It's that time of year again when everyone starts asking how to roast a turkey. I can't tell you how many questions I get every year from people who are completely intimidated by the idea of roasting this mighty* bird. Most of these people are great cooks, and in fact, have no problem roasting a chicken, but give them the bird over three pounds and something starts breaking down.
Perhaps the problem is that they are presenting their roast turkey to anywhere from five to 20 picky people, or maybe it's the fact that your dinner investment suddenly went from $9 to $45. Regardless, roasting a turkey is actually just as easy as roasting a chicken. It might take a little longer, but in the end, there's no reason why you can't have a tender, delicious, drama-free dinner.
A few months ago I wrote a post on how to roast the perfect chicken. Misplaced modifiers aside, you don't need to start with the perfect bird to end up with a finished product you can be proud of. That said, I will always endorse a free range, organic option, which I think in the end will not only tastes better, but will also support the kind of world we want to live in the future -- but if you can't afford a $50 locally farmed, pasture raised turkey, you can still pull off the perfect Thanksgiving bird pretty easily.
Here are some tips to help you roast your Thanksgiving turkey to perfection. This is all common sense advice if you really think about it, but for whatever reason people seem to lose their minds when it comes to making Thanksgiving dinner.
Do you have any tips of your own? Please leave a comment and let me know what your secret is.
How to Roast a Turkey to Perfection
- First things first: thaw your bird completely before putting it in the oven. Thaw it in the fridge for a few days - up to four, depending on the size of your turkey.
- 400°F is the perfect temperature for cooking a whole bird. You'll get crispy skin without compromising tenderness.
- Depending on the size of your bird, it should take anywhere from 3-6 hours to roast at 400°F. I highly recommend a meat thermometer, one that stays in the turkey while it cooks and lets you set an alarm for when it reaches the proper temperature. This keeps you from continually opening the oven door, which will greatly increase your cooking time. Here's a great time chart for turkey roasting.
- Basting the bird won't give you crispier skin. In fact, you'll get limp, soggy skin and it only marginally affects the flavor.
- Some argue that rubbing the entire bird with fat, inside and out, doesn't affect the flavor, but I disagree. It depends on the fat, though - olive oil won't give you a flavor boost, but butter mixed with a heaping dose of salt and herbs will yield a tasty dish indeed.
- It doesn't matter what orientation you roast your turkey in. Breast up, breast down, flipped over halfway through or hanging from the rafters - no position will make the breast more moist.
- Stuffing some flavored fat (such as butter with salt and herbs) under the skin will help flavor meat, but don't go overboard. Too much fat will just just make the meat greasy.
- They (whoever "they" are) say that you're supposed to cook a whole turkey to 180°F, but I find that 170° yields a perfectly moist bird that's still cooked completely through. Make sure to measure in the thickest part of the breast.
- I don't recommend stuffing your turkey before roasting, and this can lead to all sorts of holiday misery - namely salmonella. If you insist on stuffing the bird, make sure you roast it until the stuffing has an internal temperature of at least 165°F.
- Let your bird rest for a few minutes after you take it out of the oven. A good 20 minute nap will let everything settle and keep the moisture where it belongs: in the meat.
- The easiest way to guarantee that pieces of breast will be moist is to let them soak in the bird's juices for a few minutes after they've been cut. This includes the fatty runoff from what you've rubbed over the surface or stuffed under the skin.
- You want the entire thing to roast evenly and have crispy skin all over, so consider elevating it off the surface of the roasting pan. A good-sized roasting rack will do the trick, which allows air to circulate under the bird - crisping it all the way around.
- Get a decent oven thermometer, one for measuring the turkey and one for measuring your oven's temperature. 'Nuff said.
- Don't waste the juices in the bottom of the pan! Reduce in a saucepan with a little white wine, add a little cornstarch and you've got an amazing gravy.
*Mighty ornery, that is. Have you ever met a turkey in real life? Yikes.
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I start the cooking breast side up (when one is dealing with the larger (over 20 pounds or so) birds, the skin on the up side will get over-done unless the bird is flipped at some point during the cooking), and let the finished bird 'rest' breast side down.
A couple of other tips of mine (some passed down to me):
Make sure the bird is thawed enough the night before to remove the 'gizzards' (the neck, and the package of organs), and pop them into a slow-cooker to simmer overnight. Use the liquids from this instead of water to make the gravy (if you can roast the neck, will add even more flavour, and I personally puree the organs and some meat from the neck into the liquid for both flavour and nutritional value)
If you do stuff the bird (I do) do it immediately before putting in the oven, and remove the stuffing immediately after removing the bird, transfering it straight to the microwave for heating well past the 165 mark. If you are not sure that everyone will be comfortable with that, make the stovetop stuffing, but use some of the liquid from the simmering I mentioned above, and some of the neck meat. This adds some of the turkey flavour to the stuffing.
Finally, when carving, instead of slicing in the tradition fashion (parallel to the bones) after removing the drumsticks and wings, do a series of slices from the skin to the bones, starting close to the breastbone and working down. Once this is done, carve along the bones, and you will end up with a pile of slices all with a small portion of skin, and a lot more uniform in size.
One more thing, when starting to cook, pour a layer of water into the bottom of the roasting pan. this will keep the initial drippings from burning on the hot pan before there are enough of them to prevent that, making for a better gravy.
The pies have been made. The turkey's in the oven. My family is downstairs yelling at the football game. I am grateful.
Wishing all of my 'friends' here on Huffington Post a wonderful Thanksgiving!
peace.
and aluminum foil covering..
are just clues telling you to turn the temperature down!
but don't do that!
slow cooking is best and needs no foil..
and baste a lot..
(the extra 25F is for the opening and closing of the oven door)