How to properly cook a turkey

[sunshinegal1981]

The recipe you've been using all these years is not quite as good as this one: 



Hope you all enjoy this as much as I did.

Gobble, gobble!  

[cranberry49]

LMAO! Good one! Thanks for the laugh! 

[Colleenz]

That is EPIC

[8 Bit WWBG]

Don't make the mistake I've made in the past -- thinking you can thaw that bastard the night before...

Last year, I just got a turkey breast.  I did a nice cranberry ginger glaze.  I'll probably do the same this year.  It might just be me eating it, so maybe a nice 2lb'er will do the trick.

I'm going to try this twice baked yam recipe I saw too.

Oh, and if you insist on deep frying a turkey, familiarize yourself with Archimedes research on displacement of liquids.

[sunshinegal1981]

Cranberry ginger glaze sounds amazing!  Will have to look it up.

This year will be my first married Thanksgiving with DH (*takes a bow*), and I plan on making a turkey all by myself for the very first time.  How hard can it be?  (I fully expect it to come out burned on the outside, and raw on the inside.)  We will probably invite some of DH's unsuspecting work friends to come and partake.   I fully intend on following the recipe as written above.  I will embrace the epic fail, and start taking holiday cooking seriously NEXT year.  Being a wife is fun!   :-) 

[justme]

Oh, and if you insist on deep frying a turkey, familiarize yourself with Archimedes research on displacement of liquids.

Alton Brown has an episode for that

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

LOL, Sunshinegal - that's how I cook my turkey every year.

Have you heard of drunken chicken? I do drunken turkey. Actually the turkey isn't drunken - the cook is. <<hic>>

[Peace Of Mind]

Nov 17, 2013 21:24:23 GMT -5 sunshinegal1981 said:

The recipe you've been using all these years is not quite as good as this one: 



Hope you all enjoy this as much as I did.

Gobble, gobble!  

LOL!!! I've used that recipe! I can't remember how it turned out.

[Deleted]

That recipe is how I cook dinner almost every night.

I posted that recipe on my FB page for my Italian friends so they know how I cook the turkey every year.     They are very excited for Thanksgiving again this year.

[greeniis10]

For me "properly" cooking a turkey is a week-long task: time to thaw in the fridge (never the countertop or sink; too dangerous); 24 hours of brining; all-day cooking and basting at a low, slow heat.  Comes out great, but boy is it a lot of work!  I like the OP's version MUCH better! 

This year DH and his brothers are cooking the meal at MIL's house.  This should be epic.  I'm bringing my crowd-favorite calivacitas cassarole (can't spell it, but I can cook it!) so that I can have something to eat.  I don't eat meat to begin with and I never eat anything at these family feasts due to food sitting out for hours while everyone visits, drinks, and gets around to eating whenever...

[Spellbound454]

I just get a turkey crown these days.
You can still wrap it up nicely and cook it all day...and it feeds 7-8

I might take it off the bone and put it in sandwiches the next day but after that we are all fed up of eating turkey
so no point in getting something we won't eat.

[tskeeter]

Recipe for Irish Turkey.  Excerpted from Recipes from a Fine Irish Cook.

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a rolling boil.

Put turkey in pot.

Boil until cooked, 12- 14 hours.

Throw out water.

Serve with potatoes.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

This year will be my first married Thanksgiving with DH (*takes a bow*), and I plan on making a turkey all by myself for the very first time. How hard can it be

Oh honey you have no idea

*ah hem*

Our first year married I decided to take it upon myself to cook a turkey all by myself.  Bought a 10 lb Jenny O because those are supposed to be idiot proof right? 

WRONG

I didn't research how long the stupid bird is supposed to thaw so unbeknowest to me it was still frozen in the middle when I decided to cook it. 8 hrs later this damn thing isn't brown so I tear open the cooking bag thinking it'll go faster.

However much time later decide it's good enough.  Made the mistake of putting the turkey into a foil roasting pan.  Which are NOT designed to hold 10lb turkeys!   Make DH get up to get it out of the oven. 

While attempting the feat our three dogs secretly plot between themselves.  Sabah gets in front, Midnight in back and Leonard is waiting in the wings to catch the turkey.   DH sees first dog, nearly trips over second dog but manages to get the turkey onto the top of the stove.

Now we have nothing to cut it with.   DH takes it as a personal affront to his manhood when I suggest borrowing my parents' electic knife.  Proceeds to get out dull chef's knife.   We don't have a meat fork so he decides to use a tiny ass table fork to hold a 10 lb turkey in place.

No ER trip, I'm sure you were hoping for that out come.  lol.   Instead turkey is going EVERYWHERE!  Dogs are ecstatic as turkey rains down from the skies.  We got maybe three pieces out of that bird before DH hit the frozen part.

Meanwhile I'm in the corner swearing I'll never cook a whole turkey again as long as I live.  Four years later I'm still honoring my vow.

[lynnerself]

DH thaws, cleans, stuffs and cooks the turkey
I carve.
I think its a great trade off.

[sunshinegal1981]

Nov 18, 2013 13:53:23 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

This year will be my first married Thanksgiving with DH (*takes a bow*), and I plan on making a turkey all by myself for the very first time. How hard can it be

Oh honey you have no idea

*ah hem*

Our first year married I decided to take it upon myself to cook a turkey all by myself.  Bought a 10 lb Jenny O because those are supposed to be idiot proof right? 

WRONG

I didn't research how long the stupid bird is supposed to thaw so unbeknowest to me it was still frozen in the middle when I decided to cook it. 8 hrs later this damn thing isn't brown so I tear open the cooking bag thinking it'll go faster.

However much time later decide it's good enough.  Made the mistake of putting the turkey into a foil roasting pan.  Which are NOT designed to hold 10lb turkeys!   Make DH get up to get it out of the oven. 

While attempting the feat our three dogs secretly plot between themselves.  Sabah gets in front, Midnight in back and Leonard is waiting in the wings to catch the turkey.   DH sees first dog, nearly trips over second dog but manages to get the turkey onto the top of the stove.

Now we have nothing to cut it with.   DH takes it as a personal affront to his manhood when I suggest borrowing my parents' electic knife.  Proceeds to get out dull chef's knife.   We don't have a meat fork so he decides to use a tiny ass table fork to hold a 10 lb turkey in place.

No ER trip, I'm sure you were hoping for that out come.  lol.   Instead turkey is going EVERYWHERE!  Dogs are ecstatic as turkey rains down from the skies.  We got maybe three pieces out of that bird before DH hit the frozen part.

Meanwhile I'm in the corner swearing I'll never cook a whole turkey again as long as I live.  Four years later I'm still honoring my vow.

Ha ha, I loved this... thanks for sharing!!!   :-) 

Do all turkeys come frozen as a matter of course? I'm sure someone sells them fresh, no? (I live in NYC, if that makes a diff....)

If I can only get frozen, how far in advance should I be prepared to buy the thing? And if I leave it to defrost over several days, aren't the peripheral parts getting stinky while the core is still frozen solid?  (Omg... what am I getting myself into? Someone pass the chardonnay.....)

(And I'm aware I can probably google all this crap, but you guys are more entertaining.)  :-)

[sunshinegal1981]

Nov 17, 2013 23:21:07 GMT -5 ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ said:

LOL, Sunshinegal - that's how I cook my turkey every year.

Have you heard of drunken chicken? I do drunken turkey. Actually the turkey isn't drunken - the cook is. <<hic>>

I don't think I have ever prepared a dish sober that came out tastier than its not-quite-sober version.  Maybe the ethanol frees my creative juices?  Or something.

[tskeeter]

Do all turkeys come frozen?  The 88 cent a pound ones do.  You can get "fresh" turkey.  For four or five bucks a pound, I suppose, in NYC.  And the "fresh" part is a relative term.  "Fresh" really translates into slaughtered and dressed 5 - 10 days ago and never frozen (allowed to dry out in a variety of large coolers and refrigerators over several days).  Frozen is fresher.  Flash frozen within minutes of being slaughtered.

So how long do you defrost a frozen turkey?  I plan on about five or six days.  I set the frozen turkey on the counter for a couple of hours to let it absorb some heat, then into the refrigerator to complete defrosting.  As long as you're not defrosting the thing on the counter, you won't have a problem with the tail rotting off while you wait for the ice to melt in the cavity.  Defrosting with a hair dryer  or in the oven are not recommended.  Although, I do recall hearing about some recipes that call for roasting the turkey from frozen.  I suppose it works just fine if your taste in turkey runs to hard and crunchy on the outside and cold and crunchy in the middle.

Once you've cooked the bird, using the method of your choice, you are presented with a variety of carving options.  The CIA purist will insist on a Damascus blade slicer hand forged in a small mid European country whose current name you can't pronounce, that once used to be part of the Hungarian Empire.  Others prefer the ubiquitous and alway sharp electric knife.  If you've only got a small turkey to feed what has suddenly turned into 25 guests, a very large hammer works well.  Your turkey will look bigger if it's really flat and thin.  Use of a food processor is not recommended, except for those with no teeth, or those who have been living on nutrishakes for so long that they have come to believe that you always drink your meals.  If you're of the blend the bejaoysus out if it school of fine dining, a bit of gravey facilitates a nice soupy texture while a hand full of peas yields an interesting color.      

[8 Bit WWBG]

...:::"Frozen is fresher. Flash frozen within minutes of being slaughtered.":::...

I don't know that that is true in all cases.  I was reading about chicken that is gassed instead of beheaded, and allowed to air dry.  Most processors want to get the chicken frozen and shipped ASAP because it means more output at lower cost.  But by allowing it to air dry for a day or so, you get better flavor.  I've not personally taste tested both side by side, but the article made sense.

And justme, the wooden fence, grass, and wooden trees in that deep-fry picture look deliciously flammable.

[Deleted]

Nov 17, 2013 21:42:59 GMT -5 8 Bit WWBG said:

Oh, and if you insist on deep frying a turkey, familiarize yourself with Archimedes research on displacement of liquids.

I also recommend this research before brining a turkey - same principle, but at least the brine isn't flammable.  Although it's a bitch to mop 2-3 quarts of salty, sugary, sticky flavored stuff off the kitchen floor.  Especially if you've already finished off the truly lovely Bordeaux you meant to serve tomorrow.  

Several years back my friend decided to get all high-falutin and brine a turkey which was well and good until she realized she didn't have squat for ice to cool the brine and popping that bad boy into hot brine wasn't a good idea.  So a couple of us donated our ice cubes to the cause but now she has absolutely no place in her fridge for the humongous bird in its salty bath. Having consumed a number of adult beverages during the ice cube quest, we decided to utilize the fridge of an absent neighbor we were petsitting for over the holiday weekend.  Which went pretty well until we discover that the "leak proof seal" on the brining bag is a total crock and we now have a brine trail throughout our neighbor's house.  By this point we are standing in the neighbor's formerly clean kitchen, pawing through her cabinets desperately looking for a pan big enough to contain the flood and still fit in the fridge.  Of course we had to clear out the fridge a bit so we sort of finished off the various bottles of wine in there.  How we ever thought she wouldn't know, I haven't a clue.  

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

I've bought both fresh & frozen turkeys. I haven't noticed much difference between the two - as long as the frozen one is recently frozen and not dried out (freezer burn).

The fresh ones are usually smaller - if you plan on cooking a 20 lb'er (or larger), you'd best buy frozen then thaw. I used to leave it sitting out in an empty sink for a few hours a couple of days before cooking day, then back in the fridge. The day before cooking day, I'd immerse it in a sink full of cold water (while still wrapped/sealed) to finish thawing through for a few more hours - then back in fridge. The day of cooking it was usually thawed through and the giblets bag could be removed from the cavity before stuffing and placing in the oven to roast.

[weltschmerz]

Nov 18, 2013 18:13:21 GMT -5 sunshinegal1981 said:

Nov 18, 2013 13:53:23 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

This year will be my first married Thanksgiving with DH (*takes a bow*), and I plan on making a turkey all by myself for the very first time. How hard can it be

Oh honey you have no idea

*ah hem*

Our first year married I decided to take it upon myself to cook a turkey all by myself.  Bought a 10 lb Jenny O because those are supposed to be idiot proof right? 

WRONG

I didn't research how long the stupid bird is supposed to thaw so unbeknowest to me it was still frozen in the middle when I decided to cook it. 8 hrs later this damn thing isn't brown so I tear open the cooking bag thinking it'll go faster.

However much time later decide it's good enough.  Made the mistake of putting the turkey into a foil roasting pan.  Which are NOT designed to hold 10lb turkeys!   Make DH get up to get it out of the oven. 

While attempting the feat our three dogs secretly plot between themselves.  Sabah gets in front, Midnight in back and Leonard is waiting in the wings to catch the turkey.   DH sees first dog, nearly trips over second dog but manages to get the turkey onto the top of the stove.

Now we have nothing to cut it with.   DH takes it as a personal affront to his manhood when I suggest borrowing my parents' electic knife.  Proceeds to get out dull chef's knife.   We don't have a meat fork so he decides to use a tiny ass table fork to hold a 10 lb turkey in place.

No ER trip, I'm sure you were hoping for that out come.  lol.   Instead turkey is going EVERYWHERE!  Dogs are ecstatic as turkey rains down from the skies.  We got maybe three pieces out of that bird before DH hit the frozen part.

Meanwhile I'm in the corner swearing I'll never cook a whole turkey again as long as I live.  Four years later I'm still honoring my vow.

Ha ha, I loved this... thanks for sharing!!!   :-) 

Do all turkeys come frozen as a matter of course? I'm sure someone sells them fresh, no? (I live in NYC, if that makes a diff....)

If I can only get frozen, how far in advance should I be prepared to buy the thing? And if I leave it to defrost over several days, aren't the peripheral parts getting stinky while the core is still frozen solid?  (Omg... what am I getting myself into? Someone pass the chardonnay.....)

(And I'm aware I can probably google all this crap, but you guys are more entertaining.)  :-)

This week I'm honored to pass along an article from a study conducted by O. Peter Snyder, Jr., Ph.D. about a new way to roast your Thanksgiving turkey: put it in the oven frozen solid. Dr. Snyder is the president of the Hospitality Institute of Technology and Management in St. Paul, Minnesota. You cook turkey from the frozen state. That's right - it goes into the oven frozen completely solid. I've used this method many times now and have the best results. The turkey is beautifully moist and tender and perfectly browned. And it's so nice to not have to worry about thawing that huge bird!
busycooks.about.com/od/thanksgiving/a/cookfrozenturke.htm

I've done it. It turned out great.

[weltschmerz]

I shelled out some extra money one year for an Excelsior Freezer-To-Oven bird.
Turns out, you can do it with any turkey.

www.wikihow.com/Cook-a-Frozen-Turkey

blog.williams-sonoma.com/yes-you-can-roast-a-frozen-turkey/

Only drawback is that you can't stuff it, but you can bake dressing on the side.

[alabamagal]

Nov 18, 2013 18:16:09 GMT -5 sunshinegal1981 said:

Nov 17, 2013 23:21:07 GMT -5 ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ said:

LOL, Sunshinegal - that's how I cook my turkey every year.

Have you heard of drunken chicken? I do drunken turkey. Actually the turkey isn't drunken - the cook is. <<hic>>

I don't think I have ever prepared a dish sober that came out tastier than its not-quite-sober version.  Maybe the ethanol frees my creative juices?  Or something.

Or the alcohol impairs your judgement!

Not that there is anything wrong with that.

[Deleted]

I'm sticking to my tradition of not cooking a turkey for Thanksgiving - I've gone 30 years so far. 

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

I am a "bulk" grocery shopper.  (I don't necessarily buy ginormous sizes of grocery items from warehouse clubs -- I simply buy multiple of items when they are on a really good sale.)

So, I regularly roast frozen meat -- whole chickens, beef roasts, etc.  

They always come out moist and delicious.

I guess I just don't understand the need to defrost a turkey before cooking it.  Sounds like an invitation to food-borne illness if it takes *days* to defrost...but then, I have absolutely no use for those disgusting bags of body parts...errrr, ummmm, I mean "giblets".  


(And, in the interest of full disclosure, I regularly roast fresh meat as well with the same delicious results.  Meat that starts out frozen just takes longer to roast.   )

[tskeeter]

Nov 19, 2013 4:09:56 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

I shelled out some extra money one year for an Excelsior Freezer-To-Oven bird.
Turns out, you can do it with any turkey.

www.wikihow.com/Cook-a-Frozen-Turkey

blog.williams-sonoma.com/yes-you-can-roast-a-frozen-turkey/

Only drawback is that you can't stuff it, but you can bake dressing on the side.

Weltschmerz, saw an interesting technique to give your baked on the side stuffing that in the bird flavor you crave.  Lay turkey wings across the top of the stuffing.  The wings roast and their juices trickle all that flavor into the stuffing as the stuffing bakes.  To me, this would be the best of both worlds.  The flavor of in the bird stuffing and the crispy stuffing from the top of the pan.  Think this is the way I'm going this year.

[kittensaver]

Nov 19, 2013 13:09:29 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

Nov 19, 2013 4:09:56 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

I shelled out some extra money one year for an Excelsior Freezer-To-Oven bird.
Turns out, you can do it with any turkey.

www.wikihow.com/Cook-a-Frozen-Turkey

blog.williams-sonoma.com/yes-you-can-roast-a-frozen-turkey/

Only drawback is that you can't stuff it, but you can bake dressing on the side.

Weltschmerz, saw an interesting technique to give your baked on the side stuffing that in the bird flavor you crave.  Lay turkey wings across the top of the stuffing.  The wings roast and their juices trickle all that flavor into the stuffing as the stuffing bakes.  To me, this would be the best of both worlds.  The flavor of in the bird stuffing and the crispy stuffing from the top of the pan.  Think this is the way I'm going this year.

Cook's Illustrated also has an interesting technique for stuffing (non-frozen turkey) that gets the flavor of the bird into the stuffing/dressing. They line the cavity of the bird with cheesecloth and put as much of the prepared dressing as possible into it, then tie it (the cheesecloth ends) up. The rest of the stuffing/dressing goes into a casserole dish. When the bird is almost done, they pull out the cheesecloth packet, spread the turkey-infused stuffing across the top of the casserole and pop it back into the oven to cook/heat/brown. The juices trickle down and flavor the whole dish. Solves the problem of flavorful but soggy stuffing vs. hot and crispy stuffing but without turkey flavor.

[Deleted]

just go to a restaurant--turkey comes out awesome and more time spent drinkin!