Tips for cooking a turkey

Tips on cooking a turkey

It's that time of year again. Time to gather around with all of my non-American friends and feed them traditional Thanksgiving dishes, usually on a day other than Thanksgiving and scheduled for convenience not tradition. And when I get frantic emails and calls from friends and family asking me how to cook a turkey. So here's a core dump on how to cook a turkey, roughly in order of importance.

Thermometers and temperature
You must use a meat thermometer [1]. You can probably cook a chicken, goose, duck, or cornish hen without a meat thermometer. But if you try to cook a turkey without a meat thermometer, you will either end up with a bunch of raw and/or frozen turkey or you will end up with dry, dessicated meat. Turkey is very low in fat and it's a very large bird, so you have to coddle it to get it to turn out right. So somehow, suck it up and buy a meat thermometer.

Different sources give different final temperatures. Most modern cookbooks and the CDC will tell you you should always wait until the meat thermometer reads 180F when cooking poultry. This is somewhat paranoid, but not entirely. You need the bird to get to a temperature high enough to kill bacteria (mostly salmonella.) If you use the standard test of checking if the juices run clear, you'll actually see that poultry is done cooking when it reaches about 170F. The extra 10 degrees F is so that you can be certain that all of the meat is really up to temperatures high enough to kill bacteria. It's a safety factor, to account for the fact that (a) inexperienced cooks in particular might not get to the deepest, coolest part of the meat and (b) most kitchen thermometers are not reliably calibrated to within 5 degrees, particularly if they are old. (If you are a scientist with five or so thermometers in your kitchen and actually cross check the calibrations, however...) And actually most of the new thermometers, especially the digital ones, actually have an error of about 1 degree, at least when they are new. (Although one of my broken digital thermometers somehow got out of calibration by about 25 degrees.) Some directions for turkeys say get it up to 190F - again, so there's a safety factor. I think this makes for overcooked turkey. 180F is safe. 175F is fine if you trust the calibration of your thermometer and trust your cooking skills.

If you take the turkey out of the oven, cover it with foil or have it in a closed roasting pan, and let it sit for 10-20 minutes - which is often a convenient way of freeing up the oven while you finish side dishes and helps keep you from drying out the turkey - you can actually take it out at 175F safely because the bird will continue to cook after you've taken it out of the oven. This is a 7-18 pound beast which is 70% water by weight. It has a high specific heat. It won't cool down very fast, particularly the inner parts most likely to be undercooked.

I typically take poultry out at ~175F. If you are new and especially if you're nervous, better to overcook than undercook. People will forget the Thanksgiving with the somewhat dry turkey. A lot of people cook a dry turkey. They will never forget the Thanksgiving with the raw turkey.

To properly use a meat thermometer, you need to put the thermometer in the thickest parts of the meat - the breast and the thigh. I usually try a few different places and keep it in the one at the lowest temperature. I am a particular fan of the digital thermometers that let you keep the probe in the turkey while it is in tthe oven but with the digital readout on the counter - except I've found that these are somewhat fragile. They have about a 1 year lifetime with me. The quick read thermometers are nice (if less precise than the digital thermometers) but note that most of them can't be left in the oven. The classic meat thermometer needs to be left in the turkey in the oven and takes a while to read the temperature.

What kind of turkey to buy?

People get religious over this. Yes, if special order a fresh turkey at $2-3/pound and get a high quality turkey that was killed the day before Thanksgiving, it will, on average, taste better. Better turkeys don't dry out as easily - so you're kind of buying an easier turkey to cook. Of course if you conveniently schedule Thanksgiving to fit with your work schedule, you can get those leftover birds - the ones people ordered but never picked up - at deep discount the day after Thanksgiving, especially if you can be flexible with how much turkey you buy. And the 49-cent/pound turkeys on sale at the grocery store work just fine, but I'd strongly recommend brining the turkey (see below) if you get a cheap, frozen turkey. If you're cooking a small family dinner and only want an 8 pound turkey and you really want to impress the relatives, it may be worth getting the expensive turkey. But every time I've cooked for more than 10 people, mostly non-Americans and mostly male physics grad students and post docs between the ages of 22-30, I have gotten the cheapest, biggest turkey I could find.

How much turkey to buy?
The standard advice is one pound of raw turkey per person. This roughly corresponds to 1/3-1/2 pound of cooked turkey meat per person - a lot of the weight of the turkey is in bones and water. I have sometimes not found this to be enough, especially when feeding a flock of physicists. Think about who you're feeding. If it's the standard family gathering of everyone from 5 year olds to 80 year olds, 1 pound per person on average is probably enough. But the average male from 14-35 will probably eat twice that. I have also seen 1/2 pound per person - maybe if you have a lot of young children this could be enough but as long as you don't mind leftovers I'd go for more.

Defrost the bird
If you get a frozen turkey, it needs to defrost a very, very long time. However you defrost the turkey, try to defrost it most of the way and then stick it in the fridge to keep it cool.
    The fastest way is to fill up the sink with cold water and put the turkey in (inside its package, which should be waterproof). Change the water periodically. It takes about 30 minutes/pound to defrost a turkey.    If the turkey is still frozen, the water will stay close to freezing. As long as the water is cold, it's fine. When it's mostly thawed, the water will be warmer. When it's close you can/should put it in the fridge to ensure that it stays cool enough to not become a festering blob of bacteria.
    You can also defrost a turkey by just keeping the turkey in the fridge for a while. This takes much longer. Better to start it using a fast method and finish it this way.
    If a turkey is still frozen inside, you can't cook it - trust me, it's a disaster. I've done it. You will end up with all of the meat on the outside being cooked while the inside is raw. If you're in a bind, use the microwave - it might not be the best for the meat if you accidentally go overboard, but trust me it's better than raw turkey. But you'll probably have trouble defrosting the whole turkey in the microwave - I'd do it until the outside is defrosted but not cooking, then switch to the cold water method.

Make sure you have a big enough pan and that the turkey fits in your oven
Seriously, you don't want to be stuck without a pan to cook a turkey in and only realize it Thanksgiving, when all of the stores are closed. Or that the turkey and/or pan doesn't fit in your oven.

Brining a turkey
After I brined my first turkey, I never cook a turkey any other way. This is really the best way to avoid dry turkey. This leaves the turkey really, really moist and gets salt deep into the turkey so it has flavor. You can also add herbs and spices to get the flavors really deep into the meat.

You need a large enough container to let the turkey soak, completely covered, in salty, acidic water. I like to use large white kitchen garbage bags - they work well. I usually double bag the turkey so nothing leaks. And then I put them in a large tub for support so I can carry it outside or put it in the fridge. A cardboard box will work in a pinch. I recommend putting it in a bag inside the whatever container so you minimize the volume of water needed.

Take about 1 c salt per gallon of water, or about 2-3 c of salt for a whole turkey. Yes I did just say that - we're talking cups of salt. Take the turkey out of its package, remove the gibblets from the body cavity if there are any, and put the turkey in the bag. (If you have gibblets you can use them later for gravy, or for making broth.) Add salt and something to acidify the water. I like lemon juice - maybe from a lemon or two, depending on the size of the turkey. (Or just cut the lemons in half and throw them in - the juice will get into the water anyways.) But you can also use vinegar (about 1/2 c). Use a vinegar without a strong flavor or with a flavor that goes well with chicken - perhaps apple cider or white wine. And add herbs and spices now. I like to use thyme, rosemary, and marjoram. I did basil once and it was good. Perhaps pepper. You'd get a good, herby chicken from one package each of thyme, rosemary, and marjoram. If you can get lemon balm, this is really, really good. Just rinse the herbs and throw them in. Dried herbs work but hey if you're cooking a bird this big why not spring for fresh? Adding onion(s) and garlic is good too.

Then put the turkey in the bag with the salt and the herbs into whatever container you're going to have support the bag of water and turkey, and fill the bag with water. Try to use as little water as possible while still covering all of the turkey. Tie up the bag and let it sit overnight (no more than 18 hours or you will have a really salty turkey!) When you're ready to cook the turkey, dump out the water and throw out everything in it. Let as much water drip out as possible - it will be really salty and will make it difficult to use your juices for gravy.

You can reduce the risk of over-brining by reducing the salt or shortening the brining time. But just don't push it too much.

Dry brining a turkey
I wasn't as impressed with this but it did make the juices usable for gravy. Take about 1 tbsp for every 6 pounds of turkey, rub it on the turkey, and let it sit in the fridge for 2-3 days. I added garlic, fresh ground herbs, and orange zest to my dry brine. I did not find that the turkey was as juicy or that the flavors got as deep - but it was easier, less messy, and I could easily make gravy.

Stuffing
My favorite stuffing recipe is here. I don't like bread stuffing so I don't have a recipe for it. Rice used in stuffing has to be slightly undercooked when you use it. I don't see a reason in principle why you couldn't do a white rice stuffing, or get creative. But whatever you use, it will probably end up very, very cooked when you're done. Stuffing makes the turkey take longer to cook.

Make sure your turkey is ready to be stuffed. If you didn't brine, take the turkey out of the package and remove the gibblets. Tuck the wing tips behind the back. Put it in the roasting pan breast up. Make sure the cavity is clean (rinse it with water if need be). Stuff the stuffing in there. They sell things to tie it closed, but I have never bothered. If you have too much stuffing, you can put it around the bird - it will just absorb some of the juices.

How long to cook the turkey
Approximate cooking times are:
with foil: 8-10 pounds/ 2.5 hours, add 1/4 hour for every 2 pounds
without foil: 6-8 pounds/ 4 hours, add 1/4 hour for every 2 pounds
Note that stuffing slows it down and that turkey cooking times are really unpredictible. I am more likely to have a problem with the turkey cooking too soon, but I am usually cooking large (14+ lbs) turkeys. I think these estimates are pretty poor for large turkeys.

Because cooking times are really unpredictible, you should try to get people to come 1-2 hrs before you think the bird will be done.

How to cook the turkey
Heat the oven as hot as it will go (no more than 550F). Coat the bird in some kind of oil or fat. This can be olive oil, butter, peanut oil, or whatever sounds good to you. Thoroughly coat the bird - use at least 1/2 c of oil or fat. (If you have stuffed the bird, it doesn't matter so much if you get the oil on the back so you can just leave it in the bottom of the pan and get the surfaces you can see. Put the bird in the oven for 10 minutes on high heat. Then turn the temperature down to 325F. If you have a meat thermometer, put it in.

After about 50% of the estimated cooking time is up, read the temperature. When a turkey is about half done, it will read about 140F. If it's above this at 50% of the time and you don't want the turkey done too soon, turn the temperature in the oven down - usually to 300F (though no lower than 200F.)

How to carve a turkey
The first rule is not to panic. Just act like you know what you're doing and everything will be fine.

First, use a good, sharp knife. It does not have to be a carving knife. I prefer a chef's knife and I would recommend against a serrated knife. the first thing to do is to get the legs off. I bend back the leg until I hear the joint pop. Then use your knife to cut between the cartilege between the leg and the thigh. If you're nervous about this, practice on a chicken. The breast usually gets carved in slices roughly 1/4" thick. I usually carve enough meat for everyone to get started and then wait until the turkey is cool to pick the carcass clean.

How to make gravy
A gravy is a simple sauce thickened with flour. If you brined the turkey you need to be careful about using the drippings because they will be salty.

First drain the drippings out of the pan - I usually put them into a large glass pyrex measuring cup with a pour spout. This lets me see where the fat is and where the juices are. Let them sit until the fat separates out. Pour out about a 1/4c of the fat. Add 2-4 tbsp of flour, depending on how thick you want the gravy and how much gravy you're making. As long as you're using flour and not cornstarch it's hard to end up with an absurdly thick gravy. Thoroughly mix the flour with the fat. Be sure all lumps are gone - any lumps in there when you add liquid will stay there. Also do not get water, only fat, in at this stage - that will also cause lumps.

Now add liquid to make a sauce. What liquid you add depends on how you made your turkey, how juicy your turkey is, and what kind of gravy you want. The juices that drained out of the turkey are a good place to start but if you brined your turkey taste them first to make sure you know how salty they are and be very careful about adding too much. Next you can use broth - the standard way of doing this is to make a broth out of the turkey giblets while you roast the turkey. I usually make a simple broth - just meat, no veggies - because this makes the best gravy. You can also use other poultry - I use a bunch of chicken bones I've collected in my freezer. Simple broth: cover the turkey and chicken parts with water and boil for 30-45 minutes and then strain the bones and chunks out. If you make a giblet gravy, you take the giblets from the turkey, chop them finely, and leave them in - this means you don't want to over-cook them in the broth. If you want a white gravy, use broth and/or juices from the turkey plus milk. 1/3-1/2 of the volume of liquid you use should be milk.

You can leave chunks of meat in the juices from the turkey in the broth but just make sure they're not burnt. Some people like to make the gravy in the turkey pan - this is fine but I find it a little harder to control.

Bring the gravy to a boil, stirring to keep it from burning, and then remove from heat. It should be somewhat thicker than water but it doesn't need to be extremely thick.

If your juices are too salty because of the brining, substitute butter.

What to do with the leftovers
My favorite thing to do with turkey leftovers is turkey pot pie - the directions are more complete here but this is a better recipe. Pot pies freeze well and you aren't committing yourself to eating turkey leftovers for the next week with this. Turkey soup is also good - the pot pie filling makes a good turkey soup - make it with more broth and add some wild rice for a nice twist, but try not to leave the rice in there for too long because it will absorb all of the water.

Turkey freezes well too. Slice it and freeze it in useful chunks because it might be difficult to break apart once it's frozen. If you have leftover gravy, freeze it in an ice cube tray and you can heat up a chunk with the turkey you defrost.

Hot turkey sandwiches are wonderful - they're great with gravy. You can also melt cheese on tip of it.

[1] If you are absolutely, completely unable to get one, you can use the standard trick of cutting the bird and looking to see if the juices run clear or red. But this does not work very well because if you cut into the bird deep enough to get to the parts most likely to still be raw before it is done, the juices will seep out while the bird finishes and you'll end up with a dry/drier turkey. Dry turkey is still much, much better than raw.