November 2005
Dear Friends,
The holiday season is fast approaching and, before long, we’ll be enjoying our
Thanksgiving turkey. Unfortunately, preparing a turkey causes great anxiety for many ladies. And yet, it is not difficult, I promise! You don’t need to order a pre-cooked turkey from the deli, or rely on another family member to fix the bird for you. The tips below will help make turkey preparation a no-stress success!
The
National Turkey Federation has a terrific website with recipes and everything you need to know about turkey. From the home page,
www.eatturkey.com, click on Consumers. There’s an interesting “Turkey Facts & Trivia” section where you could send the children to learn about the life cycle of the turkey, plus statistics, history and trivia. Click on “Turkey Basics” for turkey roasting times, as well as answers to many common questions.
According to the Turkey Federation, Americans ate 690 million pounds of turkey last Thanksgiving! So let’s find a sure-fire, easy way to fix it. When purchasing your turkey,
allow one pound (uncooked weight) per person. Both fresh and frozen birds are tasty, but why not make it easy on yourself and skip the long thawing time needed for a frozen turkey?
Tip #1 – Buy a fresh turkey. Check the “Use by” date on the label; most whole fresh turkeys are vacuum packed and will keep at least a week or longer. You’ve just saved yourself a whole lot of time and worry wondering if the turkey is thawed.
If you buy a
frozen turkey, it takes approximately 24 hours of thawing time – in the refrigerator - per five pounds of whole turkey. Never leave frozen poultry out on the countertop to thaw. It is not worth the risk of food poisoning! You can thaw it in cold water, but you need to change the water every 30 minutes. For this method allow about 30 minutes thawing time per pound of whole turkey. I skip this whole thawing thing; fresh turkeys are plentiful this time of the year so why bother with a frozen bird?
Tip #2 - Buy yourself a box of
latex or vinyl gloves. A box of 50 is less than $5 at Wal-Mart, Walgreens and other stores. I use them any time I have to handle raw meat. Before you cook your turkey, you need to remove the neck and gizzard from the cavity inside the turkey. This is where I always hear ladies say “yuck” and start calculating the cost of a deli turkey instead. Let’s face it; most of us have handled things far worse than the insides of a turkey! But, to make it more pleasant, put those gloves on, set the turkey in a shallow pan in the sink, and remove the wrapper from the turkey.
There are two cavities: one at the tail end, another at the neck. Look in both of them. Pull out any loose pieces or plastic bags with innards in them. You can save them and cook them if your family enjoys giblet gravy; otherwise throw them out. Rinse the bird, inside and out. Drain any juice from the pan and the turkey. Pat the bird with paper towels and set it in the pan.
Tip # 3 –
Don’t stuff the turkey. I know, I know, it tastes good and looks so nice on the platter. But you can rarely get all the stuffing you’ll need inside the turkey and end up cooking some separately anyway. It takes a long time for the stuffing inside a turkey to get hot. For an hour or more, it sits warm and moist inside the turkey’s body, an ideal spot for rampant bacterial growth. The stuffing must reach 165 degrees, and by that time, the turkey may be overcooked. Instead, I wrap my stuffing in two large foil wrapped packets and bake it in the oven. We honestly cannot tell the difference between that and what I used to cook inside the turkey.
Tip #4 – Buy a meat thermometer. I can’t stress this one enough! You can buy them at Target, Wal-Mart, and kitchen stores for $10 or less for many models. According to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, the thickest part of the thigh should reach 180 degrees.
Many people rely on “the juices are clear” to know when the bird is done. But, especially with a large turkey, it is almost impossible to tell if the interior is fully cooked until you cut into it. Often, you will find pink juices near the leg or thigh joint. Now if you put the turkey back into the oven, you will really dry it out as much of the juice has run out. Make it easy on yourself and safe for your family and use a meat thermometer. Those little plastic pop-up indicators that come in many turkeys these days are not all that reliable and some don’t pop up until the turkey is overcooked. I do not rely on them.
Tip # 5 – For the easiest, juiciest turkey you’ve every made, use
Reynolds Oven Bags. These are plastic bags created for cooking, not foil bags. There are many ways to cook a turkey, but this one is fool-proof and you don’t need to baste the bird. You will find the bags in most grocery stores near the foil. The bags come in several sizes; look for the box marked “Turkey Size” for meats up to 24 pounds.
There are two large bags in the box along with easy directions. All you do is shake 1 T. of flour in the bag, then place the turkey inside, brush with a little oil or melted butter, close the bag with the tie provided, poke 6 holes in the bag and bake. There is no need to baste the turkey. An unstuffed, 16 – 20 pound turkey takes just 2 ½ - 3 hours. The turkey will be browned and juicy and there is no messy pan to clean. The only disadvantage is that there are no pan drippings to make gravy (just lots of juice).
Go to
www.reynoldskitchens.com and type in “turkey” in the search field. You’ll find directions for the Thanksgiving turkey cooked in an oven bag along with dozens of other turkey recipes and tips.
Tip #6 – Let the turkey rest 10 minutes after removing it from the oven. This allows the juices to distribute evenly throughout the turkey. If you carve it right away, more juice runs out of the meat. During this “standing time” the meat continues to cook. I take my turkey out of the oven when it reaches about 175 degrees. I leave the thermometer in the thigh to be sure the temperature reaches 180 degrees before serving.
Tip #7 – Never roast a turkey at temperatures below 300 degrees. I’ve heard ladies say they cook the turkey about an hour at a high temperature and then turn off the oven and leave it overnight! Or, they roast it for many hours at 225 degrees, or some variation of these. How many ways can you spell FOOD POISONING! Bacteria thrive and multiply at these lower temperatures and ladies, poultry has all sorts of bacteria. Please don’t take a chance with your family’s health.
Cooking meats at low temperatures for long periods of time is a technique, called braising, that is suitable for tough muscle cuts of beef and other meats. Braising requires liquid to keep the meat from drying out. Long periods of dry heat, such as roasting a turkey, cause meat to dry out. That’s why the bird has to be basted so much. So, please forget long low-heat methods of preparing poultry.
How will I prepare our turkey this year? I usually put mine in a roasting pan and roast at 450 degrees – a high heat method that cuts the time and, believe it or not, results in a very juicy bird! Chef Barbara Kafka has an excellent book, “The Art of Roasting,” using this method for all meats. You must use an unbasted turkey when cooking at high heat, i.e. not one that has been injected with juice.
A word about pre-basted turkeys. Read the label; they are usually injected with salty water, chemicals, and fat of one type or another. If you use the oven bags, or the high heat method of roasting, you do not need a pre-basted turkey. I purchase a “minimally processed” fresh turkey at our supermarket.
Next month, I’ll share some simple holiday treats. Wishing you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Until next time ~
Yours in Him,
Copyright, 2005, Laurie Latour.
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