How To Cook Your Thanksgiving Turkey
Turkey has been a classic Thanksgiving/holiday protein for as long as most of us can remember. Most of us only cook it once or twice a year and there’s a good chance that we only have one of them, so we might as well know how to do it right.
Today, I’m going to share how to cook up a moist, delicious holiday turkey that you and your family will love.
The first step in cooking a turkey starts long before the big day, thawing your turkey properly. You do not want to cook a turkey that is partially frozen, because what will happen is the meat will begin to steam and can come out stringy and chewy, not something you’d want to eat for your holiday dinner.
There are all sorts of charts and guidelines you’ll see for how long you should let your turkey thaw, but here is my general rule. A 12-pound turkey will take about 3-4 days to thaw, and then add another day for every 3 pounds afterward. If it’s the big day and your turkey still isn’t fully thawed, then a bath in cold water for a few hours will do the trick.
Ok, it’s the morning of Thanksgiving/Christmas/whatever you’re celebrating, but before you get cooking you will want to take your turkey out of the fridge and let it come up to room temperature for about 45 minutes. When at room temp, your turkey will cook faster and more evenly. You can use this time to preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
375 might sound like a bit of a high temperature, but remember we are going for a mahogany brown, crispy skin and 350 simply won’t get us there without completely overcooking the meat.
To get started, you’ll want to remove your turkey from the bag it came in and place that onto your roasting tray. Make sure to remove the neck and the little bag of giblets, both of which should be in the cavity or where the neck was. I chose not to show you that step because…it’s kind of gross. Some people like to roast the neck and/or giblets with the turkey for their gravy, but…I don’t.
Take a few paper towels and pat the skin dry, inside and out. Doing this will remove any surface moisture that built up as the turkey was thawing and that will help with the browning of the skin in the oven. Fold and tuck the wing tips back, rub the whole bird inside and out with vegetable oil, and then generously season the outside with salt and pepper.
Some people like to put butter on their bird or even underneath the skin rather than oil, and normally I love the flavor of butter; my issue is that the water from the butter can get into the skin and prevent it from getting crispy.
Also, if your turkey is like mine and the legs are already trussed up by either part of the skin or a wire trusser, leave it as it is. If not, simply tie the legs together with a piece of kitchen twine. I also like to cut off some of the excess skin from around where the neck was as I think it makes for a nicer presentation in the end, but that’s up to you.
In the old days, now is when we would put the stuffing inside the cavity of the turkey, but I believe that it’s more efficient to cook the turkey and stuffing separately as it ensures the bird is moist and cooked through and the stuffing doesn’t soak up any nasty bacteria from the raw turkey, that doesn’t mean I leave the cavity empty.
I like to put a few aromatics in the cavity like a few pieces of onion, some celery, a whole lemon, and one or two rosemary sprigs. Sage is also nice, maybe a carrot or fennel, anything to flavor the turkey, really, but be careful not to overfill the cavity as we want to allow the hot air from the oven to get in and cook the inside of the bird.
As the turkey cooks, these aromatics will help to flavor the turkey from the inside and help it to cook evenly; plus, later, you can chop up and fry those aromatics to fortify your gravy.
Alright, let’s go over our turkey checklist.
Fully thawed-✅
Removed neck and giblets-✅
Tuck wing tips back-✅
Patted skin dry-✅
Season-✅
Aromatics in the cavity-✅
Yeah, I’d say we are ready to get cooking; the question is, how long do we cook the turkey?
The general rule of thumb is to cook a turkey for 12 minutes, so a 15-pound turkey will cook in a little over 2 hours, you’ll want to keep that in mind when thinking about timing your sides and everything else so it’ll all be ready at the same time.
Once that turkey is in the oven, leave it alone. Do not open the oven, don’t touch it, in fact, don’t even look at it, let the turkey sit in the oven and do its thing. This is one reason why I am not a fan of basting a turkey, all you’re doing is opening the oven, letting out the heat, and slowing down the cooking process of the bird. Use this time to relax a bit, talk to your guests, and maybe have a glass of wine.
You’ll know it’s done when you insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh, it should read about 170 degrees F.
And, just like with cooking meat of any kind, you will want to let your turkey rest for at least 20 minutes before carving to relax the muscle fibers and allow the juices to redistribute. You can use this time to make your gravy, an article for another day, and ensure the rest of your meal is ready.
Follow these tips exactly, and you will be guaranteed a moist, tender, delicious turkey that will set the perfect mood for your Thanksgiving or holiday dinner.
