Treat your family and friends to a traditional and nostalgic holiday meal the DIY way. With step-by-step instructions and scientific quick tips, you'll learn the simplest and most effective way to purchase, prepare, stuff and cook your turkey. Purchasing a turkey: - One of the first things a buyer will ask is, "How big should the bird be?" It's a simple ratio: one pound per person. If you're a fan of leftovers, be sure to purchase a turkey that is a few pounds over the number of people to be served.
- What kind of turkey to buy:
Fresh: The best choice mainly because of its moisture level.
Frozen: You'll need extra time for the thawing process.
Organic or kosher: Chemical-free with fewer preservatives; available at specialty markets.
If you purchase a frozen turkey, defrosting is the first preparation step. There are two different thawing processes: - Refrigerator thawing: Allow 24 hours for every four pounds of turkey. For example, if you buy a 20-pound turkey, it will take approximately five days to defrost in the refrigerator.
- Cold-water thawing: The trick to this method is to place the frozen bird (in its wrapper) in cold water in the sink, completely submerged, for 30 minutes for every pound of turkey. It's important to change the water every 30 minutes.
Brining This is a great marinating process that tenderizes the meat of the turkey. It creates moist, juicy and well-seasoned turkeys. Here's how it's done: Materials and ingredients: Large pot
Large plastic bag
Fully defrosted turkey
1-1/2 cups kosher salt
1 gallon water
1 Tbs. cracked black pepper
4 dried bay leaves
Fresh whole turkey
Optional: sugar for sweetness or favorite seasonings for a spicy flavor Preparation:
- Cover pot with a plastic bag and add water, kosher salt, cracked black pepper and dried bay leaves. For sweetness, add sugar, and for a bit of spice, add your favorite seasonings.
- Stir mixture completely to dissolve salt.
- Place fresh turkey in pot and completely submerge it. Wrap plastic bag around top of turkey.
- The brining process takes approximately 10 to 12 hours and is best done the night before the turkey is roasted or cooked.
Cooking the turkey There are many different cooking methods, including the following: - Smoking: Creates a bold, meaty flavor.
- Grilling: Creates an outdoor, barbecue flavor.
- Deep-frying: Creates a crisp outside layer and juicy, tender inside.
Note : You will need a special turkey fryer, found at most home-appliance stores. A great benefit is that the turkey cooks at five minutes per pound. - Roasting: Creates the traditional and most popular flavor.
Chef Jamie demonstrates an alternative way to prepare your turkey: - Tuck the wings of the turkey underneath (figure A) to prevent them from burning.
- Instead of trussing the entire bird, secure only the legs together ((figure B). This will keep the shape of the bird, which is important for presentation purposes, and it will keep the stuffing inside the cavity of the turkey.
- Season the entire bird liberally with salt and pepper. Jamie uses kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Place the reserve neck and giblets, which are found in the bag inside the cavity of the turkey, in the bottom of the roasting pan. These parts will add to the flavor of the bird.
- Chef Jamie prepares a coating for the top of the turkey that creates a crisp, delicious crust:
Ingredients:
Softened (not melted) unsalted butter, approximately one stick
2 cups orange juice
Zest of an orange
1/2 cup fresh thyme
1/2 cup sage
Optional: your favorite herbs and spices
Preparation:
- Combine ingredients in a bowl and stir with a spoon. Rub outside of bird with butter mixture (figure C); be sure to apply some mixture under skin for added flavor. Pour remaining juice over turkey.
- Pour two cups chicken stock into bottom of roasting pan. This will create base for gravy (see our recipe listings for instructions).
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Roast turkey in oven for the first hour without opening door.
- After first hour, baste turkey every 30 minutes during cooking process.
- A roasted turkey should cook for 15 minutes per pound.
- Note: If you find that the turkey is browning too quickly during the cooking process, loosely tent the bird with aluminum foil, making sure the foil doesn't touch the top of the skin.
Tip: Here are roasting times for unstuffed turkeys from butterball.com: 10-18 lbs. = 3 to 3-1/2 hours
18-22 lbs. = 3-1/2 to 4 hours
22-24 lbs. = 4 to 4-1/2 hours
24-30 lbs. = 4-1/2 to 5 hours
Once the turkey is almost done, be sure to check the temperature with a meat thermometer. Insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh meat to get the best reading. The temperature in the thigh meat should read 180 degrees F; in the breast meat, 170 degrees F; and in the stuffing, at least 160 degrees F. (If the stuffing isn't 160 degrees F, spoon it out and heat in the oven.) Quick tips for turkey and trimmings from Dr. Myles Bader: - If you buy a turkey at the supermarket, and the birds are housed on top of the freezer cases, be cautious about which one you choose. The turkey should be below the freezer line, NOT above. If the turkey is situated above the freezer line, it could thaw and refreeze several times, and this could cause the bird to be filled with bacteria.
- And easy way to remove the stuffing once the turkey has been cooked is to take a piece of cheesecloth and place it all the way inside the bird. Then take the dressing and stuff inside the cheesecloth (figure D). Once the bird is cooked, all you have to do is grab the cheesecloth and pull it out along with the dressing.
- For juicy breast meat on your turkey, simply cook the bird breast side down on a v-rack (figure E) for the first hour only, then turn the bird right side up and continue cooking for the balance of the time. This process causes the juices to saturate the breast meat.
- Sweet potatoes should NOT be stored in the refrigerator. When the temperature falls below 40 degrees F, there is a chemical in sweet potatoes that may turn them bitter.
- To remove the skin from a sweet potato easily, take the potato from boiling water and place in a bowl of ice water. Leave it in the second bowl for approximately 10 to 20 seconds. Reach in, take the potato out of the water and peel. It's easy!
- An easy method of removing fat from gravy is to take a piece of cheesecloth, place a few ice cubes in it, roll into a small bag and swirl around in the pot of cooking gravy. The fat is attracted to the ice cubes in the cheesecloth. Another method is to swirl iceberg lettuce leaves around in the gravy.
- If gravy is too salty, stir a slice of potato around in the gravy. The salt is attracted to the potato.
Special thanks to Sur La Table in Santa Monica, California.
Sur La Table
Home Office
Mail: 1765 Sixth Ave. South
Seattle, WA. 98134-1608
Customer Service: 800-243-0852 (Hours: Monday - Friday 6 a.m. - 6:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. PST)
Catalog: 800-243-0852
Fax: 206-682-1026
Web site: www.surlatable
Host:
Jamie Gwen
Author/Chef
Chef Jamie's Modern Comforts
E-mail: jamie@chefjamie.com
Web site: www.chefjamie.com
Guests: Dr. Myles Bader
Author and preventive-care expert
Wizard of Food and 21st Century Reference Guide to Cooking Secrets and Helpful Household Hints
Toll-Free: 800-717-6001
Fax: 702-383-9828
E-mail: mhbwof62@aol.com
Web site: www.wizardoffood.com Chris Kimball
Editor, Cook's Illustrated Magazine
Web site: www.cooksillustrated.com Julia Collin
Test cook
RESOURCES :
Butterball Turkey Talk-Line
Live bilingual (English and Spanish) assistance on every turkey topic, from prepping to roasting.
Toll-free: 800-323-4848
Web site: www.butterball.com
USDA Meat and Poultry Hot Line
Talk to the big guns for official answers on defrosting, internal temperature readings and how long you can safely keep leftovers.
Toll-free: 800-535-4555
Website: www.usda.gov/fsis
Ocean Spray Consumer Helpline
Live support from the cranberry pros. Want an idea for using leftover jellied cranberry sauce? They'll offer a recipe or two.
Toll-free: 800-662-3263
Web site: www.oceanspray.com
Land O'Lakes Holiday Bakeline
Assistance for making the perfect cutout cookies; choosing butter versus margarine; greasing cookie sheets; storing and shipping your goodies and more.
Toll-free: 800-837-7702
Web site: www.landolakes.com
Land O'Lakes is offering a free "Classic Holiday Cookies" recipe booklet to consumers online.
Reynolds Turkey Tips Line
Automated advice on how to reoast turkey four ways (in an oven bag, foil bag, foil tent or wrapped in foil).
Toll-free: 800-745-4000
Web site: www.reynoldskitchens.com
Campbell's Holiday Leftover Hotline
Find out new ways to serve those yummy turkey bits, and get the recipe for a great Green Bean Bake, a winter classic invented in 1955.
Toll-free: 888-4-LEFTOVER (888-453-3868)
Web site: www.campbellsoup.com
New World Pasta Consumer Relations Hotline
Tips and information on cooking and storing pasta, along with other tidbits about pasta.
Toll-free: 800-468-1714
Web site: www.nwpasta.com
Hershey Chocolate
Visit the Hershey Web site for everything you ever wanted to know about chocolate and more.
Web site: www.hersheys.com
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