Lets Talk Turkey

The turkey is the literal centerpiece of Thanksgiving. It’s the main dish of the meal. It can make or break your dinner. Yes, all the pressure is on! But, with the right tools and tips it doesn’t have to feel like you’re the one in the oven (not the turkey).

Okay, its confession time – I’ve never actually cooked a turkey before all by myself. This will be my first time!

So I’m a lot of excited, a little bit nervous. I’ve seen my mom do it more than a dozen times and I normally help assist. But I wanted to do plenty of research to make sure you and I both have the BEST turkey and impress all of our dear friends.

So with that being said, before you start cooking there are a few important questions we should address:

What essentials do I need to cook my turkey?

You really don’t need much. The following list of tools is specifically for roasting a turkey. No matter which way you decide to cook your turkey, you will always need the turkey thermometer !

• Turkey Thermometer
• Roasting pan
• Roasting rack
• Foil
• Kitchen Twine

How big should my turkey be?!

The general rule of thumb is 1lb of turkey per guest. So 12 guests  = 12 lb turkey. Simple enough right?

What’s the best way to thaw my turkey? 

You can thaw a turkey 2 ways: refrigerator or cold water thawing. I personally recommend refrigerator thawing because it takes up less valuable kitchen space. ( i.e – your kitchen sink) . It will take longer but all you have to do is put it in your fridge on a pan and forget about it.

Butterball has this handy dandy calculator that will tell you how long it will take to thaw your turkey so you can plan accordingly.

My tiny turkey is only 12 lbs. The butterball calculator estimates 3 days of refrigerator thawing or 6 hours of cold water thawing.

• Reminder – NEVER THAW WITH HOT WATER!  

This is THE MOST COMMON food safety mistake made when home cooking. Not just with turkeys, but any meat.

Thawing with hot water is a huge food safety NO NO . It can quickly put your turkey in the danger zone. Which could put you and  your guests at risk of getting a food borne illness. #yikes

What’s that stuff in the bag and do I leave it in there ?

The quick answer to that question – NO !

The “stuff” in the bag I’m referring to are the giblets. Giblets refers to four different parts that make up one whole. They include the turkey neck, liver, heart, and gizzard. If you don’t have all 4 – don’t move forward with seasoning or cooking your turkey yet. Think of it as a fun little (sort-of-gross) treasure hunt! Make sure to check the main cavity of the bird and the neck cavity. “My Fearless Kitchen” does a great job of explaining it here.

You can keep everything but the liver to make a great gravy – so they say. I’m still skeptical honestly but I’m going to save them just in case there aren’t enough drippings from my turkey to make a worthy gravy.

Is brining really worth the trouble?

First off, for many of you that have never cooked a turkey before you are probably wondering “What is a brine and why should I use it?”

According to My Fearless Kitchen , a brine is a salt-solution of sugar and spices used to make large hunks of meat ( like a turkey) more juicy and tender.  The magic behind the brine gets a little help from osmosis. Remember that annoying science concept from science class in middle school?! It’s back to haunt you! ( lol not really). Basically long story short, water follows salt so water travels out of the turkey into the brine and then back into the turkey with all those extra delicious spices.

I’ve been reading up on brining and although all the professionals like Martha Stewart and Alton Brown recommend it. It seems like a huge pain! I mean I’m pretty extra BUT this is too much for even me. Like I’m just not into it- so I continued to research until I found the answer – Dry Brining. 

Why is a Dry Brine best? 

What if I told you that you could get all the benefits of a wet brine without all the hassle. That my friends, is called a dry brine.

I was pretty skeptical about how rubbing a few seasonings on then washing them off could possibly result in a moist and delicious turkey but then I found this Buzzfeed article. I am now convincer – surveys don’t lie. Check it out for yourself, if you don’t believe me.

And it’s super cost efficient too. A simple dry brine only takes 3 ingredients and a roasting pan. Plus, you don’t have to worry about buying a huge tub to brine your turkey in or dropping a slippery bird. Essentially all you have to do is mix the ingredients together, rub it on the turkey, let it sit overnight, wash it off, then roast!

Whats the best way to cook my turkey? 

There are so many different ways to cook a turkey. You can roast, bbq, fry, spatchcook, or even pressure cook a turkey. No one way is better than the other. They are all great methods! Some just take a little more prep and more tools than others.

If you’re a turkey newb like me – I would probably stick with roasting. That’s what I’m doing. I might get a little crazy and cook my turkey “breast side down” but that’s all the living on the edge I’ll be doing for this Friendsgiving. Maybe next year I’ll try spatchcooking !

I hope that covers all your turkey prep (pre-cooking) questions. If you have more, please comment below! I’ll be posting more tips on the actual cooking process later this week.

Thanks For Reading,

The Broke Foodie