OK, this is a serious question. What is the best way to cook a turkey, something a little different than your average bird. Keeping in mind the fact that the person posting this question has limited cooking skills.
Any help would be appreciated, as I have a housefull to impress this Christmas Eve.
Thanks and Happy Holidays!
Use a Renoylds Oven Cooking Bag that is big enough to hold the Turkey you wish to cook.
This will help the Turkey cook quicker and it will keep it moist.
You can stuff it or not. Make sure the Turkey is completely thawed (put it into the refridgerator for a few days in advance depending on the instructions on the Turkey).
Also, Radio Shack, Bed, Bath, and Beyond, etc. have a device for $25 or less that allows you to insert the meat thermometer probe into the Turkey and a line that runs out to the electric thermometer on the outside. You can set the timer and the temp to alarm on. This way you know it is cooked enough so that no one gets food poisoning.
You can baste the Turkey or not. The oven bag allows the Turkey to cook in its own juices and it tastes very good.
Jeffery
$0.02:
Both ends of the turkey need to be unstuffed and then stuffed with stuffing or not.
Sounds like “duh” advice but three times now I’ve had Thanksgiving dinner with newly-wed friends and they didn’t know.
Oh, I’m gonna keep using these #%@&* codes 'til I get 'em right.
This thanksgiving I used an excellent recipe… a high heat method recommended by the Joy of Cooking.
You can find the recipe in the newest edition. I’m just going to summarize here, but basically you cook it under a high heat (400+ F) for a 2 & 1/2 hour, laying the turkey on its side and flipping it each half hour. It turned out beautifully though flipping a stuffed 400 degree 12 lb turkey is no joke. This method is only really feasible on 15lb turkey or less, but it was exceptionally moist & delicious (no food poinsoning, either!).
I’ve read several places that brining (soaking overnight in salt water) is hands down the best method of turkey prep. You can find Brining methods in the Joy and all over the internet.
I’ve heard about deep-frying, but you need a special pot to do it with.
Everyone I’ve heard of who’s tried it has loved it.
I looked in the mirror today/My eyes just didn’t seem so bright
I’ve lost a few more hairs/I think I’m going bald - Rush
AWB said it. Granted, it is a little more trouble, but if you ever try it once, you’ll never go back.
All you ever need to know about turkeys.
Chef Rastahomie’s Thanksgiving turkey got raves from Mrs. Rastahomie, who normally won’t praise anything that doesn’t come from her grandma’s kitchen.
First, buy a disposable aluminum turkey-cooking pan, available at your local grocer for around $2.50 or so.
Fill said pan with about 3-4 inches of warm water. Into that water pour quite a few shakes of salt, quite a few shakes of onion powder, quite a few shakes of garlic powder, and a couple of pats of melted butter. You may also choose to chop up a couple of stalks of celery.
Preheat your oven to 375F.
Now for the bird. First, put it into your refrigerator (NOT your freezer) and let it thaw about 3 hours per pound (12# bird = 36 hours thaw). Needless to say, this takes some advanced planning. But remember: DO NOT thaw it at room temperature. When the bird is thawed, put it on your kitchen counter. The legs should be held down by a metal clamp. Push one leg down and then pull it out of the clamp, then do the same with the other leg. Reach into the bird and pull out his neck. Discard (or let your cats fight over it). Reach further into the bird and pull out his “giblets” (a polite term for “nards”). They should be in a little cloth bag for you. Discard. Put any stuffing into the bird (or you can do without stuffing). Put the legs back into the clamps.
Now put the bird into the pan of water. Smear as much of the skin as you can reach with REAL butter (for God’s sake, don’t use margarine!). Then take your turkey baster and squirt plenty of water into the bird’s cavity, trying to reach as much of the meat as you can. Then take your baster and generously squirt water all over the rest of the bird.
Now, take some aluminum foil and loosely cover the bird itself. Leave some gaps on either end of the pan. Next, put the whole assembly into the oven. Don’t do like Chef Rasta and spill water everywhere!
About every 45 minutes or so, use your turkey baster and squirt water from your pan into the bird’s cavity.
When the bird has cooked for about 5 hours, remove the aluminum foil, and immediately squirt water from your pan into his cavitites and all over his skin. Cook the rest of the way without the foil, making sure to squirt water in and on him about every 30 minutes.
Many turkeys that you can buy at the grocery store have a built-in pop-up device that lets you know when the bird is done. Otherwise, use one of the methods one of the posters above has suggested.
Bon apetit!
rastahomie said:
Reach into the bird and pull out his neck. Discard (or let your cats fight over it). Reach further into the bird and pull out his “giblets” (a polite term for “nards”). They should be in a little cloth bag for you. Discard. <<<<
Strongly disagree with those discard statements.
The neck and tail are boiled and the meat used in the cornbread dressing (stuffing to you Yankees) and the giblets are boiled and used to make the giblet gravy.
Many thanks to all! This has been very, very helpful. I guess I better put the bird in the fridge as soon as I get home. I completely forgot about the defrosting part! Oops!
Thanks and a wonderful holiday to all!
Yeah, two days defrost…
Julia Child did her Thanksgiving bird on tv this year by cutting it up first before cooking. Saves a lot of time.
We like to cook the bird upsidedown, that way all the juices go into the best parts…
Take all of the above advice, and add the following trick from the medical community:
If you can get a large syringe and large gauge needle, mix up a solution of 20 parts orange juice to 3 parts tequila and a few shakes of poultry spice. Inject into the bottom of the breast of the bird (assuming it is upside down) so gravity works in it’s favor. This adds an awesome flavor to the meat and makes it extra tender. Oddly enough, it doesn’t leave an alcohol taste, nor does it leave much of a citrus taste either. But it’s the Yarster family secret (actually the Yarster’s wife’s family secret - give credit where credit is due)
Don’t trust those pop-up timers to tell you when the bird’s done. They always seem to pop up way too soon.
The bird’s juices should be clear, not pink, and you should be able to move the drumstick easily.
I’m gonna try the water method – wouldn’t trust myself to keep turning that big old bird around, so maybe the water will help keep the white meat moist.
Or maybe we’ll just cook a big pot of chili.
Re: Deep-fried turkey,
One of the funniest things I have ever seen on a cooking show was an attempt at this.
The “chefs” filled a large pot with corn oil and heated it over a propane burner.
When the oil was up to temp, they lowered the turkey into it with some kind of rope sling rig.
This caused the oil boil over the pot and ignite on the burner. The flame up burned through the rope rig and the turkey slammed into the bottom of the pot, overturning it.
This in turn set the “chefs” back yard on fire. A spectacular sight. More spectacular maybe if they had tried it indoors.
Don’t let this happen to you. Bake the damn thing.
One additional hint…if the turkey still is not fully defrosted on the big cooking date, you can submerge it in cold water in your clean kitchen sink, draining and re-filling every 10 minutes or so. Then, you can let it drain and pat dry before cooking (the cooking bags are great) however you decide.
As far as EvilGhandi’s tale about the deep fried turkey, I can totally believe it! We have had deep fried turkey for the past 3 years’ running, and it is wonderfully juicy and tasty…but it is ALWAYS cooked outside, in an extra large pot that allows for the addition of the turkey to the 400-degree boiling oil. No, it’s not slightly messy…it’s majorly messy…but worth every precaution. 
A ship in the harbor is safe, but that isn’t what a ship is built for.
A straight sided beer keg with the top sawed off makes an excellent turkey frying pot. Plus it’s useful if you ever have to make chili for 100 people. I know a woman that sells deep fried turkeys all year long and makes big bucks doing it. She injects them with a mixture of 1/2 Tabasco sauce and 1/2 Italian dressing and massages the turkey after the injections. They are delicious but pretty spicy.
“Hope is not a method”
Barbeque it. On a Weber. We did a 37# turkey this Thanksgiving in a few hours.
The giblets (or 'nards) go in the dressing.
Simple. Let Kevin Costner act and direct.
Bada-boom, bada-bing…thank you, I’ll be here all week. Please try the fish.
Launcher may train without warning.