Turkey for the Turkey Dinner

The thought of making a turkey dinner is the fodder of screenwriters and the wellspring of dread in novice cooks. But the reality is that the poor thing has a bad agent. Can it be a disaster? Sure. Can you make yourself and other ill? Of course. Is it hard? No, not if you know what you are doing. Actually, a turkey dinner is one of the easiest, most economical meals to make (especially if you don’t add 23 side dishes). At the heart of it is the turkey. Follow these basic guidelines and you will find it to be a go-to meal, and not just for the holidays. And you can impress the daylights out of your relatives.

Plan Ahead

Buying the Turkey

First you need to buy a bird. Once you master the whole thing of cooking a turkey dinner, you can determine whether you prefer a Tom (a male) or Hen (female), or if you want to use fresh. All of these guidelines apply regardless (except you don’t need to thaw a fresh turkey, but know that you usually have to preorder one, so it still takes planning).

For a smaller bird serving 4 to 8 people, allow about 2 pounds per pound. If you are cooking a larger bird with a higher meat to bone ratio (over 15 or 16 pounds) allow about 1 1/2 pounds per person. (That’s not 1 1/2 pounds of meat, that’s 1.5 pounds of the whole bird).

You can usually get a great deal on turkey right before the winter or spring holidays.

Thawing the Turkey

Thawing the turkey correctly is CRUCIAL! Put the turkey on a platter in case the covering leaks and place in the fridge still in its wrapping. Allow enough time to thaw the turkey in the refrigerator.  Follow these government food safety guidelines:  about 3 days in the fridge for the first 12 pounds, then add a day for each additional 4 pounds. There should be no hard areas or ice crystals.

If the turkey is not completely thawed inside and out and is not then cooked to the correct temperature, you risk giving your guests Salmonella poisoning. My son and I once got this when we were guests for Thanksgiving. After we’d eaten dinner they told the ‘funny story’ of the unthawed bird. It wasn’t so funny the next 4 days as we were sicker than I have ever been in my life.

Since you have a couple of days to safely cook the turkey after its thawed using the refrigerator method, its better to allow a bit more time than you think you need to thaw.

What if the turkey isn’t thawed?
The government food safety site has instructions for thawing by cold water (allow about 30 minutes per pound, so this may still take too long) or in the microwave (allow about 6 minutes per pound -IF you can get the turkey in the microwave).If microwave thawing, you can cut the bird lengthwise and thaw each half.

All of these times assume you are starting from totally frozen so make allowances if the turkey is only partly frozen. Since its a good idea to rinse the turkey before cooking anyway, this will help if there are still some ice crystals inside the bird.

Cooking the Turkey

Prepping the Turkey

NOTE: You CAN cook a turkey from frozen, but it takes a LONG time to get it to a safely cooked temperature of 165°F, so it may not be a solution to get your turkey dinner on time.  Plus it will be a real fun time trying to get the neck, giblets and gravy packet (if any) out of the frozen bird.

What you need:

• Enough time to thaw, prepare, roast, rest, and carve your turkey before your turkey dinner time.
• A flat or covered roasting pan that will hold your bird
• A rack to place the turkey on (optional)
• A turkey lifter to remove the turkey from the pan (some turkeys provide a string version of this). There are many kinds: turkey forks, chain lifter, etc. If you dont have a lifter, you could lay several lengths of untreated uncolored clean twine across the width of the pan.) Optional but you’ll wish you had it. )
• PAM spray or cooking oil
• A turkey baster
• An instant read meat thermometer

What to do:

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F (allow about a half hour or so for this so do it before you prep the bird).
2. Prepare ahead to remove the turkey from the pan. This can save a lot of aggravation  later. Spray the pan, the rack and any turkey lifter with Pam. Put the rack, if using one, into the pan. Put the lifter into the pan.
3. Remove the turkey from the wrapper
4. Remove the neck and bag of giblets from the body cavities, as well as gravy packet if provided.
5. If desired, put the giblets and neck into a pan of water and cook. The giblets can be eaten or chopped (after removing the neck) and put in the gravy , or they can be discarded).
6. If there is a gravy packet, place in the fridge until ready to prepare according to the package directions. Remember to wash hands after touching the bag cause its been in the uncooked bird.
7. Rinse the turkey inside and out with cold water. I recommend having a clean helper (to move the pan, hand you paper towels, turn on water and give you soap as needed), especially if it a large, hard-to-maneuver bird.
8. Pat the bird dry with paper towels.
9. Put the prepared turkey into the pan breast side up. Spread lightly with PAM, cooking oil or butter and season with pepper if desired. (You can add other spices too if you want, but here I want to keep it simple).
10. If desired, you can stick a cut onion and/or apple in the cavity.
11. Tuck the wings under and the neck skin under.

Roasting

Place the turkey into preheated oven.  Allow about 20 minutes per pound- more if its stuffed, less if using a covered enamel roasting pan.  This is just a time guideline.

The magic number for a turkey to be ready for turkey dinner is 165°F:

• Thickest part of thigh is (not touching a bone) 165°F or higher
• Thickest part of breast (not touching a bone) 165°F
• Stuffing if there is any – you guessed it 165°F

Covering /Uncovering

If you use a covered enamel roasting pan (and I like how moist this makes the turkey), the turkey will cook in much less time than open roasting.  Remove the cover at least 1/2 hour before the end of cooking time.

If you open roast, at about the 2/3 mark in the cooking time, tent aluminum foil over the breast so it doesn’t brown too much.

Basting
Once the bird starts producing juices in the pan, use a turkey baster to baste the turkey every half hour up until an hour before the end of roasting time.

Carving and Serving

• Remove any dressing/stuffing from the bird immediately and put in a separate dish.
• Allow the turkey to rest 15-20 minutes before carving to allow the juices to redistribute and settle (you can make the gravy with the pan juices while it is resting)
• Refrigerate leftovers withing an hour. Don’t let it just sit on the counter.
• Eat or freeze within  3 to 4 days. Freeze what you wont eat as soon as you know there will be extra.

Have a wonderful turkey dinner!