Turkey The Old Fashioned Way
There are many delightfully delicious ways to cook and prepare a turkey. Everything from the traditional baking the turkey in the oven to deep frying the turkey. But if you do decide to deep fry a turkey use care as there are many people every year who burn down their houses deep frying the turkey. If you do decide to deep fry the turkey you want to do it away from your house and you want a fire extinguisher handy in case you need one. The back yard away from your house, buildings or other things made of wood is the perfect place to deep fry that turkey.
But first of all you have to thaw that turkey in order to be able to cook it and the safest place of all to thaw out that turkey is in the refrigerator. Keep in mind that it will take at least three days for a 25 pound turkey to thaw out in the refrigerator. So be sure that you plan ahead so that the turkey will be thawed out when you get ready to cook it.You will want to plan on 20 minutes of cooking time per pound for your turkey. A turkey will cook more evenly if it does not contain stuffing.Keep in mind for safety reasons that if you do plan to deep fry a turkey it must be completely thawed before you can deep fry it. Do not try deep frying a frozen turkey or you could have a disaster in the making. The extra water in a frozen turkey will cause a turkey deep fryer to boil over and cause a fire.
You should plan on cooking your dressing in a separate pan. Try putting celery, apples, onions , or garlic in your turkeys body cavity to give it more flavor as it cooks. You can even try oranges or kumquats for a distinctive unusual flavor. Before you get ready to bake that turkey massage it down with olive oil , sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. Tuck fresh rosemary in slits in the turkeys breast. Or even purchase a inject-able Cajun marinade for your turkey.
It is best to cook your turkey on a rack in a large pan in your oven. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees before you place that turkey in the oven. For a more flavorful moist turkey place your turkey on the rack breast side down. Place your pan with the turkey in it as low in the oven as possible to keep away from the top part of the oven which is the hottest part of your oven.
Don't open the oven to often to look at your turkey while it is baking. It will cause your oven to lose heat and it can make your turkey loose moisture and make it dry. Dry turkey is what you want to avoid so keep that oven door shut. You will want a meat thermometer to see when your turkey is done. You want to place it in the thickest part of the turkey and you want your turkey to reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Once your turkey is done remove the pan with the turkey in it to a table or stove top and tent your turkey with aluminum foil to keep your turkey nice and warm until your ready to serve.
When your ready to carve your turkey it will be so much easier if you have an electric carving knife. Only carve off as much turkey as you think your going to need for you and your family or guest. Carved turkey will lose moisture in a hurry and become dry. Dry turkey is nowhere delicious as freshly carved moist turkey.
