From planning to serving, my Thanksgiving Turkey Cheat Sheet is a one-stop source of basic information.
From planning to serving, my Thanksgiving Turkey Cheat Sheet is a one-stop source of basic information.Thanksgiving always brings back memories of my paternal grandmother Rose, with whom I lived for many years. She was no ordinary cooking-baking grandma. Dinner was a chore Rose normally dispatched early in the morning as she was always in a hurry to get out the door and off to her poker game. Poker notwithstanding, Rose always cooked Thanksgiving dinner, her single bow to conventional domesticity. The whole family was invited and sometimes one of the maverick cousins would just show up. Rose prided herself on her turkey and boasted about how it cooked in 3-1/2 hours without stuffing or basting. The truth was she didn’t stuff or baste the turkey because her oven thermostat had been broken for years. Rose cooked everything at the same temperature: hot.
My Grandmother’s turkeys were wonderful with crisp, fabulous bronzed skin and juicy meat. I’ve always based my turkey roasting standards on her turkeys that I remember from those Thanksgivings. While the recipe appeared in my first cookbook, this Thanksgiving Turkey Cheat Sheet is the first time in all my years of cooking that I can show exactly how I make my turkey and thoroughly discuss my methods..
What Size Turkey to Buy
Normally, I cook a 12 to 18 pound fresh turkey. I find that to be a manageable size and these birds are very tender. However, many people need a larger bird but are unsure about what size turkey to buy. Here’s a handy chart for that:
♦ Plan 1 pound of turkey per person as a generous guideline.
♦ For 8 to 12 guests: 12 to 15 pound turkey
♦ For 12 to 20 guests: 15 to 20 pound turkey
♦ For 20 to 30 guests: 20 to 25 pound turkey
Equipment to Check or Buy Ahead
Before I start any preparations, I sharpen all the knives I will need make sure I have a few key pieces of equipment on hand:
♦ 2 sharp paring knives
♦ 1 sharp turkey slicer
♦ Tongs and a meat slicing fork
♦ Roasting pan large enough to hold the turkey
♦ Cotton or linen butcher’s twine
♦ A pair of sturdy turkey lifters
♦ A full roll of paper towels
♦ A trivet large enough to protect the counter from the hot turkey roaster
♦ A carving or cutting board that is large enough to hold the turkey and contain the juices that run off during carving
♦ 2 linen or non-terry cloth towels (for holding onto any part of the hot turkey while slicing)
♦ Food-safe non latex gloves (I use these to protect my hands from scrapes. The gloves make it easier to stuff under the breast.)
Fresh or Frozen Turkey?
I usually buy a fresh turkey on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Fresh turkey has a wonderful flavor, no additives or plastic inserts. However fresh turkey commands premium seasonal prices which sometimes can be ridiculous. I’ve also relied on frozen turkey which can be equally good. Frozen turkeys do take 2 to 4 days to defrost in the refrigerator (depending on weight). On the plus side you can shop far in advance (as I had to do) and benefit from a pre-holiday special.
If more rapid defrosting is needed, place the frozen turkey, unopened, in its original bag with the breast side down in a sink or large basin (something like a laundry sink is very handy for this). Submerge the turkey completely in cold water. Change the water ever 30 minutes (it will become very cold) for the first three to four hours. The turkey should take approximately 30 minutes per pound to defrost using this method. Alternately, thaw turkey in the refrigerator 1 to 4 days, according to weight.
Preparing a Turkey for Roasting
My Two Way Stuffed Turkey recipe details the way to clean, trim, dry a turkey to prepare it. If more information is needed, here are photos to illustrate the process. (The recipe is on the link, above)
Working with food-safe gloves, trim off the small joint with the nail from each wing and discard.
Pull all the fat out of the neck end; discard the fat.
Cut away any pieces of the crop (esophagus) and any glands remaining near the neck skin — be careful not to cut or make any holds in the neck skin.
Working from the leg end, remove any visible fat from inside the cavity and scrape out any bits of dark matter (pieces of lung that remain around the bones). Remove any remaining pinfeathers on the wings or elsewhere with tweezers.
Rinse turkey in ice cold water, drain well with the leg end down, and pat it dry inside and out repeatedly with paper toweling. Be sure to blot out any excess liquid or icy liquid inside the cavity, under the neck skin and beneath the wings.
Cover the turkey loosely and let it stand at room temperature on a platter or pan large enough to catch any additional liquid from the turkey until shortly before cooking time.
Safely Handling Turkey
General disclaimer: The U.S. Department of Agriculture and food safety people give a 2 hour guideline for food being “safe” out of the refrigerator. Anyone who is concerned about this should abide by that guideline.
However, I’ve edited a food magazine, written 4 cookbooks, and taught cooking classes for decade. So I’ve test-cooked and watched others cook turkeys and everything else. In particular, a frozen turkey that’s been defrosted in the refrigerator can have a large quantity of ice crystals both on the giblet package and inside the cavity. Even fresh turkeys are iced.
That’s why I find it essential to remove the turkey from the refrigerator no less than 4 hours before cooking and preferably 6 hours. I place it in a cool location — repeat cool — by which I mean 55 to 65°F. That allows the ice to completely melt so the cavity can be fully drained of residual liquid that collects. Otherwise, that liquid in the cavity (which harbors a lot of natural bacteria and traces of blood — notice it’s pink) will be absorbed by your lovely stuffing while the turkey cooks. Or, it will pool up inside the cavity and turn into gunky gray stuff that doesn’t look very appetizing when it’s done (this is also true for chicken). I want all that excess liquid out of my turkey. An ideal place to drain it is on a rack in the sink (open end down) — a cake cooling rack can be used (and washed afterwards in hot soapy water). Alternately, turn the turkey upside down on a platter and then tip it legs down to drain.
Why don’t I worry about safety? Refrigerator temperature is about 40 degrees F. That’s just 8 degrees above freezing. Even a turkey as small as 15 pounds that’s been frozen or iced and continually refrigerated won’t get dangerously warm in 6 hours.
I handle poultry with food-safety gloves (always a good idea). I rinse the cavity to remove any traces of innards and pat it as dry as possible with paper towels to absorb excess liquid.
My Sourdough Mushroom Stuffing has no eggs. No eggs in stuffing is a good practice. Still, it’s important to stuff the turkey just before roasting. I don’t stuff ahead of time and don’t ever refrigerate the turkey with the stuffing inside — that’s counter intuitive. Stuff the turkey and cook it right away — it shouldn’t hang around.
For many years I used a large, copper roasting pan, about 2-inches deep, to roast my turkey. Copper is an excellent heat conductor and I loved that roaster. But the brass handles also made it very heavy to lift. So I had it retinned and passed it along to our daughter. All I had on hand this year was a disposable aluminum roaster from the supermarket. Even with the metal cradle that wasn’t sturdy enough for a 15-pound bird. In fact, it was scary-flimsy and we damaged the turkey removing it from the pan because the sides were so high. I don’t like deep roasters.
As a result, I ordered a new, light weight Tramontina aluminum roaster with similar interior dimensions that are similar to my copper roaster — 16 x 13 x 2-1/2″. This pan is a great length, width and height for a turkey up to 18 pounds. The sides are high enough to catch all the juices that could possibly drain and the handles are sturdy. The rack has a notched out corner so a bulb baster can be used.
Brining vs No Brining
Many people advocate brining turkeys and swear by it. I don’t brine. Here’s why: one Thanksgiving, my sister insisted on ordering the turkey from her butcher. I did that because, at the time, my sister was a chef at a one-star restaurant in New York City, no small accomplishment. I knew of the butcher so I expected a very high quality bird. I even accepted that the turkey was extortionately expensive. When I got it in the oven, and the roaster kept filling up with crazy amounts of liquid. I realized the butcher had brined it as a way of adding weight. But because I use the pan juices for gravy, I had a problem. The liquid was horribly salty. Never again. Great pan juices or gravy is a must-have for the festive meal and for leftovers!
Roasting Temperatures
I start turkey in a hot, 400° F oven for the first 25 minutes, then turn the heat down to the usual 325°F. That means heat will penetrate faster to the center, helping the thick breast meat and leg joint cook through. With a high heat start, and because I oil the bird, the skin sears a little and retains moisture better. I also a convection setting for turkey as the hot air circulation creates crisp skin as well.
Here’s a handy chart to help gauge approximate cooking time:
♦ Figure 1 hour approximately for every five pounds
♦ 15 pound turkey cooks in approximately 3 to 3.5 hours
♦ 20 pound turkey cooks in approximately 4 to 4.5 hours
♦ 25 pound turkey cooks in approximately 5 to 5.5 hours
Testing for Doneness
To be fully cooked, turkey must register 165°F in the thickest part of the thigh and the deepest part of the breast not touching the bone. At that temperature, the juices will run clear when the turkey is pierced with a skewer. Then it should be tented and left to stand at least 30 minutes and preferrably 45 minutes before slicing. The tented, stuffed turkey will remain hot for up to 2 hours.
Carving the Turkey
There are numerous ways to carve a turkey, depending on the results you want. I was taught to work on the turkey one side at a time.
First remove wing from one side of the turkey by cutting in a circular motion around the joint to expose it. Then pull the wing back and cut it free. Then, on the same side, cut into the skin between the breast and a leg. Using a sharp fork or cloth, pull thickest part of the leg down and away from the body of the turkey until the joint is exposed. Cut through joint to free leg from the body. Separate drumstick from thigh by cutting down through the V of the joint and pulling drumstick back (again, use a dry cloth to hold the end). Slice the dark meat off the second joint (bones may be reserved for stock). The leg meat may be sliced or the legs served whole. Transfer the cut pieces to a warm serving dish (best to keep the dish covered with the turkey tent while slicing).
To slice the breast, first free the stuffed breast skin. With the legs facing away from you, use the tip of the carving knife to cut down the center of the breast and around at the bottom on one side to free the stuffed skin. Cut the stuffing crosswise into serving pieces and transfer to the serving dish. Starting at the neck end, cut the breast meat into large thin slices. (Alternately, the entire side of the breast can be removed from the bone and sliced crosswise but I feel this is more difficult when the turkey is hot. Repeat as needed to carve the other side. Turkey is ready to serve.
Alternately, I found a good carving video that features Top Chef winner Hosea Rosenberg. The video is sponsored by Whole Foods Market. Rosenberg also carves the turkey a bit differently from my method outlined above. And from my experience, the turkey he’s carving doesn’t look very hot. However, this is a reliable video that very clearly shows how to deal with the bird.
Basic Thanksgiving Menu
The basics of my Thanksgiving meal include:
Two Way Stuffed Turkey with Sourdough Mushroom Stuffing
Double Baked Pineapple Sweet Potatoes
(Photos: Lisa Deyo)
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