark meat cooked perfectly. In addition you can have the 3 legged turkey by buying an extra leg/thigh thus satisfying those who (like me) prefer the dark meat.

[Baselerd]

I think this is in the realm of what you are considering?

http://modernistcuis...t-thanksgiving/

Looks good. It's weird that they have two variations of this, but I made the Thanksgiving Stew (SV turkey breast and SV turkey leg confit) from their website as well, and it was amazing. By far the best turkey I've ever had. The dark meat was extremely tender and flavorful, and I'm sure it would work just as fine if you use oil instead of duck fat.

[HowardLi]

I think this is in the realm of what you are considering?

http://modernistcuis...t-thanksgiving/

Looks good. It's weird that they have two variations of this, but I made the Thanksgiving Stew (SV turkey breast and SV turkey leg confit) from their website as well, and it was amazing. By far the best turkey I've ever had. The dark meat was extremely tender and flavorful, and I'm sure it would work just as fine if you use oil instead of duck fat.

Dark meat at only 62C? Interesting.

I wonder if the skin crisps up better when the meat is cooked in oil, unsealed, rather than in a liquid-free sealed vacuum bag... Doesn't the skin end up less soggy before searing/crisping?

[Baselerd]

To be honest I removed the skin after cooking for that dish, it was served straight out of the SV with no crisping.

With that said, I've had pretty good luck with crisping skin by partially dehydrating the skin (off the meat) and then reattaching it with transglutimase. It's a lot of work, but gave me good results. MC takes it a step further by grinding up dehydrated skin into powder and sprinkling it over the partially dehydrated skin before reattaching it to the meat.

Edited October 19, 2012 by Baselerd (log)