My first question - after the bird has just been put into the oven at 325 degrees, where is the best place on the bird to put the poultry thermometer?
It’s a 25 pound organic free range turkey…the label says thigh…Why not the Breast?
What? The cooks in Cafe Society ain’t gonna give you factual answers?
Moved to Cafe Society from GQ
samclem ,Moderator
Everything I’ve seen says to put the thermometer in the middle of the thigh. Apparently it takes the heat longer to penetrate to that area.
The breast is more exposed to where in some cases it can be overcooked and dried out before the thigh meat is done. It’s easy enough to avoid drying out the breast, but it’s clearly not where to put the thermometer if you want to make sure the whole bird is done.
If the turkey is stuffed, the thermometer should go to the middle of the stuffing.
Mom thawed the turkey in the refrigerator, but due to unforeseen difficulties we won’t have dinner today. How long will it be OK in the fridge?
Dark meat cooks more slowly than white meat, so you want the thermometer to be deep in the thigh, but not touching the bone. Insert it behind the drumstick and into the thigh per this illustration. Make sure you use one that is safe for the oven or you’ll have melted plasic all over your bird. I usually start the bird in a 425 oven for about 20 minutes, then reduce the heat, cover the breast with foil and finish it at about 350. Some people cook their turkeys at 425 throughout the process, which is quicker.
HOLY SH*T! Thank you!! I just pulled the thermometer out of the bird, I thought we just left it in there. Apparently not… Thank you!
**Khadaji **- As for the bird in the fridge - it should be good 3 days maybe, if you cook it by Sunday it should be good.
I use a probe style thermometer, which I set to 165 and set into the thigh (when I cook turkey, which isn’t my job this year). Carryover cooking will get it to a safe temp (~180). To keep the breast from drying out, when I take the bird out of the fridge, I will keep ice packs on the breast for about 20 minutes (you can tie them there with medical gauze or just let the bird sit inverted on the ice or both). By keeping the breasts cooler than the thighs, the breasts won’t be as hot as the thighs when coming out of the oven. I also start the bird upside down on the rack so that the bottom crisps up nicely, and turn over about 1/3rd of the way through.
ETA: I also temp the breast with a standard meat thermometer when the thigh is cooked through, just to be sure. I do not remove the thermometers once inserted until after the meat has rested and re-absorbed as much of the juice as possible.
An “instant read” thermometer is fine, but you’ll just have to check the temperature periodically when it gets nearly done, which means poking holes in the bird. No big deal, but every time you open the oven door, the temperature drops and has to recover. Like D_Odds, I prefer the probe with a remote display. Allow about 13-15 minutes per pound at 325 for cooking time.
Is that time estimate good for using one of the plastic cooking bags? I don’t know if they’re frowned upon by “real” chefs, but they seem to work well for me!
I agree that the roasting bags are the way to go. I’ve never had a dry turkey using them. (But then, as a teen, we didn’t have them and my turkeys weren’t especially dry. Only a couple of times, and they weren’t too dry.)
Don’t trust the pop-up thermometer that comes with the turkey. They’re crap.
I use two meat thermometers, one in the thigh and one into the stuffing. Now I have a digital thermometer with an alarm. I’ll use that next time I make a turkey.
Chefguy: In one post you recommend 350 deg roasting temp, but then in your next post you say 325 deg. I notice that the directions on my turkey says 325, but I’m using a bag, and the directions with the bag say 350.
I’m so confused!! 
Seriously, though, does it really matter? Just plan a little more cooking time at 325, or does the bad necessitate 350?
It really doesn’t make any difference. It will get done faster at a higher temp, but 25 degrees isn’t going to make any difference. I can’t speak for roasting bag cooking, as I’ve never tried it. What I do works well for me, so I try not to experiment on strangers. I tried brining once and didn’t care for the results or see a noticeable difference in the quality. We buy local fresh birds that don’t have any injected basting material, so I insert butter and herbs under the breast skin and make sure to either tent it or use a piece of cheescloth soaked in oil/butter.
“Real chefs” work in restaurants. I don’t. But I think that even chefs would tell you that as long as you are observing food safety and common sense instructions, there is no real “true” method for cooking a bird.
I am not a fan of bags, but I am fan of brining. I am also a fan of roasting at low temperatures, then finishing in the hottest my oven can go to crisp the skin. However, you don’t need to do all that for a good bird. Season well, season under the skin so it penetrates the meat, and cook to specific temperatures, not specific times.
FWIW, this is how I’m cooking the duck:
I rinsed it and patted it dry with paper towels. I cut off the excess skin (neck, butt) and scored the remaining skin. A little kosher salt in the cavity, and some on the outside. It will cook in a baking pan for one hour, on a rack, at 300ºF. At the end of an hour I’ll pierce the skin all over with a sharp knife and turn it over and cook it for another hour. This will be repeated two more times. The idea is to render as much fat as possible to make the skin crispy and to keep the meat from being too ‘greasy’. At the end I’ll turn the oven up to 400º and roast it for ten or 15 minutes.
Meanwhile the giblets are being boiled for stock. The skin I removed earlier has been cut into tiny pieces and is being rendered for the fat. The fat from the skin and the fat from the roasting will be stored for later use. The stock and the giblets will be used for gravy.