5 Tips for a Spectacular Turkey
November 10, 2011
•Le Cordon Bleu
•Sacramento
• 0 Comments
5 Tips for a Spectacular Turkey
Few foods create such memories of home and happiness than a roasted turkey. This centerpiece of most Thanksgiving dinner tables instantly brings back warm thoughts of crisp November afternoons, gathering families, and the wonderful taste of a meal cooked with love. Yet, with all of this joy and nostalgia, few meals produce as much anxiety as that same roasted turkey. The pressure to get it just right and preserve memories for future generations piles up on both experience and inexperienced turkey cooks alike.
Like most of us, you probably haven’t attended a cooking school in California to learn the proper roasting methods necessary to make a flawless turkey. Fortunately, there are dozens and dozens of ways to keep your Thanksgiving dinner from being a disaster. We’ve gathered five of the best that will help you make a roasted turkey that will be the envy of grandmothers everywhere.
5 Turkey tips
A freshly roasted turkey is a delicious part of most Thanksgiving dinners. No matter what your level of cooking training, you can make yours special this year with these tips:
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Do not overcook
Many older cookbooks suggest cooking turkeys at lower temperatures for as much as six hours. Don’t do it! Instead of cooking by time, cook by temperature. Insert a meat thermometer in the thigh and remove the turkey from the oven when it hits 155 degrees F. Letting it rest for 15 to 20 minutes before serving will carry the temperature to an FDA recommended 165 degrees.
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Go free range and heritage
Most commercially available turkeys are bred for convenience and meat yield, not flavor. Consider forgoing the famous brands at your local grocery and contact a local turkey farm for their free range and heritage options. Heritage turkeys are descended from the original stock of turkeys that roamed the country back in colonial times. The added expense of these varieties will pay for themselves in a turkey like you’ve never tasted before.
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Brine your bird
You can preserve moistness and add flavor to your turkey with an overnight soak in a brine solution of water, salt, and your favorite spices. A good ratio is 1 cup of kosher salt to 1 gallon of water. Consider the addition of pepper, clove, savory, sage, thyme, apple juice, and allspice.
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Thaw it properly
Be sure that you bird is completely thawed before cooking. Partially frozen turkeys will cook unevenly. A better option is to go with a fresh, unfrozen turkey. It will taste better, and you won’t have to hassle with thawing it out.
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Do not stuff
That’s right, keep that stuffing away from your bird. Filling the bird’s cavity with stuffing can lead to two negative outcomes: 1) uneven cooking, and 2) food-borne illness. Great grandma’s recipe for oyster and sausage stuffing will taste just as good, if not better, as a dressing cooked in it’s own container. A non-stuffed turkey is an evenly cooked and safe turkey.
Finally, make sure that, no matter how you cook your turkey, you give it a 15 to 20 minute rest before carving. The wait will even out both the temperature and the natural juices. Cutting your bird too soon will cause you to lose both.
This article is presented by Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Sacramento. Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Sacramento offers culinary arts and pâtisserie and baking training programs in Sacramento, California. To learn more about the class offerings, please visit Chefs.edu/Sacramento for more information.
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