Turkey like the one in the Norman Rockwell painting
- Scott Daniels: We Ate Well and Cheaply
- November 14, 2019
- 1115
The options for cooking your turkey are ominously varied, and it’s small wonder most families do the very same thing, year after year, sticking with the familiar and time tested. I remember feeling a little anxious when I was a kid any time we were going to try a new method because so much was riding on that bird coming out as near perfect as possible.
We all want the turkey to look like the one in the Norman Rockwell painting: plump, even mahogany colored, covering the entire platter and glistening with the juices ready to burst out with the first prick of the knife. No pressure or anything.
I remember that for several years Mom used those weird plastic bags to roast the turkey. I know many of you still must do so because I see the bags available in stores. And they did yield some pretty good results.
I think she also took up the notion of using the disposable foil roasting pans at some point. Who can criticize easy cleanup? Just throw the whole business, bag, bones and pan away after you’ve gotten turkey grease up to your elbows picking the carcass apart to distribute to family in Tupperware.
Indeed the promise of not needing to scrub the roasting pan is the chief selling point for those bags — having a nice bird is secondary.
I’ve already described my preference for soaking the turkey in brine the previous night, then roasting it in the oven covered with a wine- and butter-soaked square of cheesecloth. It has always worked out really well for my family and so we keep doing it that way.
You can deconstruct the bird and roast its parts separately, giving each part of the bird its own optimum cooking time and temperature. You also can do this, so season each part a little differently, use different herbs under the skin and rest them on various kinds of stuffing as they cook.
I find the deconstruction method the only way to go for duck, but I’m not sure a turkey would be worth all the fuss, though it would be impressive to offer “turkey eight ways” to your guests.
One year I did something with which I’ve had success using a chicken: bone the whole thing first. You have to start by removing all but the drumstick bones while leaving the meat intact, which takes a bit of practice.
Once you manage to pull that off, you roll the meat around the stuffing and reform it into the original shape with the drumsticks in their proper place. After roasting, you can just begin slicing off servings of turkey neatly filled with a round of stuffing, like a big turkey roll.
You would need a lot of counter space, some help and a really sharp knife. Also be prepared to spend time seriously scrubbing the counter after the boning process before moving anything another inch.
I knew someone who did the entire Thanksgiving meal, bird, potatoes, green beans and all, in a microwave. Don’t even consider this option unless you like a cooked white bird with flecks of gray.
If you have a slow cooker, you could turn out a Crock-Pot turkey, though here again you’d have to break it down first. This may be a good route to go if you’re just doing a turkey breast. Just be sure, as in all cases mentioned here, to check the final temperature. The USDA says it needs to be 165 F.
You may be fortunate enough to have a smoker, in which case you can smoke a whole turkey pretty simply. I have no experience with this, but it makes sense to leave the stuffing to cook separately indoors, as smoked bread doesn’t sound very good to me.
Of course deep fat frying your turkey is very popular among the braver-than-me set. I’m just not courageous enough to try it. The chance of hot oil flooding out over the top or of a fire are enough to put me off. If you do this, be very careful, and I wouldn’t attempt it without the help of someone who has experience with this method.
Finally the grill will add a fire-cooked flavor you probably won’t get otherwise without setting up a colonial-era outdoor fire. If you grill your turkey in the cold weather, keep an eye on the grill’s temperature to maintain a constant heat level.
The key thing is to always check the temperature of the meat, and most cooks advise you to throw away that pop-up timer as they’re not very reliable.