November 19, 2020

Thanksgiving Turkey

Only one week till Turkey Day! If you haven’t bought your frozen bird now is the time! The turkey is the centerpiece, the oven hog and some would argue the most delicious part of Thanksgiving. Read on for a foolproof way to ensure your turkey is not even a little bit dry this holiday!

Flip the bird!

Rotate your turkey in the fridge as it defrosts. Breast side down/breast side up so every day as it defrosts so that the juices can evenly distribute as it unfreezes.

Fill your turkey with veggies!

Stuff your turkey with celery, carrots and onions. The steam from the veggies cooking inside of it will allow moisture from within!

Rinse your bird

and make sure to remove the “extras”.

No need for a roasting pan.

Place your bird in a 13×9 baking pan and sit it on a ring of foil. This gives it the airflow of a roasting pan without spending big bucks on a pan that you’ll only use once or twice a year.

Don’t baste your bird.

Scandalous! #1 Every time you open your oven to drench your bird in its own juices you loose heat which will make your turkey take longer to cook. #2 Putting the moisture on the skin causes it to not get brown and crispy and will be sad and soggy instead. #3 Ain’t nobody got time to be doing this every 30 minutes. You’ve got other stuff to cook!

Build it a little tin foil hat.

About 2/3 of the way through when your bird is nicely browned cover it with tin foil to reduce further browning and keep those juices in.

Check the temperature early.

Don’t blindly follow the cooking times in your instructions. Around the time you’d want to put the foil on check the bird’s temperature so you don’t over cook it. (Do follow the instructions that come with the turkey for approximate cooking times, oven temp and safe food temperature). If it has one of those pop up buttons…do not trust it. The thermometer has a whole lot more technology behind it than that little button. Trust the temp.