(Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, many of us will be spending the holidays at home. In fact, a recent study showed 72% of Americans will reduce their visits to loved ones this holiday season. That means some of us will be cooking the holiday meals for the first time. We turned to some experts for this series of stories to help us through this daunting task, presented by Hofmann Sausage Company.)
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Syracuse, N.Y. — The turkey should be the easiest dish from your Thanksgiving table to cook. All it takes is a little prep and a few hours in the oven.
Mary Kiernan, a certified professional chef from the Culinary Institute of American who teaches at Syracuse University’s Falk School, offered us some tips on cooking the perfect turkey for your holiday meal. Not only is she an expert at cooking, Thanksgiving is her favorite holiday.
“Thanksgiving should be fun, and you shouldn’t be stressed over the meal,” she said. “If gravy’s not your thing, buy it by the jar. Same with a lot of the other dishes. Relax and enjoy yourself and let everyone else pitch in.”
It doesn’t matter if you get a fresh (about $1 per pound) or frozen bird (37 cents per pound); just be sure to allow yourself time to let a frozen turkey thaw in the refrigerator. Plan on 4 hours per pound, so a 20-pound turkey will take about 3½ days to be oven-ready.
Start with a whole turkey, fresh or frozen. Doesn’t matter. Holiday cooking at home.Charlie Miller | [email protected]
We have so many options to cooking turkeys. Some deep-fry them; others slow-smoke them over indirect heat on a charcoal grill. For this story, we stuck with good old-fashioned oven roasting.
Before she even takes the turkey out of its wrapper, Chef Mary sprays the bottom of a deep baking dish with Pam cooking spray and creates the turkey’s bed with celery, onions and carrots (French chefs call this mirepoix.).
She suggests using 25% carrots, 25% celery and 50% onions. You don’t need to cut these too much; they need to be bulky enough to keep the turkey off the bottom of the pan. You can even keep the leaves on the celery stalks because you’ll use the veggies as the foundation when making the gravy.
TIP: You do NOT need to wash your turkey before putting it onto the pan. Mary said you run the risk of spreading bacteria through your kitchen by spraying the bird with water. Just open the bag at the top so the juice stays in the bag and let the bird drain.
Once the bag’s open, remove the neck from the top cavity and put it over the mirepoix. You’ll use that in the stock if you choose to make your own gravy. If you’re going with pre-made gravy, you can chuck the neck.
Coat the bird inside and out with a mix of salt and pepper. Mary recommends 25 parts salt to 1 part pepper. Then take small pats of butter (about a quarter-inch thick) and jam them under the skin throughout the bird. This will keep it moist and add flavor. You can also stuff some of the mirepoix vegetables into the cavity to add more flavor and moisture.
Before putting the turkey in the over, Mary jams some herbs into the cavity along with the veggies: parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (Yes, just like the song.). “Those are the flavor profiles of Thanksgiving,” she said. “It really makes a difference.”
The final temperature of the turkey should be 165, but Mary takes her turkeys out at 158 degrees because the temperature will rise 8 to 10 degrees while it rests before you carve it. Most turkeys these days have a built-in thermometer. Chef Mary said those usually pop up when the turkey reaches 165, so it’s probably best to use a cooking thermometer in the breast. You can get a thermometer at grocery stores or online for about $8. The dark meat is better at a higher temp — 175 to 180 degrees — but the breast took longer to cook than the thigh/leg, which prevented the white meat from drying out.
(The thermometer on our test turkey for this meal didn’t pop up until about 40 minutes after it came out of the oven. Good thing we had a real thermometer, otherwise our turkey would’ve disintegrated like Clark Griswold’s turkey in “Christmas Vacation.”)
Most recipes suggest cooking a turkey uncovered in an oven preheated to between 325 and 350 degrees. We cooked our 13½-pound turkey at 350. It took a couple hours in an industrial-quality oven at SU’s teaching kitchen.
The turkey fresh out of the oven. Holiday cooking at home.Charlie Miller | [email protected]
Carving the turkey
After it’s rested for 30 to 45 minutes, your turkey will now be 165 or hotter. It will have experienced what is called carryover cooking. By then, it’s ready to cut.
TIP: Carve the turkey in the kitchen, not at the table. You don’t want to make a mess at your nicely-set table. Also, you should wear gloves because the turkey will still be hot. We doubled-up on the latex gloves for added insulation.
You can save the neck to use in a soup, or you can toss it in the garbage. Put your cutting board inside a baking dish or cookie sheet to keep the juices from running onto the counter and floor. (Plus you can use it in the gravy.)
Start by removing the wings. Twist them to break the joint and then use a sharp knife to break it free. Then move to the leg (dark meat). Press it down so the joint pops out and cut it free with your knife.
To cut the breast (white meat), make an incision from the top center and slice back to the cavity. Use your knife to remove the entire half at once. Smooth the skin back and cut each breast top to bottom (That’ll give you shorter pieces.).
TIP: There’s a little pocket of meat underneath on the back called the oyster. That’s the sweetest piece of meat on the turkey. There are two, one on each side. “Those usually don’t make it to our table because someone always eats them first.”
Our Thanksgiving turkey just after carving. Holiday cooking at home.Charlie Miller | [email protected]
The Gravy
So many people think gravy is too hard to make or just not worth the trouble. Chef Mary makes her own, but she understands why people would opt for the easy way out. You can get a jar of decent turkey gravy or an envelope of just-add-water gravy for under $2. (We ranked 13 store-bought gravies a couple years ago, and they’re pretty good.)
Consider trying to make your own, but just to be safe, buy some instant gravy to have if you fail. It’s really not that hard.
Start by putting the turkey drippings and the caramelized mirepoix (carrots, celery and onions) into a wide skillet over medium heat. Add enough flour that it becomes pasty. Once it starts to develop a nutty smell, add some chicken stock. Add a little at a time to thin the gravy, but not too thin.
Once it’s reach your desired consistency, pour the mixture through a strainer into a bowl. That’s it.
FAQ:
Should I stuff the turkey? That’s up to you. If you like to cook the stuffing in the turkey, just be sure to not stuff it too tightly. Give it room to cook. The stuffing also needs to come up to temperature to be safe. It should be 165, making the hole process longer.
What about brining? Again, totally up to you. Brining is soaking the bird in saltwater for at least 8 hours, but no more than 24. Some think brining adds flavor and moisture, while others think it’s not worth the mess and time.
Should I cover the turkey in the oven? Cook the turkey uncovered. If you fear it’s drying out, you can put a tent of foil over it when it’s 75% done.
How do I get everything to the table together? Plan the menu accordingly so that not everything is cooked the same way. When the bird is removed from the oven, other things go in. Also, do not discount the microwave to re-heat. Many items can be prepped to some degree ahead of the day.
UP NEXT
FRIDAY: Cooking the perfect mashed potatoes and other side dishes (video)
MONDAY: Cooking the perfect apple pie (video)
TUESDAY: Whipping up a charcuterie board and other easy apps (video)
WEDNESDAY: Pairing drinks with your holiday feast (video)
Charlie Miller finds the best in food, drink and fun across Central New York. Contact him at 315-382-1984, or by email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @HoosierCuse.
