Alan’s tips and sweet Thanksgiving recipes, so simple even a guy can’t mess it up.
Cook it at 325 in the oven. The rule of thumb is the 15 minutes for each pound of UNFROZEN unstuffed turkey. Yeah - you need to thaw it out, so that takes some fore thought. You can rush the thawing by placing it in warm water in the sink overnight. For a BIG turkey use the bathtub. So if you have a BIG turkey (over 20lbs) you need it in the tub Wed morning if eating Thursday afternoon. A 12lber the evening before.
You need to think ahead, for prep and cooking times. If say for example that you plan on eating at 2 PM and have a 20 lb bird (5 hrs cook time unstuffed), you need to start prep at 8AM. The bird goes in the oven at 8;30 and it should be done at 1:30. Then you have a ½ hr of time for stuffing, gravy and carving before you sit down.
Either you need a baking pan (2” high sides) or a baking foil pan to hold the turkey when baking. Use a cooking oven bag – it’ll be juicier. Before placing it in the oven, add ½ stick of butter under the skin of the breast and I add some black pepper too. Do not use salt as it make it tough! Here is a trick to keep the breast a LOT more juicy - for the 1st ¾ of the time it is cooking, cook it with the breast DOWN. Then flip it over and cook it for the last ¼ breast up. Upon flipping it, if you want to – add 4-6 slices of thick cut bacon on top. For the last 20 -30 minutes split the top of the bag to it brown it. You can brush a bit of brown sugar/water slurry on the skin to make it get a nice golden brown color. The inside needs to get to 160 degrees. Do NOT over cook it as it’ll dry out the meat, not under cook either.
If short for time, do not put stuffing inside the turkey as it’ll take 15-45 minutes less time. (but it is the traditional way to cook it). But to be straight up front - I just do not recommend placing stuffing inside a turkey as there’s a much higher risk of botulism (food poisoning). And yes I’ve had it happen to me because of under cooked turkey – (I did NOT cook it!) and I really had it bad for 2 days, so would hate to see anyone else experience the same fate.
For a sweeter taste, basically use apples and apple juice/cider when making the turkey, stuffing and gravy.
For a 10-12 lb bird use 1 to 1.25 qt of apple juice/cider and add 2 cored and cubed (1/2” sq) apples. If you have a bigger bird, add proportionately more. You place this in the bag with the bird before you start cooking it.
After the turkey is cooked. the juice /apples at the bottom of the bag is what you will make the stuffing liquid and gravy.
I just use the store bought stuffing mix, and instead of water/milk I use the juice and add the butter. I also add the apple chunks to the stuffing. Trust me – it tastes great!
For the remainder of the juices, I make gravy. Simmer it in a sauce pan to reduce it. Use just a bit of flour as it is better to have less flour than too much. On 2 cups of gravy base I add 4 heaping table spoons (the table spoons in your silverware drawer-not the measuring type of spoon) of flour the thicken it. Use a wisk to get out all the lumps out of the flour. I usually add a bit of black pepper to it. Stir occasionally to reduce it (thicken) to desired consistency.
Like I said, so simple a guy that has never cooked a feast before can do it. So enjoy your Thanksgiving meal.
Check list of what you need to possible buy: Turkey, foil pan, oven bag, apple juice/cider, stuffing mix, apples, butter, flour, pepper, & bacon.
BTW, the sweet recipe helps a lot to offset the richer wild flavor of goose, duck or wild turkey. Try 4 Mallards, or 2 medium (specks or lessers) geese or a big 10lb Canada goose as an alternative. And it does not have to be Thanksgiving to use the above recipe.
For a simple feast:
Fowl of your choosing
stuffing
mashed potatoes
gravy
green beans
Bread/biscuits
And a desert like pumpkin or apple pie.
if you want to get fancier, add:
cranberry sauce
Squash
So what are your tips and recipes? please share!