Roasting Tips for a Moist and Tasty Turkey by: Diane Watkins
There are many methods used to cook a moist and tasty Roasted Turkey. Most methods rely on basting. The turkey can be basted every 30 minutes with a basting bulb, or covered with cheesecloth soaked in butter. Other methods include brining the turkey (soaking in a salt water solution for 8-10 hours), or injecting a basting solution into the meat.
Whatever method you prefer, proper roasting is key to tender moist meat. Completely thaw the turkey. Start early and thaw the turkey in the refrigerator or in a place where the air temperature is no higher than 40 degrees. A 20-pound turkey takes about two or three days to thaw completely. Be sure the turkey is thawed completely, until no ice appears in the inner cavity and the meat is soft. Be careful: If the inner cavity is still frozen or even partially frozen when you put the turkey in the oven, the outside of the bird will be done before the inside, and the inside temperature will not be hot enough to destroy disease-causing bacteria, or if it is the outside meat will be dried out before the center is done.
Remove the neck and giblets from the cavities. If this is your first time cooking the turkey, be sure that both cavities are emptied. Reserve the neck and giblets for use in preparing the giblet gravy, if desired. Prepare the stuffing. If you are preparing the stuffing early, mix only the dry ingredients. It is recommended that you cook the stuffing separately, but if you do stuff the turkey, do not stuff it until you are ready to roast it.
Stuff the cavity loosely. Do not pack it. If you choose to cook the stuffing separately, you can place a quartered onion and some celery leave and other desired herbs in the cavity for flavor. Prepare a basting sauce. I prefer to baste with melted butter to which I add fresh or dried herbs. You can also baste with a mixture of wine and butter.
Baste the turkey with your sauce and place a loose tent of aluminum foil over the turkey to prevent the skin from burning before the turkey is cooked. This tent will be removed during the last 45 minutes or so of cooking. If you are using cheesecloth, soak the cheesecloth with the basting sauce and place over the breast and drape onto the thighs. When using cheesecloth, you do not need the foil tent.
Baste the turkey every 30 minutes during roasting. Roast your turkey at 325 degrees for the recommended time for the weight of your turkey. These times are approximate and should be confirmed with a meat thermometer. Be sure to check the thermometer about 3/4th of the way through the time indicated so as not to overcook.
Dry meat will result if the turkey is overcooked. The following table gives approximate times for roasting turkey at 325 degrees F. Estimated Cooking Times Wt. of Turkey Unstuffed Stuffed 10-18 lbs 3- 3 1/2 hrs. 4 - 4 1/2 hrs 18-22 lbs 3 1/2 - 4 hrs 4 1/2 - 5 hrs. 22-24 lbs 4- 4 1/2 hrs 5 – 5 1/2 hrs 24-29 lbs 4 1/2- 5 hrs 5 1/2 - 6 1/2 hrs The turkey must be roasted all at once. You cannot partially cook it ahead for later finishing. This method has been shown to increase the chances of food borne illnesses. For safety and doneness the internal temperature must reach 180 degrees F in the thigh and 170 in the center of the breast.
If the turkey is stuffed, the stuffing should reach 165 degrees F in the cavity. This temperature is essential to prevent food borne disease, and should be measured with a meat thermometer. The pop-up thermometer that comes in many turkeys serves as a good approximate of doneness, but should not be relied on as the ultimate authority.
When placing the meat thermometer in the thigh or breast, it is important not to touch the bone. The bone conducts heat and will be hotter than the meat. Do not allow the cooked meat to come into contact with anything that has touched the raw turkey. During the last 30 - 45 minutes of cooking, remove the foil tent to encourage browning.
If you desire to use a glaze, spread it over the turkey now with a pastry brush. After dinner, separate the stuffing from the turkey and refrigerate leftovers immediately. Within a few hours bacterial will begin to grow causing disease if the meat is not quickly cooled. Large chunks of meat will cool slowly, and therefore should be refrigerated immediately to begin the cooling process. Meat, stuffing, and gravy can also be cooled, then frozen for future use.
Luke warm leftovers allow bacterial growth. Food eaten cold will not have the opportunity for further growth, however when heating leftover, they should be heated to at least 165 to kill bacteria.
About The Author
Diane Watkins is a traditional southern style cook. She enjoys cooking, teaching, and writing about good food and family. For more information on southern cooking and recipes for everything you need to complete a traditional style holiday meal, visit her website Easy Southern Cooking. http://www.easysoutherncooking.com/
Thursday, 15 November 2007
Thursday, 16 November 2006
The good the bad and the ugly
Restaurants that is.... Eating houses, and takeaways. Sometimes known among my friends as ‘throw aways’.
That’s the sort of place I found over the weekend. A Chinese throwaway. Now I’ve been to a few bad restaurants in my time but this place really did take the biscuit. Fortunately I was on my own. If I am with my girlfriend Liz, I try to be a little more selective. You know, somewhere that has slightly more class than Special Chow Mien. I even try to reach higher than the establishment which offers green red or yellow Thai curry.
Lets face it, most takeaways have expanded along this avenue by now, not that it makes much difference because Liz doesn’t like curry anyway, so we usually like to seek out somewhere that offers a little variety and eloquence, like the popular fusion restaurants which have sprung up over recent years, maybe something that offers a Japanese French connection so as to speak. (Udon noodles and frogs legs anybody?).
So it was late in the evening and Paul Simon was singing to me through the car radio when I realised that I hadn’t eaten all day and the situation needed to be remedied. The only option was to find a late takeaway, and I remembered a place near to where I lived, The Dragon Inn. Hadn’t been there for about three years so I didn’t know what to expect. I pulled up on the opposite side of the street. Outside there was a new jazzy neon sign which proclaimed that I had arrived at The Famous Cock or something equally obscure.
Obviously a change of ownership since my last visit. From the car window I noticed that the interior was devoid of patrons, A bad sign? Maybe that was because of the lateness of the hour. It was just gone half past midnight, so not really late at all by today’s standards. Inside everything looked seedy, it was one of those times when you wish you had had a better idea than to walk through the door, but it was too late. I scoured the menu half looking for inspiration, half trying to work out how to escape as the order taker, hunched over the counter, fixed me with a stony gaze reminiscent of Nostradamus scrying into a cauldron of water.
I went for the chicken curry, with plain rice. You can’t go wrong with that can you? Er yes you can.
Here’s where things got really interesting. I opened the food containers in my kitchen and noticed : Rice: one lump or two? On careful examination it was just one. It looked like a snowball, smooth with barely a grain in sight. Curry: not much different to the rice in consistency, in that once I had extricated it onto the dinner plate it continued to assume the shape of the container in which it had arrived, and I had to re-sculpt its blancmange like consistency.
Now you could probably forgive the appearance of this excuse for food, Friday nights being what they are, but appearance isn’t everything, so what about the taste. Nothing. I mean, it didn’t taste of anything, not even salt. I have in the past had curry which resembled gravy in taste and appearance but this was just nothing at all. I guess the normal thing to do would be to complain. But after a long tiring day out you just don’t. maybe we should start a blog to name and shame the worst eateries and praise the best, or even get stuck into the healthy Chinese option, like this one:
500+ Healthy Chinese Recipes
That’s the sort of place I found over the weekend. A Chinese throwaway. Now I’ve been to a few bad restaurants in my time but this place really did take the biscuit. Fortunately I was on my own. If I am with my girlfriend Liz, I try to be a little more selective. You know, somewhere that has slightly more class than Special Chow Mien. I even try to reach higher than the establishment which offers green red or yellow Thai curry.
Lets face it, most takeaways have expanded along this avenue by now, not that it makes much difference because Liz doesn’t like curry anyway, so we usually like to seek out somewhere that offers a little variety and eloquence, like the popular fusion restaurants which have sprung up over recent years, maybe something that offers a Japanese French connection so as to speak. (Udon noodles and frogs legs anybody?).
So it was late in the evening and Paul Simon was singing to me through the car radio when I realised that I hadn’t eaten all day and the situation needed to be remedied. The only option was to find a late takeaway, and I remembered a place near to where I lived, The Dragon Inn. Hadn’t been there for about three years so I didn’t know what to expect. I pulled up on the opposite side of the street. Outside there was a new jazzy neon sign which proclaimed that I had arrived at The Famous Cock or something equally obscure.
Obviously a change of ownership since my last visit. From the car window I noticed that the interior was devoid of patrons, A bad sign? Maybe that was because of the lateness of the hour. It was just gone half past midnight, so not really late at all by today’s standards. Inside everything looked seedy, it was one of those times when you wish you had had a better idea than to walk through the door, but it was too late. I scoured the menu half looking for inspiration, half trying to work out how to escape as the order taker, hunched over the counter, fixed me with a stony gaze reminiscent of Nostradamus scrying into a cauldron of water.
I went for the chicken curry, with plain rice. You can’t go wrong with that can you? Er yes you can.
Here’s where things got really interesting. I opened the food containers in my kitchen and noticed : Rice: one lump or two? On careful examination it was just one. It looked like a snowball, smooth with barely a grain in sight. Curry: not much different to the rice in consistency, in that once I had extricated it onto the dinner plate it continued to assume the shape of the container in which it had arrived, and I had to re-sculpt its blancmange like consistency.
Now you could probably forgive the appearance of this excuse for food, Friday nights being what they are, but appearance isn’t everything, so what about the taste. Nothing. I mean, it didn’t taste of anything, not even salt. I have in the past had curry which resembled gravy in taste and appearance but this was just nothing at all. I guess the normal thing to do would be to complain. But after a long tiring day out you just don’t. maybe we should start a blog to name and shame the worst eateries and praise the best, or even get stuck into the healthy Chinese option, like this one:
500+ Healthy Chinese Recipes
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