Turkey Terminology - Types of Turkeys

Do you know that a "frozen" turkey is fresher than a "fresh" turkey?

The frozen turkey have been frozen immediately upon preparation. The so called fresh turkeys can sit in your store for days. I always buy a frozen turkey because of this. Check out my article Turkey Terminology - Types of Turkeys.

• It takes a full 24 hours to defrost every five pounds of frozen turkey in the refrigerator (the only safe method). A 20-pound turkey needs to defrost for a full four days. Remove the giblets and neck from the cavity as soon as they can be removed (which will be before the turkey is fully defrosted).
   

• Use a shallow roasting pan. If you use a deep roasting pan, you wind up steaming the meat.
   

• Do not stuff your turkey ahead of time as harmful bacteria growth could spoil the uncooked turkey. Just before roasting, stuff the body and the neck of the turkey. Do not pack in as the stuffing will expand during cooking. If packed in too tightly, it will be very dense instead of light. Sew the abdomen closed and sew the legs together close to the body so that the stuffing cooks evenly. Check out my articles Linda's Favorite Turkey Stuffing and Advice on Stuffing a Turkey Safely.
   

• Roast your turkey breast-side down on a v-shaped rack until the last hour or so in the oven, then turn it to brown the breast. The result is a moister white meat.
   

• To prevent the breast meat from drying out, loosely cover just the breast with a triple thick sheet of aluminum foil, butter on on the inside to prevent sticking. Remove after the first hour of roasting so the breast has time to brown.
   

• Never rely on the little plastic thermometer in some turkeys to pop out. If you wait for it, the turkey will overcook. Instead stick an instant read thermometer several inches down through the skin between the thigh and the breast so the tip ends up about an inch above the joint. They turkey is ready when the thermometer reads 165 degrees. Check out my web page on Using A Thermometer - Take The Guesswork Out Of Cooking.
   

• Let the cooked turkey "rest" after it have been removed from the oven. While the turkey cooks, the juices are forced away from the heat to the middle of the turkey. Cover loosely with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes after it is removed from the oven. This allows the juices to redistribute throughout the turkey. A moist turkey is easier to carve.
   

• Baste, baste, baste.
   

• If you need your oven to reheat or cook side dishes, it's better to serve the turkey at room temperature with hot gravy than to reheat it. Reheating dries out the meat. The interior of a large turkey will stay quite hot for at least an hour.
   

• Using A Cooking Bag: This is an easy way to cook your turkey. It keeps all the juices and flavors in the bag and the turkey is automatically basted while it cooks. You end up with more juices than cooking the conventional way because they do not evaporate during roasting. The juices also do not burn and stick to the pan.