|
Turkey tutorial: Follow our guide for perfect preparation
You've bought the Thanksgiving turkey that, if frozen, should be defrosting in the refrigerator by now - because nothing kills the holiday mood like a still-frozen bird. That said, the only task left is deciding how to cook the bird. To brine or not? Roast at 475 or 325 degrees? Roast breast-side down or up? Each cooking method is fine as long as the turkey is cooked at the right temperature for the right amount of time, especially if you don't dry it out. Regardless of method, turkeys can be difficult to cook to perfection. Most of us don't cook turkeys often enough to master the technique, and a turkey's white meat cooks more quickly than its dark meat. To help you produce a bird up to Martha Stewart standards, we offer basic how-to instructions. PREPARING THE BIRD These general tips apply for every cooking method. - Remove the turkey from the refrigerator about one hour before placing it in the oven. Remove neck and giblets from neck and body cavities, rinse it and pat it dry. - Use a meat thermometer. When done, all parts of the turkey should be 170 degrees in the breast and 180 in the thigh. The bird will continue to cook when you take it out of the oven, so remove it just shy of the desired temperatures. - Cover the bird with a loose foil tent and allow to rest after cooking for 20-30 minutes. This redistributes the juices and makes for smooth carving. - Soaking the turkey in a mixture of salt and water - brining - is one of the best ways to guarantee a moist turkey. Check the label on your turkey before deciding to brine. A fresh turkey works best. Skip brining on self-basting or kosher birds. A basic brine: Stir 8 quarts of water and 2 cups of kosher salt in a clean 5-gallon bucket with a cover. You can add a bit of sugar and any spices you like. Add the raw turkey, cover and chill for 10 hours. If you want to soak for 24 hours, reduce salt to 1 cup. TRADITIONAL ROAST This is most likely how Grandma cooked a turkey. - Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place turkey, breast-side up, on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. If cooking stuffing inside turkey, fill body cavity with stuffing now. Sprinkle turkey inside and out with salt and pepper. - Add 1/2 cup water to the bottom of the pan, and if desired, cut up carrots, onions and celery to add aroma and flavor. Place turkey in preheated oven. The turkey's natural juices will baste the meat as it cooks. - Cooking times are approximate. In general, a turkey should be roasted 10 to 12 minutes per pound unstuffed, and 12 to 15 minutes per pound stuffed. Start checking for doneness 30 minutes before recommended end times. 2-HOUR TURKEY In 2005, Safeway grocery stores touted a quick and easy way to roast a bird - the two-hour turkey. This method has its share of believers. - Make sure the oven is clean because this method requires the kind of heat that will cause any debris to smoke (adding to the smoke caused by turkey grease). Open a window nearby for ventilation. - Place the oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 475. Place turkey on rack in a large flameproof roasting pan. Set bird breast-side-up on rack. Pull wings away from body and firmly twist them to push the wing tips under the bird. Using aluminum foil, form caps over the tips of the end of each drumstick. If parts of the turkey extend beyond pan, fashion a foil collar underneath to make sure drippings flow back into pan. Don't tie legs together, add stuffing or close body cavity. - Insert an oven-safe meat thermometer near the center of the breast through thickest part until the tip touches bone, which is the most accurate spot to check doneness. Rotate the pan 180 degrees halfway through roasting, and cook until a thermometer inserted into fleshy part of each thigh registers 180 degrees. Approximate cooking times are 50 minutes to 1 1/4 hour for a 13- to 16-pound turkey, 1 1/4 to 2 hours for a 16- to 19-pound bird, and 1 1/2 to 2 hours for a 20- to 22-pound bird. DEEP FRY Deep frying a turkey can be tricky, even dangerous. But when done right, this method produces a moist turkey with a crispy skin. Note from the webmaster - If you want to kill yourself, or just burn yourself so your disfigured for life deep frying a turkey is a great way to go. - A smaller turkey, about 12 to 14 pounds, is the perfect size for frying. Wash and dry the turkey extremely well, removing the pop-up timer. - Set up a turkey fryer or a 40-quart stockpot for a propane burner. Set up the fryer outside, away from anything that could catch fire from splattering oil. Never fry a turkey in the house, garage, covered patio or other enclosed area. Wear long sleeves and a cooking mitt to protect yourself. Keep pets and children away from the turkey. Plan on baby-sitting the fryer for the hour it takes the turkey to cook. No watching football at the same time, and keep a fire extinguisher handy. - Fill the fryer with peanut oil (it works best because it's less likely to smoke or burn at higher temperatures). Using a thermometer, heat oil to 350 degrees, which should take about 20 minutes. Use a turkey hanger and pole, basket or nylon rope to slowly submerge the turkey into the hot oil. - Fry the turkey for about 3 to 4 minutes per pound. Turn the burner off and gently lift the turkey from the pot. Place covered on wire rack and let sit for 20 to 30 minutes. OVEN-BAG ROAST Turkey in a bag cooks up tender and juicy, and cleanup is easier. - Preheat oven to 350. Shake 1 tablespoon flour in turkey-size oven bag sold in grocery stores. The flour blends the fats and juices and protects against bursting. Place bag in roasting pan that's at least 2 inches deep. Be sure the bag does not hang over the pan or touch any part of the oven. - Place turkey breast-side up in oven bag on top of cut carrots, onions and celery. Close bag with nylon tie and cut six slits, 1/2-inch, in top of oven bag. Insert meat thermometer through slit into inner thigh for whole turkey or into thickest part of breast for turkey breast. The approximate roasting times are: 1 1/2 to 2 hours for 8- to 12-pound bird; 2 1/2 to 3 hours for a 16- to 20-pound turkey; 3 to 3 1/2 hours for a 20- to 24-pound turkey. For stuffed turkey, add 30 minutes to total time. Let stand in oven bag 15 minutes after removing from oven.
Problem: You Don’t Know How Big a Turkey to Buy You want to be sure you have enough turkey but have no clue how many pounds you need for the number of guests you’re going to have. Solution If you need only enough turkey to make it through Thanksgiving dinner: Buy ¾ to 1 pound per person. If you want enough leftovers for the long weekend: Calculate 1 pounds (or slightly more) per person. If you need a large turkey: Consider buying two 10- to 12-pound birds and roasting them side by side. Small turkeys cook (and defrost) much more quickly than supersize ones, and they tend to stay moister. Problem: The Turkey Is Still Frozen It’s 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Dinner is at 2 p.m. And the turkey, which has been thawing for days in the refrigerator, still feels frozen solid. Solution Give the bird a cold bath. Water is a much better conductor of heat than air in the refrigerator, so this method works faster, says Robert L. Wolke, professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh and the author of What Einstein Told His Cook 2 ($26, amazon.com). Fill a large bucket or the kitchen sink with cool water and plunge the bird in, in the original wrapper, breast-side down. Turkey Day Tips: A Simple, Splendid Thanksgiving Potluck If the turkey has been defrosting in the refrigerator for several days, a mere half hour may do the trick. If you need to defrost a fully frozen turkey on the double, allow half an hour per pound. The U.S. Department of Agriculture advises changing the water every 30 minutes or so. (Birds labeled “fresh” can be chilled to 26° F, which explains why such turkeys can unexpectedly turn out to be partially frozen. The USDA suggests that you buy a fresh turkey no more than 2 days before you roast it.) No matter how dire the situation, don’t thaw a turkey at room temperature. If it’s early in the week and there’s no rush, thaw the turkey in the refrigerator. Keep it in the original packaging, and place it on a rimmed container to catch any juices, allowing approximately 5 hours per pound. Problem: To Baste or Not to Baste? You want to put the bird in the oven and forget about it. Your husband wants to baste it at every commercial break. Solution It depends on your priorities. “Basting is purely a skin treatment,” says Wolke. Its only purpose is to facilitate browning and crisping. He adds that rubbing the turkey generously with oil or butter before you put it in the oven will do the job almost as well. (But be sure to pat the bird completely dry first; if the skin is wet, the fat won’t adhere.) Turkey Day Tips: Scene-Stealing Thanksgiving Side Dishes Not only is frequent basting a hassle but it can also wreak havoc with your cooking time. “If you do it every 20 minutes or so,” Wolke says, “you're losing a lot of heat from the oven by opening the door frequently.” If you or that loved one in your kitchen insists on basting, cookbook author and chef Sara Moulton advises that you prevent excess heat from escaping by taking the entire pan out of the oven and closing the door. Problem: You Can’t Tell if the Turkey Is Done The drumsticks wiggle. The juices run clear. But you’re still not sure if the turkey is ready. Solution Take its temperature. “You need a thermometer for dependable accuracy,” says Moulton. Insert one―oven-safe or instant-read―in several places, being careful not to allow the tip to touch bone. According to the USDA, turkey is cooked through when the internal temperature of a thigh reaches 180° F. (When gauging doneness, keep in mind that the meat continues to cook―and subsequently rises a few degrees―even after it comes out of the oven.) Problem: The Turkey Needs to Be Transferred You need to deftly shift a hot, dripping, unwieldy turkey from roasting pan to carving board without…oops! Solution Ask yourself, Modern gadgetry or old-fashioned ingenuity? There are a number of products designed to minimize the awkwardness, from pricey (and iffy) turkey transport forks to extremely reliable roasting racks. For a homespun alternative, scrunch up paper towels or aluminum foil in each hand as a buffer between hot bird and fingers, suggests Pam Anderson, author of Perfect Recipes for Having People Over ($35, amazon.com). Some home cooks prefer heavy-duty cleaning gloves. Others use oven mitts that are ready for the rag pile. Engineering types fashion a turkey hammock out of kitchen string and place it in the pan under the raw bird. Or you can simply reach for a couple of sturdy wooden spoons, indelicately insert one into each end of the bird, and let your steady hands guide the way. Problem: The Turkey Has Gone Cold By the time you allow the bird its prescribed resting period, it’s no longer warm. Solution Work around it. Before you slice, turkey requires at least 20 minutes to rest and allow the juices to redistribute. The laws of physics stipulate that the meat will―inevitably―cool. Anderson points out that hot gravy and side dishes can go a long way toward solving the problem. Warming the serving dishes and plates helps, too. Run them under very hot water and dry them just before dinner. Problem: No Room on the Stove or in the Oven You have all those side dishes to cook―and nowhere to cook them. Solution Plan ahead. “Obviously you can’t bake eight different things at eight different temperatures at the same time,” says Francine Maroukian, a former caterer and the author of Chef's Secrets ($17, amazon.com). You have to solve that problem when you’re creating the menu, not while you’re cooking it, she says. First, write up a list of all the things you’d like to make, then evaluate the number of burners and your oven space. Turkey Day Tips: Wines and Beers for Thanksgiving Dinner And don’t leave everything for the last minute; see what can be prepared in advance. “Everything―or at least a lot―can be done long before the kitchen starts to get stressful,” says Anderson. Mashed potatoes can be made an hour or two ahead of time, transferred to a heat-proof serving bowl, and kept warm over a pot of simmering water, partially covered. For just-made flavor, Anderson suggests adding only the salt, pepper, and milk when you mash; stir in the butter when you’re ready to serve. Problem: Flavorless Gravy Your lumpless gravy glistens. Hurrah! But it has no flavor. Sigh. Solution Reach for a couple of common kitchen vices. A splash of fortified alcohol―Madeira, sherry, port―will lend a mellow richness to your gravy. And lots of salt (and freshly ground black pepper, if desired) will emphasize whatever flavor your gravy already claims. To ensure a better gravy next time, boost the flavor of the pan drippings by strewing thickly sliced carrots, onions, and celery in the pan beneath the raw bird, suggests Anderson. Add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan and, while the turkey roasts, the vegetables will caramelize, lending a depth of flavor to the drippings. Strain and discard the vegetables, or puree them and stir them into the gravy for a thick, sweet sauce. From-scratch turkey stock also prevents bland gravy. You can make and freeze the stock weeks in advance if you use turkey wings, which are available at most meat counters during the holiday season. Problem: You Can’t Seem to Delegate Tasks Several guests have offered to help. But with all burners running, you don’t know where to begin to delegate. Sometimes, you think, it’s easier to do everything yourself. Solution Be prepared with a list of noncooking tasks, and make sure everything required is in plain sight. Someone else can easily deal with drinks, opening the wine while you bring the turkey to the table, or making coffee while you clear the dishes. Appoint a sheepdog to herd everyone to the table, and give a five-minute warning that you’re serving hot food, since a couple of guests always seem to straggle. And when everything really is covered, ask if you can take a rain check on help until cleanup time. Problem: All Those Dirty Pots and Pans Waiting for You You’d rather linger at the table than face the mess in the kitchen, even if that means hearing your mother explain―yet again―what hairstyle she finds most flattering on you. Solution Don’t save all the cleaning for after the meal. If you sit down to dinner with the roasting pan soaking in the sink, you’re doomed. But by making some recipes early in the day, you’ll have time in between dishes to clean. Even if you don’t make anything in advance, stop and wash something every half hour or so. Most important, get the bulky items―the roasting pan, the pot you made the mashed potatoes in―out of the way before you eat. That way, says Anderson, “when the meal is over, all you’ve got is the basic dishes.” If you have a cleanup crew, designate a runner to bring in the dishes, a second person to transfer leftovers to containers, and a third to do the cleanup. (And be prepared with aprons, rubber gloves, and dish towels.) |