Want to bake a turkey for thanksgiving

Popeyes turkeys are not fried like you think. They are dipped in hot oil briefly after being baked, just to crisp up the skin.

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What are some tricks you have learned over the years to make your un-stuffed turkey a success?

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One that should be obvious, but may not be to someone that just buys cooked turkey is to make sure it's thawed. Turkeys take longer to thaw than you think. And even then there are still ice pockets in the cavities that you may have to dig out.

I would also suggest you brine your turkey if you aren't used to baking them. It gives you a good bit more margin for error in over baking it. The brine will keep it moist.

Do you have a meat thermometer you can leave in the turkey while it's cooking?

Avoiding overcooking is probably the most important thing, regardless of how you brine, season or what oven temp you use to get it the right internal temp.

If you have a thermometer with two probes, even better. One in the breast and one in the thigh area.

For the breast, 165 is the number you hear most but if you stop cooking in the high 150s it will rise. Some say 185 for the dark meat but I don't worry about that too much.

If it's just the four of you and y'all prefer white meat you might think about just doing a breast. It simplifies timing and temp.

Get the Honey Suckle turkey with the temperature pop up. Use a baking bag:




Don't forget to season inside the cavity but don't stuff cavity with a stuffing dressing or such as it will dry the turkey out; I usually put onion, green pepper, apple, and sweet potato.

Enjoy the best damn Turkey in the neighborhood or apartment complex.

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Dry brine is the easiest least messy way.

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Dry brining is definitely the easiest. It also takes up less room because its just the size of the turkey.


For anyone that wants to dry brine and make it easier/cleaner, get these since they are (surprise, surpise) made to fit turkeys perfectly:



They come 2 to a box. You can use one to dry brine and one to bake with.

quote:

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Do you have a meat thermometer you can leave in the turkey while it's cooking?

Avoiding overcooking is probably the most important thing, regardless of how you brine, season or what oven temp you use to get it the right internal temp.

If you have a thermometer with two probes, even better. One in the breast and one in the thigh area.

For the breast, 165 is the number you hear most but if you stop cooking in the high 150s it will rise. Some say 185 for the dark meat but I don't worry about that too much.

If it's just the four of you and y'all prefer white meat you might think about just doing a breast. It simplifies timing and temp.

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Some good suggestions in here.

My suggestions, get the bone in turkey breasts as suggested. Source a good quality free range turkey if you can.

Dry brine for 24-48 hours

Use a probe meat thermometer, but cook to exactly 150 degrees internal at the deepest point of the breast, not touching the bone. Turkey is pasteurized at 150 degrees if held there for 3 minutes, which will happen with carryover cooking. You can cook it at a bunch of different temps, but somewhere 350-400 would be good.

If you do this, you and your family will be eating likely the best turkey of your lives because people almost always overcooks turkey which tastes like cardboard when overcooked even a hair, sourcing a great quality bird which most don't do, and dry brining it to keep it a little bit more juicy.

Best of luck.

IMO, Bags are an old school gimmick that can result in a fine turkey with rubbery skin and limited browning, and you can certainly overcook a bird in one.

Using a probe thermometer and cooking to the perfect internal temperature guarantees everything the bag offers along with a guarantee the bird will be cooked perfectly assuming you have a decent thermometer, and your skin can be extra crispy and succulent.

We've used the Pioneer Woman's baked turkey recipe for the last few years and always comes out great.

LINK

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IMO, Bags are an old school gimmick that can result in a fine turkey with rubbery skin and limited browning,

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This can be true, but if you really have no idea what you are doing, then a bag is the way to go.

Frying a turkey gives better results than baking.