Happy Thanksgiving week! As is indicated by my excessive use of exclamation points, I LOVE Thanksgiving! It is by far my favorite holiday. It is all the goodness of family and friends and food without the greed and commercialism that seems to have engulfed other holidays. Every year I look forward to the days of planning, prepping, and cooking. I know that sounds crazy to some of you, but preparing a feast for people you love is one of the most fulfilling and nurturing things I can think of.
So today’s special early-edition blog is to help you through one of the most challenging and least rewarding parts of the feast: cooking the turkey! It’s really hard to do well. And although I have logged many hours of turkey cooking, I still change methods frequently, trying to create the perfect bird. The problem is the way the turkey is built. There really is no way the breast and thighs/legs will be done at the same time without some serious maneuvering of a really large, awkward, heavy bird, which is often hot and slippery. There are a few options that can help with this dilemma.
One suggestion I had not heard before comes from a food writer and scientist named Harold McGee (isn’t that a great name for a food scientist?!). Harold has a new book out which explains many of the “whys” behind our cooking. One thing he suggests involves taking the bird out of the refrigerator for about an hour before roasting it. Then, cover the breast area of the turkey with ice packs, and let the rest of the turkey warm up a bit. When you roast the bird, the breast meat will be significantly colder than the legs and thighs and everything will cook more evenly. Brilliant, simple, and much less dangerous than some other methods!
Another option is to remove the legs and thighs from the bird before you place it in the oven. Lean them up against the side of the bird and cook as directed. Then when the breast meat reaches 162 degrees (it will continue to cook after removing it from the oven and should finally reach 165 degrees before you eat it), take the breast out and leave the legs and thighs in. Once they reach about 170 – 172 degrees, take them out as well.
Allow all the meat to rest for at least 20 minutes, loosely covered, before carving. You can still place the turkey on a platter, reconstructed enough for the oohs and ahhs, and then return to the kitchen to carve it up. Of course, to do this you need to have some basic butchery skills in your pocket, but you should have those anyway! Cutting up a turkey is the same as cutting up any other type of poultry, and if you can master it, you can save a lot of money on those “bone-less, skinless” items in the meat counter.
And one last tip. If you don’t want to mess with the turkey as described above, at least do NOT truss the legs. Trussing prevents the hot air from circulating around the joints of the legs and thighs, which lengthens the time required to cook them. If the hot air can get to that space between the thighs and the rest of the body, then the cooking time will be shortened.
I have attached a “turkey basics” document to this blog which should help you from start to finish, all the way from purchasing the right bird to making the gravy. If you need help carving, then check out the Cook’s Illustrated website or the Food Network website; both provide good instruction and even videos that are very useful.
The attached document will help you with brining and roasting the bird for this Thursday’s feast. I sent out this early edition blog because if you are going to brine your turkey, you should start the process tomorrow (Tuesday), giving the bird plenty of time to air dry in your refrigerator before roasting (don’t worry, it’s all described in the instructions!).
And finally, my friend Eric came over last week to practice his carving for the big day. I had an extra turkey from a class I did, and the since the best way to learn is by doing, I let him work his knife skills on the recently roasted bird.
Aside from carving poultry, Eric’s new favorite hobby is creating podcasts (and though I know what podcasts are, I wouldn’t have the foggiest idea how to create one, nor would I know what equipment is required; luckily, Eric is far more tech-savvy than I).
So while he was in my kitchen on a mission to learn how to carve a turkey, he also recorded our conversation all about selecting a turkey, the purpose of brining, and a number of other Thanksgiving related topics. Eric and I each have 2 young boys with our respective spouses, and they can undoubtedly be heard in the background, but I’m sure that will add to the charm; Thanksgiving is all about family after all.
Anyway, Eric is going to have the podcast ready to download by tomorrow, so I will ask our web guru extraordinaire, Greg, to send it out in some sort of accessible form. You’ll have an audio version of Turkey, 101 at the click of the mouse. And if you really have more questions, e-mail me at Laura@taste-fulltours.com and I will see if I can help you out!
Check out Eric's podcast by clicking on the link below:
Good luck and gobble gobble everyone! Happy Thanksgiving!
p.s. Don’t forget to sign up for next week’s Taste-full Favorites Tour! It is Saturday, Dec. 4th and we have some wonderful spots to visit. Check out the website at www.taste-fulltours.com for details.
p.p.s. I met an amazing woman from Sicily today – and was fortunate enough to taste her family’s olive oil and red and dessert wines – a wonderful event! More details to come!
Download Turkey Basics from Romito Cooking School
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