My family historically enjoys cooking turkey all year round. For me, it’s often in the form of homemade ground turkey bolognese. My mom, Grammie, regularly has a small turkey breast in the freezer and some pre-carved supermarket turkey slices in the fridge. Her dad was an avid consumer of turkey legs. It became such a family legend that one year, Grammie gifted him a custom-made chocolate bar in the shape of a turkey leg. It was one of the most creative gifts I’ve ever seen.
So yeah, we like turkey. But I realize that for many people, this may be their first year cooking turkey at home for the Thanksgiving holiday. So I asked Grammie for some of her best tips for beginners, in case you have your bird but still no plan for how to make it. In addition, this is a good complement to my 2020 Instagram Guide for having a safer-at-home Thanksgiving meal for a small group.
Like any advice that may seem obvious, you can guarantee that someone failed to heed these warnings below! Consider this a (slightly humorous) checklist if you need some straightforward guidance to prepare your turkey in the oven.
Prep To Avoid “Turkey Cooties” And Other Missteps:
- Most people buy frozen, store-bought turkeys. You’ll need to give them several hours or even days to safely defrost, depending on your method. Make sure the turkey is totally defrosted, including inside the cavity.
- Be sure to remove the giblets in the little bag inside the cavity before cooking turkey. Grammie actually relayed this in all caps in a text message for emphasis. The contents of the bag are edible, but if the bag itself melts it could release chemicals into the surrounding meat, according to the USDA.
- Do not wash the turkey. It can spread “turkey cooties” aka splashed bacteria on nearby surfaces. Grammie grew up washing poultry, but she now suggests just patting it down with a paper towel if you want to dry the skin.
Seasoning And Stuffing (Or Not):
- As you surely know, there are countless numbers of ways to season a turkey. Grammie uses a very simple seasoning of herbs de Provence and half a squeezed orange on the skin. Personally, I like adding butter.
- Grammie puts a halved orange or two inside the cavity, pushing some parts toward the back and leaving others up front.
- Although cooking stuffing inside the bird can be delicious, it’s better from a food safety perspective to cook (or at least finish) your stuffing on its own. Grammie learned this the hard way. ”I grew up with my grandmother stuffing the turkey. I remember taking my finger and taking it out of the carcass myself. It was delicious,” she said. However, the first time that she tried cooking turkey on her own, she left the stuffing in overnight—a bad idea. “Delicious, until a few hours later,” she said. “Food poisoning from the inside stuffing. Lesson learned. After that, I always serve stuffing on the side.”
- If you do want flavorful stuffing cooked inside your turkey, be sure to test its temperature and remove it for storage.
Into The Oven:
- Grammie puts her turkey on a rack or broiler pan with aluminum foil to catch the drippings. She starts breast side down and follows the package instructions for temperature per minutes to pound.
- Once the turkey browns, she flips it to finish cooking with breast side up. “Yes, it takes extra effort, but there’s nothing worse than a turkey that’s beautifully cooked on the top and not on the bottom.”
- Even after decades of cooking turkey, Grammie never does it without a meat thermometer. The internal temperature of the breast should reach 165F and the thighs 170-175F.
- Once the turkey is done, let it rest before carving. This can take 30-60 minutes. It will be worth the wait!
On a final note, hopefully these tips will give you confidence as you work through whatever turkey recipe you’ll be using. In addition, we hope you have a safe holiday. That starts with washing your hands, wearing a mask, and social distancing as much as possible. Taking these steps will help ensure that we can spend next Thanksgiving all together.