David Joachim's Perfect Turkey Tips
As Thanksgiving approaches, people always ask me about the best way to cook turkey. The challenge of cooking turkey is keeping it moist and cooking it evenly. Turkey is lower in moisture than other birds, containing only about 58% water. No matter how you cook it--roasted, grilled or deep-fried--here are four tips to help make sure your holiday bird stays moist and comes out evenly cooked.
1. Soak the turkey in brine or salted water to increase its moisture content by up to 10%. Brining at home also helps whole birds cook more evenly because it allows the dense legs and thighs to cook through before the tender breasts dry out. To brine a natural (not self-basting) 12-pound turkey, soak it in a nonreactive container in the refrigerator or in an iced cooler in a mixture of 2 gallons water, 1-1/2 cups kosher salt, and 1 cup sugar. Dissolve the salt and sugar before adding the bird and choose a container just large enough to hold the bird and brine so that the turkey remains submerged the entire time, about 12 hours. Note that a self-basting turkey is essentially a lightly brined turkey injected with liquid fat, water, and seasonings to flavor and moisten the meat.
2. You can also cook whole birds more evenly by chilling the breasts with ice packs before cooking so that they don’t overcook before the legs and thighs are done.
3. For roasting, it helps to start the turkey breast-side down to help shield it from the heat, then turn it breast-side up halfway through cooking. On a grill, a vertical roaster keeps the tender breasts farther away from the bottom heat for more even cooking. For the most even doneness using any heat source, it’s easiest to cook turkey in parts rather than as a whole bird.
4. If the turkey is stuffed, the stuffing should reach at least 165°F (74°C) to eliminate harmful bacteria. However, by the time the stuffing reaches this temperature, poultry meat is often overcooked and dry. The safest and most flavorful method is to cook the stuffing separately. To flavor it, spoon some of the drippings from the turkey over the stuffing before cooking it.
Excerpted from The Science of Good Food (Robert Rose, 2008) by David Joachim and Andrew Schloss with A. Philip Handel, Ph.D.
Chuck Pelto on November 27, 2008 at 06:29 AM
TO: David Joachim, et al.
RE: Doing the Bird Justice
Not to sure about the salt-sugar mixture. I use that to brine my smoked salmon. I would think it would add too much saltiness to the bird. But soaking sounds like a good idea, albeit it would require I do it two days before I cooked. Why? Because I ususally apply a mixture of olive oil, spices and herbs under the skin and in the cavity the night before I cook.
For the actual cooking, I prefer my Sharp Convenction-Microwave.
150 minutes for a 15 pound bird on high-roast convection/microwaving combination results in the most moist and tender bird with a crackling crisp skin I'd ever encountered.
The microwaving cooks the interior while the convection evenly does the outer portions. As there is not radiant energy source, as in an electric oven, there's no problem with having to use your suggestion in item #3 (above).
With the carousel tray, the bird doesn't have problems with problematic hot-spots frequently found in conventional ovens. Or even in microwave devices.
Considering the results I've enjoyed over the last 20 years of doing our bird this way, I don't think I need to soak/brine the bird as you suggest in item #1 (above).
I layer the tray that will hold the bird with a mixture of carrots and celery, sprinkled with fresh parsley to add flavor to the drippings.
Just popped our bird in and cranked it up 10 minutes ago.
This years stuffing comes from Penzey's catalog: craisin-nut stuffing.
Yesterday I prepped the bird with a mixture of olive oil, rosemary, garlic and other herbs and spices.
Have a wonderful holiday season....
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for. -- Will Rogers]
P.S. But that could well 'Change' come next year.....
richard10934 on November 27, 2008 at 09:16 AM
Microwaving DOES NOT cook from the inside out. It uses microwaves & cooks just like any other wave length, form the outside in! Microwaves react with water molecules to create heat. This is why the cooking vessel is not heated (except indirectly, as the food heats)by the microwaves.
scotto on November 28, 2008 at 01:07 PM
Instead of flipping the turkey, I use the Alton Brown method: start with a 500 degree oven for 30 minutes, then place an aluminum foil "helmet" over the white meat and cook at 350 until white meat is the right temp. Equalizes cooking of the white and dark meat. And the brine is an absolute must.
ken zubec on December 16, 2008 at 08:22 PM
dear sir or madam
i recently purchased a convection oven when cooking a turkey (without stuffing) do you put any water into the cavity of the turkey
thus cooking it dry or do you add any water into the cavity
please advise
so far i havent go a straight answer anyware
tks ken