How to Roast a Turkey | Preparation & Tips from Chef Anthony
Whether it be for Thanksgiving, or for another holiday, cooking your bird can be time consuming. Don’t worry, follow these tips from Chef Anthony on how to prepare your turkey for that next big dinner and you’ll be stress free.
An average turkey can be anywhere from 10 – 20 pounds. The size of your turkey is important, since there’s many things that are determined by weight. To start, you may get your turkey frozen. If you need to thaw this out, it will take about 4 pounds per day.
For a smaller turkey this would be about 2 to 3 days. 20-pound turkeys will take 4 to 5 days to completely thaw.
On the day you want to make your turkey, take this out an hour before to bring it to room temperature. If it’s still cold when you cook it, this could not only extend the cooking time, but it may cause an uneven cook. Double check for any feathers left on the bird, remove your packet of giblets, and just make sure overall there’s nothing on or in the bird that you don’t want to cook.
Rule of thumb for all poultry and proteins: pat the outside dry. This allows your seasoning to stick better, and especially with turkey you want the skin to brown evenly. You should also place a couple of paper towels into the cavity of the turkey to soak up excess liquid. You want an even cook all throughout the turkey after all.
Chef’s tip: tuck the wings under the chest. Wings have the least amount of meat, which means they can crisp up quicker than the rest of the bird or even burn.
Coat the skin of the turkey with butter, for flavor and moisture. Use any choice of seasoning from salt and pepper to poultry seasoning. You can also separate the skin from the breast meat, and tuck sage or lemon between for a depth of flavors.
Preheat your oven at 350° if your oven has convection capabilities. If you’re using a regular oven, preheat it on 375°. Convection cooking is a great way to cook since the air pushes all around the inside of the oven. This promotes an even and efficient cook to anything you may be cooking in your oven. You’ll get an even cook and golden-brown skin from edge to edge.
As mentioned earlier, weight is important for calculating a few things. When it comes to cook time, it will take 12 minutes per pound to cook your turkey. For a 10-pound turkey it’ll take about 2 hours, and 20 pounds would be about 4 hours. Some ovens also have a built-in roast probe function. This allows you to monitor the internal temperature of your turkey without having to open the oven and stick a thermometer into it.
If you’re planning on using a roast probe, keep in mind you want to insert this in one of the thickest parts of the bird. This could be either the breast or the thigh. Regardless of if you use a roast probe, or a regular meat thermometer, you’ll want the internal temperature to be 165° by the end of the 2-4 hours.
Chef’s tip: placement in the oven will play a factor in how your turkey cooks. If you have it close to the top, the skin might burn before the rest cooks. It is best to place your turkey in the middle or lower in the oven.
One issue when not using convection or a roast probe that you might run into, is the turkey takes longer to cook. What can happen is you are opening and closing the door to check on the temperature of the turkey.
Every time you open and close the door, you lose about 175 – 200 ° inside the oven.
One of the easiest setups for cooking for the holidays is the double wall oven. You can place your turkey in the top oven, and any casseroles or side dishes in the bottom. Allowing you to cut back on cooking time and be more efficient in your kitchen. When the turkey’s internal temperature reaches about 145°, cover the top with tin foil. Doing this keeps the heat in, but also prevents the top skin from burning.
After your turkey has reached the correct internal temperature, remove it from the oven and coat all the skin with butter. You’ll be adding moisture back into the skin, and you can’t go wrong with more butter. Make sure you allow it to sit for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cover it with tin foil to keep the heat in.
This will keep all the juices and moisture inside of the meat before cutting into the turkey. Now that the turkey has rested long enough, it’s time for everyone’s favorite part: carving the turkey. As one of the more difficult steps in the process, this is when it’s important to have a sharp knife and a lot of patience.
A trick to carving this easily is the follow the natural seams where the bone and meat connect. Use the breastbone as a basis for where to carve out the turkey breast. The legs and the wings may be tricky since there is a lot of cartilage at the joints, so keep this in mind.
After all your hard work and monitoring of the turkey, it’s finally time for dinner. Hopefully these tips help you next time you need to make a turkey for a holiday.
Ingredients:
1 whole turkey
3 oz butter
1 bundle fresh sage
3 tbsp poultry seasoning
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp pepper
Method:
- Thaw your turkey for 2-3 days (~10 lb turkey) or 4-5 days (~20 lb turkey) or 4 lbs per day
- Bring turkey to room temperature for 1 hour
- Preheat oven at 350° for convection bake or 375° for regular bake
- Season with salt & pepper and poultry seasoning
- Place sage and seasoning between skin and breast meat
- Cook turkey for 2 hours (10 lbs) or 4 hours (20 lbs) or 12 minutes per lb
- Monitor the internal temperature using a roast probe or meat thermometer
- When the internal temperature reaches 145° cover the top with tin foil
- After it reaches 165° uncover and coat skin with butter
- Re-cover the turkey with tin foil then let it rest for 45 minutes – 1 hour before serving
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