 5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe. Thanksgiving is one overstuffed occasion to serve up a bone-dry bird. Whereas gravy is meant to be a savory accoutrement, for some, it becomes a defense mechanism for a thirsty turkey. If all this sounds vaguely familiar, Melissa Clark is here to answer the age-old question of how to not burn or dry out your Thanksgiving turkey. Clark is a James Beard award-winning writer who pens the wildly popular “A Good Appetite” column for the New York Times Dining section. She is also a Contributing Editor and weekly recipe columnist for Gilt Taste. Five Things NOT To Do When Roasting Your Thanksgiving Turkey: Melissa Clark 2. Do not - I repeat - DO NOT abide by the pop-up timer 3. Do not flip the bird 4. Do not stuff the bird Bake your stuffing on the side and if you miss the drippings flavor, cover the top of the stuffing dish with the fat and skin you’ve trimmed off the bird before roasting. It will render and turn into fowl cracklings while flavoring the stuffing beneath." 5. Do not carve the bird the second it comes out of the oven Is there someone you'd like to see in the hot seat? Let us know in the comments below and if we agree, we'll do our best to chase 'em down. |
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Very good writing. Interesting and accurate.
I think there are people who love traditions and people who love to bust traditions. Sometimes, I think, folks like this author feel they gain credibility by bucking tradition. "Your grandma was wrong!" type headlines probably make us read the article and fosters the many comments here. While there is logic and science behind some of the tips,the question of basting, stuffing, flipping is all about what works for you. I have tried different techniques over the years and had different levels of success, but in general, if you cook for your family and friends because you love them, it doesn't really matter.
I don't flip turkey when I roast it, because it usually doesn't need flipping. I use a shallow enough roasting pan, enough to catch the drippings, and it browns evenly. I like to place the turkey on a rack also. Some of those pan are so deep, it seems like the turkeys braise rather than roast.
Stuffing = Moist and delicious.....
Hollow turkey = dry, tough, and flavorless.
Where did she come up with the stuffing B.S,???? I've stuffed my turkey for 35 years, and they are always perfect. What a looney tune... Maybe SHE needs to go to cooking school!
Didn't the CDC or FDA warn about not stuffing your bird? We stopped that many years ago just to be on the safe side. Also, when you think about it its kinda gross.
Such warnings were because:
1) people were not cooking the stuffed bird long enough to properly heat the stuffing, and/or
2) people would stuff the bird the night before – even if you refridgerate the bird, the stuffing is insulated inside and does not get cold enough to prevent bacteria growth.
Both can lead to food safety issues. However, if you use good food handling techniques and cook the bird enough, stuffing is prefectly safe and mighty tasty.
I have been to cooking school, and rule of thumb is to not stuff your bird exactly for the reasons people here have mentioned. The turkey meat always turns out better and more moist if you don't, and people are way less likely to get sick. Throw some onion and celery in giant chunks inside the cavity if you want that flavor instead.
It can be dangerous, they are not making that up, but if you are careful about the temperature and do not stuff it too much (keep it loose), it is fine.
Turkey is wonderful, stuffing is the devil's dish! Hi Diddly O Neighbor!
Why would anyone trim the fat and skin off the bird before roasting??? Now that sounds like a way to guarantee a dried-out bird. I've been roasting turkeys for 43 years and never had a dry bird and I've never NOT stuffed the turkey. Moreover, I have never poisoned anyone. The only food poisoning I've ever heard of has been from buffets, which are of course a hideous thing in any case. And probably the danger was not from the turkey and stuffing but from one of those horrible side dishes that has mayonnaise or other cr@p in it.
She didn't mean "trim all the skin off the turkey" – she meant those hanging bits of skin around the cavity and at the neck. Those should be trimmed because, as they don't cover any meat, they will cook past crackling in the time it takes to roast the whole bird, and they tend to burn and smoke as they're mostly fat. Trim those loose bits off and use them to cover your dressing as it bakes.
And also, stuffing the bird is not per se unsafe – as long as the stuffing is cooked to at least 140F – but the fact is that the turkey usually dries out somewhat before the stuffing reaches that temperature. Mayonnaise is not generally a food poisoning culprit, fyi – it has a low pH due to the acid/lemon juice. You are more likely to be poisoned by things like potatoes/rice (they harbor Bacillus cereus), or meats that have been left out too long (protein is an excellent medium for bacterial growth).
The temperature range in which most bacteria grow is 40-140 degrees F. Salmonella are destroyed at cooking temperatures above 150 degrees F, which is why 165 is recommended.
Our turkey is cooked while sealed inside aluminum foil wrapping at 450F. This cooks the bird faster and, because it is essentially being steamed, it is very moist – and stays moist for the requisite week or so of great left overs. The last 45 min or so the bird is uncovered so the skin gets nice and brown. The bird is always stuffed with a nice sage stuffing. This does not result in over-cooking (drying) due to the foil wrapping.
I try to not buy turkeys with pop-up timers, but don't always succeed. I just leave it in and ignore it. Do no, repeat, DO NOT remove the sucker (either before or during roasting – and leave in while resting). If you do, you've just provided a large escape hatch for the juices; whether roasted breast side up or down.
highly disagree with "Don't flip the bird". Maybe "don't be an idiot while flipping the bird", but flipping the feast halfway through has produced the best , most tender and flavorful turkey I've ever had. Highly recommend it.
Don't be trippin' on flippin' .
Save them drippins before you start strippin
I second this. Flipping the bird a 1/3 of the way through cooking has always produced a superior turkey =)
The "how to cook a turkey" debate is a dangerous one...almost as bad as talking about religion and politics. With that said, I have to say that I have tried many different techniques for cooking a turkey over the years...stuffed, basted, bagged, cooked slow over low heat, deep fried...the list goes on, but only one has ever made me actually understand how unbelievably good turkey can be: Alton Brown's turkey recipe from the Food Network web site. Brining and cooking it fast over higher heat. AMAZING!!! All I can say is, "Don't knock it until you've tried it." My 22 lb. turkey cooked in 3 hours and was absolute heaven. Follow the recipe and watch the instant read meat thermometer. It won't fail you.
Ladies and gentlemen, THIS, this is my second year with Alton's recipe, buckets are three dollars at Menards, tops are 98 cents, buy the brine ingredients(about 15 dollars for me) and DO IT, this is hands down THE GREATEST TURKEY recipe I've ever had! Just google "Good Eats Roast Turkey" for the lowdown.
And also, the writer of this article is 100% correct on every count, Alton even covers this himself, a tip on the recipe, it doesn't mention the aluminum foil, wrap some foil into a triangle shape, it goes in at the 30 minutes mentioned in the recipe, coat it with the oil and put it oil side down on the breast.
Keeps the meat nice and juicy while crisping the skin!
I put it into a roasting bag, breast side down and meat thermometer in the thigh.
It's always perfect!
I do too, but I think this year, last 30 minutes I am going to open the bag, I miss the crispy skin
All I have ever done is cover the turkey, from the time it goes in the oven, until about 30-45 minutes before it's done. That tent of aluminum foil keeps all the juices in the pan, instead of evaporating from the heat. I do baste, about once an hour, but cover the bird again when I'm done. The foil comes off at the end, to crisp th e skin, and seal everything inside.
To date, I have received nothing but compliments for how juicy my turkey is, especially the white meat.
Oh, and the slower you cook your bird, at a lower temp, the juicier it remains, using the covered method. Believe me, an extra hour in the oven, at a lower temperature, will make for a much more tender bird!
My family has never, as long as I remember, cooked the stuffing in the bird. My mom (and by tradition / heredity, I) always buys a bone-in turkey breast instead of a whole bird. I like the crispy edges of stuffing cooked in a baking dish, but since our stuffing is always from a bag, I know my opinion on the dish as a whole is null and void.
My personal, admittedly heretical recipe, is to put the turkey breast in a baking dish with about two cups of chicken broth. Shove some sliced onion, sliced apple, and baby carrot in the chest cavity. Mix some olive oil with whatever herbs sound good that day, and drizzle it over the bird. Into the oven, baste when I remember to. It always comes out moist – the chicken broth seems to help with that. Plus, the broth is great for making extra gravy, and the apples, onions, and carrots give it a great flavor.
My mother has no idea how to make gravy, so I've been the gravy savant for a while in my family's eyes. Gravy is so easy! I don't know how she never figured it out.
I do make a delicious, flavorful, tender turkey with divine trimmings, home made rolls and 6 of the most requested desserts. I even dress up for guests and carry around a drink tray. Everyone raves but no one offers to help clean up!!!
I disagree with a couple of the suggestions made:
1. Flipping the bird (that's the turkey one in the oven) is fine, as long as you do it BEFORE you start cooking. That way, when the cooking is done and the bird is resting, the juices will follow the laws of gravity (or is the laws of gravy?) and flow downhill to the breast area. Once rested, the bird should be cool enough to flip over (with a couple oven mitts or a couple big turkey forks).
2. Basting is also important, but should also be done BEFORE cooking begins. Take your basting material (I like butter with herbs mixed in it) and using your hand, rub the meat itself by sliding your hand carefully UNDER the skin. Also, rub extra butter on top of the skin to help seal any minor puncture holes. Put the turkey (breast-side down) on a small rack in the roasting pan and cover it. If the pan doesn't have a cover, use aluminum foil; or you can put the whole turkey and rack into one of those roasting bags.
My only other suggestion is to remove the wings and the legs BEFORE cooking. The legs can go in the bottom of the pan, but I've seldom seen anyone eat the wings. I generally save out the wings and use them for making turkey stock or to add additional flavor to the gravy I'm mixing up.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks George for the tips – makes sense to me – we'll give it a try.
Just a reminder if you decide to remove the legs and wings: this will shorten the time it takes to cook the turkey, albeit not by too much. Also, if you're not using a turkey bag, I'd hold out the legs until about 1/2 way through, as they won't take nearly as long to cook, once separated from the rest of the bird.
All good advice, George!
6. Don't let some bozo at the table suggest that everybody at the table describe what they have to be thankful for on Thanksgiving – some knucklehead with a big mouth will go on and on while the turkey dries out. Don't let the aformentioned knucklehead say the blessing either.
They could say the blessing as long as they use a short one like the Archie Bunker Thanksgiving Blessing: "Bless the meat, damn the skin, open your mouth and shove it in." or the other one he liked to use: "Good food; good meat; good Lord, let's eat!"
George – you're a riot!! Ha Ha Ha!! Thanks for the laugh, friend!
What? No "Ruba dub dub, thanks for the grub, Amen?"
HEY you people ... WHY why is it that when we are invited to your Thx Gving dinner, your Broccoli is overdone. YELLOWed.
You put it in the overn? For half an hour?
DON't you know that you should only steam your broccoli for only 2 minutes? And at the most 5 minutes if you want it soft and flaccid. And immediately expose them to cool and sprinkled with olive oil – don't you know you should not cook your broccoli and brussels yellow and mushy?
Yellowed flaccid broccoli and mushy brussels on ThxGving is an abominable sin. C'mon people!
My broccoli and sprouts are NEVER overdone; partly because I don't serve them. If you decide to serve these fine vegetables, remember to crush one Viagra pill into the dish with them before cooking, but heed this warning: If the broccoli or sprouts stay green and erect for more than 4 hours, take it to a botanist for immediate attention.
I like my broccoli and sprouts to be mushy. If you have been invited as a guest, I suggest you be thankful that someone else did all of the work, or offer to bring the broccoli and sprouts cooked the way you like them.
I stand by my assessment of turkey, you almost can't mess it up. I have brined, flipped, put bacon on the breast, and done a pomade of olive oil and crab seasoning. Every one of them turned out like something good to eat, but I could be just gifted in the kitchen.
Clearly she doesn't know what's she's doing cause I'm a 50 year old who's cooked Thanksgiving Dinner for 30+ years and know so much more than anyone else. I like white meat and it's always bone dry and disgusting, but pay no attention to that! I know how to cook it because I've done it MORE.
Just shut up you stupid dolts, you're kids are tired of eating dry, flavorless, white meat. Even if you refuse to take the advice, you don't have to complain about it. Adults are idiotic, they think just because they've done something x number of times then know everything there is to know about it.
"Adults are idiotic, they think just because they've done something x number of times then know everything there is to know about it."
He says after bragging about cooking Tgiving turkey for 30+ years.
Dover,
You really didn't get it did you?
I think the sarcasm was lost on you.
Now if I can just convince my sister in law not to plop into my seat at head of table, I can handle not drying out the turkey. I actually cook mine breast side down and flip the last 30 minutes.
Place cards, or lick the plate and flatware
Deep-fried turkey in peanut oil is the way to go. I tried this cooking method several years ago and have not had an oven turkey since then. Juicy and not greasy...I'm glad Thanksgiving is next week!
Sorry, but nothing beats a roast turkey (in my opinion)
Well I disagree strongly. I've always been the turkey cook for our family Thanksgivings, and I roasted them in a baking bag for many years before finally giving in to temptation and trying a fried bird several years ago. There is no comparison. Taste and juicyness, not to mention that delectable crunchy skin texture, is overwhelmingly better. The response from family and friends has been unanimous in saying my fried birds are the best turkey they've ever eaten.
wow so many angry people on the inter webs. :(
I'd rather have beef, lamb, or duck.
I am actually debating this year going with a nice prime rib instead of turkey......
I am doing a beef tenderloin this year – I dislike turkey and I'm tired of cooking them – although mine are always moist and flavorful (I use the brining method and tin foil over the bre@sts only on the front end of the cook time). I have, however, been instructed that I cannot forgo making my stuffing (which never goes in the bird). So I am making the stuffing to appease the group for the lack of turkey.
Brine..brine brine..anything else is a waste of a good bird
You couldn't be more right!
I'd rather just go to a fine dining restaurant and pay $130/person. A lot of them feature fantastic holiday menus.
And THEY do the clean up, not you!
Personally, I always cover my turkey in bacon first and then cover it with a cheese cloth soaked in melted butter. Keeps the turkey moist and removes any need for basting. Once done I take the bird out, remove the cheese cloth and bacon, which I throw away, and let the bird sit for a few minutes before carving. Most people seem to like it and it is how my family has cooked our turkey for years. Hope someone finds this helpful.
Sounds like a good tip. Thanks for posting it. Never thought of cheese cloth.
If you want the juiciest turkey, debone it. The white meat doesn't take as long as the dark meat to cook. A whole bird doesn't allow you to cook light and dark at different times and the breast is getting most of the heat, that is why there is the age old problem of dry white meat. It is true you don't get to see the dead bird shape on the table but instead just slices of turkey, but that is a small price to pay. You could even download dead bird images from the net and view them at leisure during the meal if you like!
The liberals want you to think we do not know how to fix a Turkey the right way. They are spreading there anti-dry turkey retoric all over these pges.
You could go to Faux News right now where they are featuring ways to cook squirrel and possum if you don't like it here.
2nd FAIL, give up and go to class, your principal is calling your mom as we speak
I don't think you got the irony.
I am sick of hearing advice from the food police. Basting is very important but it also depends on your basting liquid. If the liquid has a lot of flavor, you keep adding that liquid flavor over the bird and it bronzes the skin. So it might take a little longer to cook because you let heat out. What's your rush? Plan for basting. Pop up timer is the first thing I remove. I cook to a breast temperature that I like (and it is not the temp that the food police recommend because it is sawdust at that point). Sanitation is not a problem because I don't buy my turkey from the back of a truck behind the bowling alley. I keep it clean and brine it in the cold before cooking. Brining can be used to add flavor also. I also cook at a low temperature. I have cooked a turkey at 225F before. Comes out awesome. The meat is very juicy. Tried flipping the bird once. This was awkward and I found it to be a waste of time. Other things have a bigger effect. This woman can take her advice on stuffing and stick it where the sun don't shine. The stuffing is very important for the bird and the juices from the turkey make an awesome stuffing. Did it once without stuffing and it was a big mistake. I have no need to measure the temperature of the stuffing. When the turkey reaches the temperature I want, the stuffing is great. All meat is supposed to rest before carving – duh.
Agree 100% I ALWAYS baste my turkey (I start with putting butter on the whole bird first) and I can't imagine not having stuffing in the turkey – it's the best!! And while I'm basting the turkey, I also use the drippings to "baste" the stuffing..come out great every time! I never brint he turkey as I have found it usually comes out WAY too salty, and ruins the drippings for gravy. The author is not a masterbaster like us.
I agree. I hate fried foods of any sort, cannot imagine doing that to a turkey. I had a really good turkey once that was cooked on my Weber outside, but that was an emergency job (freezer died, bird thawed, had to cook right away but it was 100 degrees and the house was too hot to run the oven!). I always stuff mine, and it comes out perfect. I also baste. Usually olive oil and then drippings once there are enough. A little wine in the mix is nice, too. Food police would have you ruin everything that is best about holiday meals, including the comfort-food aspect of traditional taste. And to the snarky dolts who want to insult those of us who have many years' experience in the kitchen, just because the author of the article is young and cute does not mean she has all the answers and it does not mean that her method is any better than ours that we have perfected over the years. I will submit that everyone's best turkey comes about as a result of having gotten used to your own oven, your own approach, and your own altitude/humidity conditions where you live and cook. Dont be childishly attacking someone else's preffered method unless you have eaten his/her results.
Fry it. Easy, fast, foolproof. Best turkey you've ever eaten. Promise.
Nothing like a deep fried turkey....if you are in a real pinch, but you have to order days before Thanksgiving, Popeye's does deep fried turkey's. The first one I had was in N.O. in the 70's, man was it good. Now they even have them here in VA.
Personally, turkey is probably my least favorite protein, aside from a good smoked turkey leg. I'd rather have duck, leg of lamb, or beef or lamb rib roast.
These recommendations are pointless. If you want a moist tender turkey make sure the temperature in the oven or the grill never reaches more than 200 degrees. I always slow cook my turkeys on a rotating spit on a grill, with mesquite and apple wood smoking, on the lowest setting for as long as 8 hours. My turkeys are fall off the bone and juicy to the max. I once had to deal with an emergency for over an hour right about when it had to come off and found my turkey so tender it had actually fallen off the spit into my drip pan. That was the best turkey I've ever served.
um, so how does the fact that you cook your turkey differently make these tips pointless? people so defensive about cooking a GD turkey. pathetic.
From your comments, it's obvious you're only goal here is to be a troll.
笑止！
你笑什麼，土耳其？
願你的餡總是濕潤和你的鳥總是多汁
I don't eat turkey but the family does. I prefer chicken but no one minds. Goes well with everything else on the table. Man, I just love Thanksgiving. Time to be thankful that we live in a free country and no place else is better.
"Time to be thankful that we live in a free country and no place else is better."
Kanageloa is absolutely correct... and so very well-said.
Thank you.
said like a good ethnocentric! U-S-A!
My father always cooked the turkey breast down, and our turkey has always been the mostest and best tasting turkey I have ever had.
*Moistest
Or is it "most moist". I don't know. All I know is it tasted GOOD!, and I slept well during the Cowboys games.
Ever since I first cooked a turkey, I've always cooked it breast-side down. I got the idea from a Fanny Farmer cookbook. I cook it breast-side down for the first three hours, then get my hubby to help me flip it over. Then I cook it for the next two-three hours on its back. I do baste every 15 minutes and feel that it helps to add color to the skin. Everyone who eats my turkey always exclaims about how moist it is. I lay a couple of strips of bacon down in the roasting pan before putting the turkey breast-down in the pan. This helps to keep the skin from sticking and getting peeled off. Before cooking my turkey, I also separate the skin from the body all over and stuff rosemary sprigs in between the skin and the body. Adds a really great flavor. I pack a little bit of stuffing in the bird (my mom likes "wet" stuffing) and bake the rest during the last 30 minutes of the turkey's cooking time. I'm thinking of brining my turkey for the first time ever this year and would love any tips/suggestions on the best way to do it.
Oops, got ahead of myself–I only cook my turkey breast-side down for the first TWO hours, then flip it and cook it for two-three hours more.
I'm still and always amazed at the number of "cooks" who don't know to let meat (not just turkey - ALL meat) sit for a while after roasting and before carving. I can't tell you the number of households I go to where they take the pork roast right out of the oven, plop it on a platter which gets instantly plopped on the table, and somebody starts carving immediately. "Oh, look how juicy it is!" somebody exclaims as all the juices run out of the meat into a lake on the platter.
Yup.... it sure WAS juicey, wasn't it? You've gotta let it rest.
And one of the most important tips for cooking "big meat" is that the interior temperature will rise during that resting time. You have to pull it early to allow for that. This is why so many prime rib roasts are well-done all the way through and one reason why a lot of turkeys are dry and over-done.
It's too hot to mess with right out of the oven. And people carve on beautiful platters, that drives me nuts. Carving is serious business, it should be done on a board.
If you haven't got a continuous-reading thermometer, one with a probe that goes into the meat and a display unit that remains outside the oven with a metal-jacketed wire between them, then you really should spluge that $20 today.
Also remember that when you take something as big as a turkey out of the oven and cover it with foil and then a towel on top of that, and let it rest for twenty minutes or so, the internal temperature will go up another ten degrees or so. So, you must pull it ten degrees or so early to allow for that.
If the turkey is already pre-cooked and frozen is it really necessary to cook the turkey to the 165 temp. Since its already been cooked should just heating it up to any desired temperature be enough?
If it is pre-cooked, then you may carve and it still frozen if you like.
I've always had stuffing cooked in the bird since I was a kid, never been poisoned. Still alive.
Probably because the turkey was cooked until it was bone dry.
Stuffing inside the bird needs to be cooked to 165 which by the time the breast meat gets to 160, the stuffing will still not be at the right temp.
Basically, you got lucky.
Nope my turkeys come out juicy and delicious. If anything, the stuffing suffers a little and can be a little soggy. It taste good though.
Heat your stuffing in the microwave to 130+. It will be hot, so use a spoon or clean neoprene gloves to stuff the bird. If you can lay your hands on two of them, insert instant read thermometers into both the thigh and the middle of the stuffing. Pull the bird out a few degrees early, as the hotter outer layers will conduct heat inward, but it depends on how hot your oven is–the higher the temp, the greater the temperature gradient.
hey, she can flip my bird any day. she kinda hot!!
but i put my t-key on the charcoal grill. brine in beer/wine/salt overnight. then on to the smoker, takes 4-6 hours.
mmm mmmm!!!!
You need to get out of the house more often.....
That she is, but I've always been a bit cautious taking cooking advice from a thin chef. Good tasting food, and healthy food, rarely go hand in hand. I prefer good tasting (will probably die at 65).
Sheesh! YOU TOO??!! She looks anemic as blazes and you're gonna take cooking advice [VS ADVISE] from her?? Rotsa ruck, kid.
Nice to see the grammer Nazis are sill out. "Advice: an opinion or recommendation offered as a guide to action, conduct". The world still applies. And no, I wouldn't take cooking "Advice" from someone thin. I believe I said that. Doesn't mean I don't like what she looks like. Go be a troll somewhere else.
Ya, har! THERE'S a GOOD knuckle dragger... kan't spul but whizzes on his betters to compensate for hiz lak of edumacation. Geeze, guy... you don't even qualify fer psych 101!
awesome comments, everyone has experience in the way they each cook turkeys, i have never ate a poor cooked turkey yet , but thanks to the lady for shareing her advise, we all know she will enjoy a well cooked turkey,
I lightly coat the turkey with some olive oil because it seals in the juices. Also, cover the bird with tin foil for about the first hour in the oven. This has worked well for us for over 10 years.
turkey=yucky
Done well, turkey is very delicious.
The traditional Thanksgiving meal, the turkey, the stuffing, the mashed potatos, etc., has not endured for generations because it is "yucky." If it were "yucky," it would have died out generations ago. No, natural selection has selected it to endure because it is delicious.
So, how long should I roast a 22 pound turkey...no oven opening, no basting, no stuffing, etc.?????
Deep fry for 3 1/2 mins per pound with cajun spice dry rub. Fully defrosted of course.
Two words – Deep Fry.
:)
But be very, very careful. Never but never run a turkey frier in a garage or covered carport, etc. And be prepared for the nightmare possibility that five gallons of boiling oil are going to spill and then be ignited by the burner.
Deep fried turkeys are excellent. The reason there are fires is because people don't do any basic homework before plopping the bird in the fryer. There are two basic things that cause fires in turkey fryers:
1. Dropping a frozen or wet bird into hot oil. Very bad idea no matter what you're frying, but even worse on a scale this large. The water turns to steam instantly and blows 350 degree oil everywhere.
2. Failing to stay by the fryer and monitor the oil temp the whole time the bird is cooking. The oil temp will fluctuate, and needs to be adjusted to maintain the right temp.
These two simple problems probably account for most turkey fryer fires. You're right though, never fry in a garage or under an overhang. Restaurants have stainless steel hoods with fire suppression systems built in.
You can still put stuffing in the turkey and cook both at the same time. Just take the stuffing out when the turkey's done, but just continue to cook it in the oven separately. gets a good crunch to it too.
Exactly. While the turkey "rests" outside of the oven, the stuffing can go back into the oven (under foil) and finish off. Use your instant-read (better yet, your continuous-reading) thermometer here too.
WOW this is the advice of someone who has no idea whatsoever how to properly cook a turkey.
Superfoodie .... thank you! i thought it was just me saying... how in the world did this woman ever get this job. She's clueless.
I've been cooking Thanksgiving Dinner longer than she's been on the planet.. It's ALWAYS stuffed/basted/super juicy/evenly cooked. The suggestion to take out stuffing when turkey done is great idea. I stuff turkey losely and put rest of stuffing in baking dish/basting along w/ turkey. I NEVER use eggs in the stuffing ... the culprit if stuffing undercooked. you don't need eggs. Use butter and chicken broth to keep it all together...the only reason for the eggs in the first place. ... btw, instead of evaporated milk in the pumpkin pie(using recipe on can) I use 2 cups half and half and 8 oz. of lowfat plain or vanilla yogurt. rich and yummy. Happy Thanksgiving!
With respect, the culprit in stuffing-related food poisoning is unlikely to be egg. Rather it's the turkey blood that has permeated the stuffing throughout the cooking process. Eggs cook at a relatively low temperature and have a very low rate of bacterial infection relative to poultry meat. Granted, I don't think I ever got sick from eating stuffing when I was young, if you were to cook a turkey to an old-school 180 degrees F, your stuffing's probably safe anyhow (though you'll be eating incredibly dry meat).
Maybe you would care to elaborate, to be constructive rather than just critical?
No. Usually not.
I don't use the pop-up timer, but I always stuff my birds. I've never had a dry one yet.
One thing that really helps with moisture is brining the bird as well.
About "flipping the bird" – Yes, DO flip it, only do it before you cook the bird. When my father told me the 1st turkey I baked was the best he'd ever had, it meant quite a lot to me, and I decided right then that THAT was the formula to an awesome turkey & I would never deviate from it. Part one, as mentioned above, DO flip the bird, before cooking. Hello? Gravity! Cooking upside-down lets the breast cook in all those juices instead of them running away from the breast. Also, use a roasting bag, this seals in the moisture, no basting required. Before putting the bird (upside down!) into the bag, slather in a coating of butter & sprinkle generously with Montreal Chicken seasoning. Enjoy!
I have had a lot of good luck with those turkey bags.
This is a load of crap, I have always stuffed my turkey, basted my turkey and left the pop-up timer in place. I have not depended on the pop-up timer, but used a meat thermometer to accurately gauge the temperature. My turkeys are fabulous and the stuffing is wonderful. Take your "dressing" and throw it out the window. Nothing beats stuffing baked inside the bird. And there have never been any food-related fatalities or poisonings in the 30 years I've cooked.
so if you have done the same thing for 30 years..perhaps you don't know what a good turkey tastes like?
2. Do not – I repeat – DO NOT abide by the pop-up timer
Best advice here...That thing will always make your turkey a good 20 degrees over done!