How to Cook a Thanksgiving Turkey for Beginners

Novice cooks! Good news. I made a turkey (even a day before Thanksgiving so I could blog about it for you) and guess what? It’s not as hard as it seems. I met with Steve, our meat expert and he gave me some tips that were helpful as I made my tiny, 7-pound turkey.

After thawing your turkey, check the inside cavity and remove the giblets and neck. Read the package your turkey comes in, it should tell you what’s inside the bird. Sometimes you’ll see a little heart or a liver. I’ve never eaten them and I’m not sure I ever will. It reminds me of science class when we dissected animals and frogs. I’ll pass.

I must have been aggressive when I was removing my turkey from the shrink-wrapped packaging. I was a little concerned when brown goo came spilling out of my turkey. I was relieved to find out that I punctured the gravy bag that was inside the cavity. I did not even know gravy packets came inside some turkeys. (Personally I like gravy that is made from the juices of the bird, but that’s just me.)

After your turkey is out of the package and all the additional gizzards are removed, rinse the turkey with cold water.

Set your oven at 325 degrees.

Take ½ cup butter, sea salt and ground pepper. Rub the turkey skin with the melted butter, salt and pepper. Add about 2-3 inches of water to the bottom of your turkey pan. Consider seasoning/adding fresh bay leaves, thyme, parsley, peppercorn, leeks, onions and carrots.

Cover your turkey with loose aluminum foil. (About an hour before the turkey is done, remove the foil to brown the skin.)

Cook your turkey based off the packages recommendations, or, the general guidelines Steve gave me below. Watch for the timer to pop out, but don’t trust the timer alone. Use a meat thermometer and stick it in the thigh of the turkey. Your bird is safe to eat when it reaches 180 degrees. (Stuffing should reach 165 degrees, if you use it. Stuffing will also prolong cooking time up to an hour.)

8 - 12 pounds – 2.75 -3 hours

12-14 pounds – 3 – 3.75 hours

14-18 pounds – 3.75-4.25 hours

18-20 pounds – 4.25 – 4.5 hours

20-24 pounds – 4.5 – 5 hours

*Cooking time will take about 15 minutes for each pound.

Steve said in addition to using the thermometer and pop-out timer, you should also pierce the deepest part of the turkey’s inner thigh. Watch for clear juices to ensure your turkey is done.

Make sure you let your turkey cool for at least 20 minutes to a half-hour before carving. (To see how to carve your turkey, check out this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GCdkuQoLrY )

I usually like to take pictures of the food I make for the blog, but Trevor had already dug into my turkey before I could grab my camera. He and our roommate Nick were gobbling it down, so it was too late.

The next blog post I write will be how to use your left over turkey. I’m going to make my own turkey stock and create a delicious turkey noodle soup! (Well, we’ll see, right?) Until then, Happy Thanksgiving!