Expert Tips for Hosting Your First Thanksgiving Dinner | Turkey Cooking Help

[pampchef.angel]

This is the first year that my family will gather at my house for Thanksgiving dinner, and so, as tradition goes, I must cook the turkey - which I have NEVER done! I consider myself to be a pretty competant cook, but I don't know where to start with this, and I don't want to trust Google...Help?!

 

[mscharf]

I was in your same situation two years ago. I bought a turkey roaster (if you have a small kitchen plug it in outside on the porch, prevents the house from getting too hot). I used the recipe on the outside of the box (calls for stuffing cavity with onions, lemons, seasoning) and it came out PERFECT. Cook according to how many pounds, it gives you how many minutes per pound, DONT overcook, that is what my mom always did. (love you mom!) Good luck

 

[pampchef.angel]

Silly question - but where do you buy a turkey roaster? Is that a "Target" item?

 

[jbdowd0798]

Or you can call Butterball's hotline and they can help!

 

[chefkathleen]

My mom always cooked her turkey in a cooking bag, and now I do too! Not the prettiest "carving" bird, but it's delicious! Oh, and cook it breast-side down, so all the juices flow into the white meat.Again, it's not going to be a beautiful browned bird like they have in the magazines, but my mother never had a dry turkey! And in the bag, you don't even have to worry about basting it! Can't get any easier than that!

 

[JAE]

I think I'd buy the turkey that has the pop up thing so you know when it's done. Thank goodness I never have to do stuff like this. I don't live in a central area to my family. We do birthday party in May and cook out on the grill. We use paper plates and cups and plastic utensils. I am making the sweet potatoes and pumpkin dessert and pumpkin bread and/or muffins. So, the vitamin A is taken care of for the day!

 

[jrstephens]

A turkey is the easieat thing to cook. I just pat mine with butter, sprinkle salt, pepper and poultry seasoning on it. cover and put it in the oven. Depending on ohw big my turkey is, I cook it around 4 hours. When the legs fall apart - it's good and done. I normally wake up during the middle of the night and put the turkery in so it will be done when I get up to start cooking Thanksgiving day.

I do not stuff my turkey. My dressing is cooked in a separate pan.

 

[koima]

I use the America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated method. Easy, fast, tasty, and pretty for carving. I brine it first, then cook it upside down, each side up, then breast up. It's evenly cooked in 2 hours, and all the skin on top is brown and crisp.

 

[chefann]

I think I'd buy the turkey that has the pop up thing so you know when it's done.

Just an FYI - the glue that's used on the pop-ups fails quite often. Sometimes they pop up too soon, sometimes they stay down longer than they need to, resulting in overcooked and dry meat. It's better to use a thermometer (and we have a great pocket thermometer!).

There's a great brine recipe on foodnetwork.com, with Alton Brown's recipes. It's made with vegetable stock and some spices. And then the recipe calls for aromatics (apple, onion, sage and cinnamon stick) in the cavity during roasting. It adds a great, but subtle, flavor to the meat.

And if you buy a self-basting bird, or one that is labeled as "injected with a salt solution", then it's already brined, and doing it again won't help any.

 

[mscharf]

Yes, I got my roaster at Target!

 

[floccies]

A turkey is the easieat thing to cook. I just pat mine with butter, sprinkle salt, pepper and poultry seasoning on it. cover and put it in the oven. Depending on ohw big my turkey is, I cook it around 4 hours. When the legs fall apart - it's good and done. I normally wake up during the middle of the night and put the turkery in so it will be done when I get up to start cooking Thanksgiving day.

I do not stuff my turkey. My dressing is cooked in a separate pan.

How do you warm it up when it is time to eat?

 

[jrstephens]

How do you warm it up when it is time to eat?

We normally eat at lunch and by the time it is cool enough to cut, it is almost time to eat so there is no need to warm it. If it is longer before we eat, we just eat it without warming it. Turkey is the one meat other than chicken that I do not mind eating if it is not hot right out of the oven.

 

[BethCooks4U]

I have been cooking the turkey for over 30 years (since 1971) and it always turns out just perfect every time (so says my family :love.

I cook it for 20 minutes per pound and until the leg falls off the bird when jiggled. I start when I get up in the morning by preparing the stuffing (which I do put in the bird). When it's time to put it in (I get a large bird so it's always early in the day, usually as soon as breakfast leaves the oven), I put a lot of butter on top and in the folds of the leg/wing/etc. Season with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. I baste it at least every hour. After about 1 1/2 hours I cover it with tin foil and continue basting, then about an hour or so before it's to be done I remove the foil so that it can brown more and the skin can get crispy. My turkey is never dry and I never inject anything. I haven't found any difference with any brand I've ever gotten. I let it sit for about 15-20 minutes before carving (while finishing up potatoes and other side dishes and while DH makes the gravy with the potato water in the roasting pan.

The trick is in the basting.

I now cook it in OUR roasting pan on the rack (before I had that pan I would just put it down in the pan and as long as I prepared the pan first the turkey didn't stick to the pan when I was ready to remove it from the pan. I spray our pan and rack with oil first so it doesn't stick. I do not turn the turkey at all during cooking.