Holiday Turkey Tips 🦃

The holidays are a time for family, friends, and food! If you're in charge of cooking the turkey this year, you want to make sure it's perfect. There are a few different ways to cook turkey, but the two most popular methods are roasting and deep frying.

This article covers turkey cooking tips and planning, from great lessons learned to life-changing tips. Here are some tips to help you out.

The Sunday before the event, or four days before the event, is a perfect and safe day to start the natural thawing of the turkey in the refrigerator.

Short On Thawing Time?

Last-minute thawing under warm, or even worse, HOT water is a major NO-NO.

The turkey will not cook well. The hot water will change the turkey's protein texture. 

Think like this for a moment. What happens to meat when you apply heat?... The protein texture changes and firms up.

Running the turkey under COLD to room temperature water is fine if the turkey isn't fully thawed. Never HOT water.

Turkey Cooking Tips

Cooking Turkey To Perfection

Point the turkey legs to the back of the oven and the breast towards the front.

The hottest part of the oven is in the back of the oven; the dark meat finishes cooking at a higher internal temperature than the breast meat. This is simple, yet several cooks have never heard of this technique.

If your oven isn't large enough, be sure to turn the turkey in the oven 4 times during the cooking to ensure even cooking. Set a timer.

1. Turkey Doneness Temperature

• White Meat - Done @ 158 internal temp
• Dark Meat    -Done @ 170 internal temp

2. How To Get Crispy Turkey Skin

Make sure the turkey skin is very dry before adding any butter or olive oil. 

This is KEY to getting crispy, beautifully cooked turkey skin and the desired beautiful golden brown color. 

Wet skin only steams in the oven #nocolor

Use a paper towel to pat the skin dry. If the turkey sits on the counter before you begin buttering, pat the turkey dry once again. I cannot understate the importance of this holiday turkey RULE. 

3. Key To Moist Turkey

Add butter under the skin with your hands to keep the turkey juicy and moist. The turkey skin is very tough and doesn't tear easily.

4. Secret Turkey Cooking Tip

Soak cheesecloth in melted butter and drape it over the top of the turkey breast. Set the oven temperature to 450 degrees after about 20 to 30 minutes. Keep basting with butter or seasoned butter.

You cannot beat clarified butter due to it having no milk solids. The milk solids can burn and leave spots all over the turkey skin.

Visit our post covering How To Make Clarified Butter

After 30 minutes, turn the temperature down to 325 and roast for another 30 minutes. Then remove the cheesecloth and continue roasting until done.

5. How To Fry A Turkey

• Fry a Turkey (3 - 4 minutes a pound @ 360 degrees).
• Use Peanut Oil, or at worst, use canola. Vegetable oil is bland and has no flavor; not the right oil for frying a turkey.

TURKEY WARNING !!! (Be very careful that your turkey is completely 100% thawed and patted dry, or expect an oil explosion to occur. Major fire could break out. 

Oil and Water Do NOT MIX

6. What To Do After The Turkey Cooks

Once the turkey comes out of the oven or fryer, the turkey needs to rest for 40 minutes to an hour. This will ensure the turkey stays moist after slicing.

The turkey comes out of the oven/fryer, piping hot. The turkey is screaming with hot steam on the inside and wants to escape. If you slice into the turkey too early, you risk forcing the turkey to become dry.

7. Turkey Temperature

Never try to cook a turkey straight out of the refrigerator. #toocold

Turkey needs to be at room temperature before cooking. If you skip this step, the turkey will not cook evenly and the middle of the turkey will be extra pink and raw.

Place the turkey on your counter for one hour before cooking. Possibly long for large turkeys.

8. Type Of Turkey To Buy

Stay away from turkeys that do not state clearly, are minimally processed & antibiotic-free. Large turkeys, over 16 pounds, become gamey and tough. Shop for labels that young state turkeys. Types of Turkeys 🦃

9. Buying A Turkey

Turkeys priced over $50 aren't better; they just cost more to raise. It's a scam, and I'm sorry to say that. But so what if a turkey grew up eating bugs and acorns? Sure we could break down the animals' diets and what is best and how it can affect the taste, but it does not deserve the cost of $50+ for a turkey.

10. Brine Turkey, or Not?

Turkey and chicken alike come with up to, legally, 19% brine solution. Yes, you are paying for water per pound of turkey or chicken.

Deciding when to brine a turkey should be about the flavor/recipe, not just adding moisture. You add moisture by allowing the turkey to rest for 1 hour.

11. Do What Restaurants Do

Use a Dry Brine. #CrispySkin

Dry Brining uses salt seasoned with other herbs and spices, even citrus peels.

The Turkey Brining Process: 

• Pack seasoned salt all around the turkey in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours. (see photo - that's a chicken, by the way). This will pull out the water from the skin and promote extra crispy skin.
• The next day, rinse the salt off the turkey. Pat the skin dry.
• Place the turkey on a roasting rack, uncovered, then back into the refrigerator. This will air-chill the turkey skin.

12. The Salt

Turkey is one of the few proteins that require a lot of salt. Add a little more than you might think.

13. To Baste, Or Not To Baste?

Basting adds moisture to the skin. You will never get crispy turkey skin basting. Using the cheesecloth tip above, once you remove the cheesecloth, STOP basting the turkey and allow the skin to crisp up.

14. How Much Turkey Per Person?

A good rule of thumb is ½ pound per person for bone-in turkey or ⅓ pound per person for boneless turkey.

15. How Long Will Turkey Keep?

Cooked turkey will keep in the refrigerator for up to four days or in the freezer for two to six months.

16. What Kind Of Pan To Use For Roasting A Turkey?

You need a large, heavy-duty roasting pan with a rack that fits inside. The turkey should not touch the sides or bottom of the pan, so it cooks evenly.

17. Do Not Stuff Turkey

Stuffing the turkey is not necessary, and it can actually dry out the turkey. It's much better to cook the stuffing in a separate dish.

18. Trussing A Turkey

Trussing a turkey is not necessary, but it does help keep its shape and promote even cooking. Trussing Chicken for the Perfect Roast

19. How To Rest A Turkey

Once the turkey is done, remove it from the oven and allow it to rest for 20 to 45 minutes before carving. This allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat, making it juicier and more flavorful.

20. How To Carve A Turkey

The best way to carve a turkey is to first remove the legs and thighs. Then, remove the breast meat in one piece. Finally, slice the breast meat into thin slices.

Do You Have Any Turkey Cooking Tips To Share? Leave a comment in the comment section below.