People who didn't know Michael Chu was an engineer could probably figure it out from his approach to cooking a turkey.
This year, rather than simply turning on the oven, Chu smoked the bird while steaming it from inside with an open beer can. First, he calculated he'd need a 24-ounce can to fit snugly in a turkey's large cavity. Then, while photographing the bird cooking, he analyzed the effect of the beer steam on the finished product.
"I'm not sure it's adding that much flavor because as it evaporates, my feeling is the beer is simply concentrating in the can," said Chu, who posted the results of his pre-Thanksgiving test on his website, Cooking for Engineers. "But there are people who say it does add flavor."
While cooking a Thanksgiving dinner doesn't have to be a complicated, technology-intensive task, geek chefs are finding new ways to make it one.
From next-generation turkey fryers to grease-sucking sticks to a newly patented method of prepping poultry for grilling, inventors are creating fresh takes on the traditional feast. At the same time, many established but obscure methods are gaining a following.
A key trend among techie cooks is a move away from the slow-roast style of turkey preparation.
Deep frying -- a Southern specialty that involves immersing an entire bird in a vat of hot oil -- has become popular enough to spawn a mini industry of equipment makers. Online kitchen supply retailers sell more than a dozen different varieties of turkey fryers, along with accessories like turkey injectors, oil pumps and lifters.
Fans of deep-fried turkey like Misty Gray, a Louisiana native who sells fryers online, say the technique is harder than roasting, but worth the effort. Gray says her crispy, Cajun-seasoned fried turkeys are always consumed faster than roasted ones at family gatherings. Sales of fryers, meanwhile, are up sharply.
But turkey frying has its drawbacks. Besides being fattening, it's much more dangerous than roasting. The website of Consumers International warns that fryers can be a fire hazard and should be used only outdoors, at least 10 feet away from anything combustible.
New technology could make the job a bit safer. Kevin Collet, owner of Louisiana-based CB Industries, sells a valve that regulates the oil temperature in a propane fryer. While propane burners already regulate the amount of gas flow, Collet said, his device goes further by making sure the oil itself doesn't overheat. He's trying to patent the valve.
In addition to Collet's submission, the U.S. Patent Office offers a rich repository of turkey-related innovations.
In September, the agency issued a patent on a method for preparing a whole bird for grilling.
Another patent, issued in 2004, covers a combination fryer, boiler and steamer optimized for turkey.
Yet another, issued in 2003, applies to a lifter inventors say could be used for large foods such as turkey.
Even chefs who prefer traditional roasting can find offbeat technologies and cooking techniques to apply.
Chu says turkey roasters may appreciate a new kitchen item he recently began testing called the Disposable Kitchen Grease Trap. The absorbent sticks, which come in packs of 12, soak up grease from the bottom of a pan. Chu says it's easier to use the grease traps than to pour excess fat from a big roasting pan.
Adventurous types might also want to try very high-temperature turkey roasting, advised Robert L. Wolke, author of the food science book What Einstein Told His Cook. The method involves cooking a bird in an oven heated to about 475 degrees Fahrenheit, much hotter than the typical roasting temperature of around 350 degrees.
The technique might be expected to produce a turkey that's burned on the outside and undercooked inside. But they'd be mistaken, said Wolke.
"Oddly enough, it works very nicely," Wolk said. "It crisps the skin on the outside, and a bird of moderate size can be done in a couple of hours."
