{"id":1347,"date":"2012-04-16T09:10:04","date_gmt":"2012-04-16T09:10:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grandpacooks.com\/recipes\/?p=1347"},"modified":"2016-05-24T15:53:51","modified_gmt":"2016-05-24T15:53:51","slug":"turkey-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grandpacooks.com\/recipes\/turkey-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips: Working with Turkey"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>BUYING YOUR TURKEY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If you have the freezer space, buy your turkey during Thanksgiving or Christmas when they are on sale.<br \/>\nMake sure they are wrapped well so they do not dry out or get freezer burn.<\/li>\n<li>If it is a fresh turkey, piece it out and freeze the pieces.\u00a0 Use shrink wrap to preserve them for up to an entire year.<\/li>\n<li>Cooking for a big crowd?\u00a0 Consider two smaller turkeys instead of one large one.<\/li>\n<li>Buy a FRESH turkey without any added ingredients.\u00a0 Other great options are organic, kosher, heritage or premium-brand.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>THAWING YOUR TURKEY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>NEVER EVER EVER cut a frozen turkey with an electric knife.<\/li>\n<li>Starting from completely frozen, figure about one day for every four pounds of meat<br \/>\nor<\/li>\n<li>Put into sink in COLD water, breast side down, for 30 minutes per pound.<br \/>\nKeep water running at a trickle for THE ENTIRE TIME that it is thawing<br \/>\nor<\/li>\n<li>Put into HOT water, breast side down, for 15 minutes per pound.<br \/>\nKeep water running at a trickle for THE ENTIRE TIME that it is thawing<br \/>\nRefill sink with hot water every half hour<\/li>\n<li>For crisper skin, unwrap it during the last day and let it thaw uncovered the last 24 hours.\u00a0 Even better, use a dry rub during the last day.\u00a0 This will draw even more of the liquid out resulting in even crispier skin.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>PLEASE NOTE:\u00a0 Only the first method is recommended by the FDA, but it has never worked for me.\u00a0 My refrigerator though, is set at 34\u00ba<br \/>\nI follow the first method, then move to the second until the internal temperature is about 35\u00ba and does not have ice crystals.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RAW TURKEY<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cross contamination is your biggest enemy.\u00a0 Wash your hands frequently.<\/li>\n<li>After you have rinsed your turkey, wash your sink with soap, and wipe your counters off with bleach wipes.<\/li>\n<li>Wash cutting boards with soap and water, then wipe with a bleach wipe.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>COOKING YOUR TURKEY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Before cooking, let it rest on the counter for an hour so that the heat can come up to room temperature.\u00a0 This will result in a more evenly cooked bird.<\/li>\n<li>The first time I cooked a turkey I had never heard of &#8220;a bag of giblets.&#8221;\u00a0 I cooked the turkey with the bag inside the body cavity.\u00a0 Remember to take this packet of meat out.\u00a0 You can cook these up and use the broth as the base for your gravy.<\/li>\n<li>DO NOT throw out the pan drippings.\u00a0 They are pure gold.\u00a0 Use them for making gravy.<\/li>\n<li>If you use one of those cheap aluminum roasting pans DO NOT us it alone, but rather place it on a heavy oven baking pan.\u00a0 Use a foil bed to hold it off the bottom of the pan.<\/li>\n<li>Use an internal thermometer to make sure your oven thermometer is properly calibrated.<\/li>\n<li>If you are cooking your turkey to be served with other things, and it finishes too soon, cover it with aluminum foil, then a thick bath towel.<\/li>\n<li>If presentation is not an issue, piece your turkey out and cook the parts individually.<br \/>\nWhite meat to the front of the oven, and dark meat toward the back.\u00a0 The back gets hotter and will dry out the white meat.<\/li>\n<li>For cooking a thawed frozen turkey, plan on 20 minutes per pound in a 350 degree F oven<br \/>\nplan on 10 to 15 minutes per pound if you are cooking a fresh turkey<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>A turkey will cook more evenly if you do not stuff it.\u00a0 Fry up the giblets and use the fond and broth to cook your stuffing in a pan using the drippings.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>Instead, put some garlic, onions, carrots and celery into the body cavity.<\/li>\n<li>Never trust the pop up timers that come already inserted into the turkey<\/li>\n<li>If you get a late start cooking your turkey, cook it for the first 30 minutes at 425\u00ba and then reduce to 375\u00ba.\u00a0 Remove one hour from the overall cooking time.<\/li>\n<li>For crispier skin, wipe the outside with olive oil and sprinkle with some herbs and spices<\/li>\n<li>Once you get the turkey in the oven LEAVE THE DOOR CLOSED until the time is up.\u00a0 Resist the urge to peak<\/li>\n<li>If it appears to be browning too quickly put a sheet of foil loosely over the top.<\/li>\n<li>Likewise, if the fond on the bottom of the pan is dry and starts to burn, put 1\/4 C of water in the bottom of your pan to save the drippings.<\/li>\n<li>Use an insertable thermometer to check when the center of the breast meat hits a temperature of 165\u00ba, or the thigh for a temperature of about 170 degrees.\u00a0 Get one from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Polder-Original-Cooking-Timer-Thermometer\/dp\/B0000CF5MT\"><strong>Amazon.com<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li>The intense heat forces the liquid to the center of the turkey, away from the skin.\u00a0 After cooking, cover with a foil and then a bath towel and let rest 20 minutes.\u00a0 This will allow the juices to redeploy and let the temperature continue to rise until it hits about 170 and 175,\u00a0 This is just about the time needed to make gravy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>GRILLING YOUR TURKEY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Use a Weber Grill that has a lid that closes completely<br \/>\nPut coals on each side of turkey (not directly under)<br \/>\nPut drip pan under turkey for catching the gravy drippings<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>DEEP FRYING YOUR TURKEY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>This is quite the fad, but the benefits do not outweigh the risks.\u00a0 A nicely seasoned oven-cooked turkey can be just as flavorful as one cooked in a vat of grease that will burn you to the point of scarification in about five seconds.<\/li>\n<li>If you insist on doing this\n<ul>\n<li>&#8230;take EXTREME precautions against spilling your container of hot grease<\/li>\n<li>&#8230; dry your turkey off VERY well before putting it into the fryer<\/li>\n<li>&#8230; make sure your turkey conveyance mechanism is tight, secure and sound<\/li>\n<li>&#8230; keep all children and other activities away from the cooking area<\/li>\n<li>&#8230; have a fire extinguisher immediately available<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>SERVING YOUR TURKEY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tent foil over the turkey for 20 minutes before carving to allow moisture to redistribute into the meat.\u00a0 If you need more time to make stuffing, etc. you can keep it tented for about 45 minutes without losing too much heat.<\/li>\n<li>View the below video by Martha Stewart Kitchens that shows, in excellent detail, how to carve your turkey.<\/li>\n<li>Turkeys start to spoil after only two hours on the serving table.\u00a0 Have everything ready for refrigerating the left-overs and remove the bird and wrap it while dessert is being served.\u00a0 This is a task that can be delegated even before you start eating, so that you can focus on being a good host or hostess.\u00a0 Have them remove most of the meat from the bones and put into a baggie or foil.\u00a0 Put the carcass in a bag and put in the refrigerator intact so that your guest can return to the party.\u00a0 You can get the small pieces of meat off later.\u00a0 Save the bones in the freezer for making stock.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><iframe width=\"840\" height=\"473\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NK9rBo0BtYw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BUYING YOUR TURKEY If you have the freezer space, buy your turkey during Thanksgiving or Christmas when they are on sale. Make sure they are wrapped well so they do not dry out or get freezer burn. If it is a fresh turkey, piece it out and freeze the pieces.\u00a0 Use shrink wrap to preserve &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grandpacooks.com\/recipes\/turkey-tips\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Tips: Working with Turkey&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tips-tricks-and-tools"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grandpacooks.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grandpacooks.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grandpacooks.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grandpacooks.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grandpacooks.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1347"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.grandpacooks.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12268,"href":"https:\/\/www.grandpacooks.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1347\/revisions\/12268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grandpacooks.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grandpacooks.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grandpacooks.com\/recipes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}