Turkey Know-How



The turkey is not just an icon of the thanksgiving celebrations but it is also the most favorite part of a Thanksgiving dinner. Eating turkey on the Thanksgiving Day is a custom in the United States. As traditionally turkey is compulsorily included in the thanksgiving dinner so it will certainly be interesting to know certain tips, which will be helpful in making the turkey just excellent in taste. Here are some of such important and easy tips as turkey know how:

Buying a Turkey:

The size of the turkeys varies from baby turkeys (4 pound) to whoppers (25 pounds). Usually size wise one pound per person is allowed including the leftovers. You can purchase either large size or small size turkeys. The small size turkeys take less time to roast. While buying the turkey you can go for fresh or frozen turkey. Since the fresh turkeys are claimed to be raised on special diets therefore it is believed to be tastier compared to the frozen one and little costlier as well. But if you buy frozen turkey make sure that their the quality is good enough and not deteriorated. Some turkeys are injected into the flesh with fatty substances so that the breast meat remains moist. However the fresh turkey meat is said to be free of such injected fats and chemicals. You can also buy parts of turkey instead of buying the whole turkey. The whole breast, half breast, legs or thighs are some of the parts of the turkey, which can be bought from the stores.

Thawing a Frozen Turkey:

While thawing in the refrigerator let the turkey remain wrapped as it is and keep it in a tray and then put it into the refrigerator. The turkeys defrost time for the turkey may vary from five hours for one pound to about four days for twenty-pound turkey. Whereas while thawing with the cold water let the turkey remain wrapped as it is and put it in the sink, covered with the cold water. In order to maintain the turkey's temperature keep changing the water after every 30 minutes. It may take 30 minutes per pound to defrost the turkey. Avoid microwave thawing, as it does not heat evenly.

Roasting a Turkey:

The turkey is the most favorite part of a Thanksgiving dinner so here are some simple step-by-step instructions for you to roast a savory turkey.


Take a well-oiled flat rack in suitable roasting pan and put the turkey on it breast side up.
You can use an instant-read thermometer or an oven safe meat thermometer to check the temperature of the turkey.
Then coat the turkey skin with melted butter or oil. And keep basting the turkey after every 30 minutes.
To make the turkey skin rich, golden brown soak a double layer of cheesecloth in melted butter or oil and drape the cloth over the turkey while it roasts. You should allow extra cooking time whenever you open and close the oven.
Then press the stuffing between the turkey skin and the meat. This will let the breast meat remarkably moist.
To check whether the turkey is done or not you can use the thermometer.
After removing the turkey from the oven set it sit 20-30 minutes before carving and let the flesh reabsorbs the meat juices.
Meanwhile you can prepare the gravy for the turkey.
Finally carve the bird and enjoy the thanksgiving dinner.

The best way to cook the turkey is to cook it at a low temperature like 325 degrees F. The tips mentioned above will certainly be of great help for you



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What I have found works really well is cutting out the back bone of the turkey and flatten it them put your stuffing in a roasting pan with a grate on top of it and place the turkey on top the turkey then helps flavor the stuffing and it cooks faster and the dark meat will self baste the white meat pulse you do not have to worry about the stuffing being under cooked

Hmmmm...that sounds delicious!!!

Sounds like someone studied Julia Child!

Personally, I smoke my turkey whenever possible at about 210 to 240F. I don't put stuffing in the turkey as it slows the cooking time but I do add one onion and one apple for moisture and flavor. At such low temperatures the meat stays moist.

I season with mix of olive oil, cajun seasoning, black pepper, rosemary, and garlic. I prefer fresh over frozen but have had good success with both.

I use a mix of 75% oak and 25% mesquite wood.

Or is a classically trained French Chef

I stand corrected. I thought she developed the "Broasting" technique. She refers to it as "her favorite" in her french cooking tomb. I just presumed he invented it.

The turkey has been conquered indeed. It was a good turkey.

Deep fried after injecting marinade.