10 tips for cooking a delicious turkey for Thanksgiving

Cooking the perfect Thanksgiving turkey might seem like a challenge, but with these 10 tips, you will master the favorite bird of the holiday season in no time.

The centerpiece of most Thanksgiving feasts is the turkey, although ham is also a main meat on the table. But with the turkey being one of the biggest symbols of Thanksgiving, it makes sense that you want to make your featured bird delicious. And with these 10 tips and tricks, we think you’ll master the bird and be the real MVP of the day.

Choose the right turkey

Picking the right turkey is extremely important, as mentioned by Fine Cooking. This includes choosing the right size bird based on how many people you are feeding, as well as paying attention to the type of bird. In choosing the turkey, are you cooking a farm-fresh bird, or did you grab a frozen one from the store? Is your bird organic or heritage (this is an old-fashioned breed that is more like what the pilgrims would have caught)? Knowing which turkey you need will make cooking a lot easier on Thanksgiving.

Pounds per person

Knowing how many people you are feeding is also important because you will want to have approximately 1 to 1.5 pounds of turkey per person. This is all part of picking the right bird, but is important to pay attention to all on its own. And while no two people are going to eat the same amount of meat, this general amount is a safe estimation that will make sure everyone is fed. (Knowing how many pounds of turkey you need will also help you decide if you need more than one bird.)

Cook the turkey over a base of vegetables

If you fill the bottom of your roasting pan with vegetables like onions, celery, and carrots, you will actually create a natural rack for the turkey. By roasting your bird this way, it increases the circulation of the air around the turkey in order to make the skin nice and crispy. And if you make a gravy from the turkey drippings like I do, then the vegetables will add an additional layer of flavor to the gravy.

To stuff the bird or not to stuff the bird

Stuffing is a fundamental dish on the Thanksgiving table. And for some of us, we remember the bird being stuffed with stuffing when we were growing up. But while this is a personal preference, we recommend not stuffing the turkey with the stuffing (there is a pun there somewhere). When you stuff your bird, it takes longer to cook and that can cause the meat to dry out. At the same time, filling the bird can expose the stuffing to bacteria, which is definitely not appetizing. We usually put an onion that has been cut in half and some herbs in the cavity instead.

Rub your turkey with butter (or oil)

We recommend buttering your turkey after patting the skin dry. And to add more flavor and moistness, add the butter in spots underneath the skin as well. While you can certainly use a plain butter or oil to get the skin crispy, we use a homemade compound butter to add additional flavor. The day before we cook our bird, we take a softened stick of butter and add minced garlic (we sometimes use garlic paste as well) to it. Once the butter has been completely mixed with the garlic, we form it into a log roll and refrigerate it to fully incorporate the flavors. We then use our garlic butter for rubbing and placing under the skin.

Moisture in the roasting pan

For a moist turkey, we also recommend adding some liquid to the bottom of the roasting pan. Growing up, my mother used orange juice to add flavor and moistness to her bird. As an adult, we choose to use turkey or chicken stock because we use the drippings in a homemade gravy. Plus, the buttering of the turkey helps with moisture so there is no need to overdo it with the liquids.

Cooking temperatures

When it comes to actually cooking your turkey on Thanksgiving, we recommend a much more consistent oven temperature. In the past, recommendations have included cooking at a higher heat for half an hour. But we with how busy the day is and how much other cooking needs to be done, we recommend going with the low and slow method. Blasting heat is not going to save that much time, and if you forget to lower the temperature after the first half hour, you could dry out the meat. We suggest a steady 325 degrees for the entirety of your cook time.

Use a meat thermometer

Using a meat thermometer will guarantee that your turkey is cooked to the proper temperature. You check the temperature by sticking the thermometer into the thigh meat (we check both sides because there are times the meat does not cook evenly). And while different sites might give you different temperatures, Food Network recommends 165 degrees because while the bird is resting out of the oven, it will continue cooking — which raises the inner temperature by approximately 10 more degrees.

Rest the bird

As we just mentioned, it is important to let the turkey rest once it leaves the oven. Just like other meats, you want to rest the bird in order to allow the juices to be locked in. We recommend loosely covering the bird in the pan with foil and then letting it sit for about 15 minutes before you begin carving.

Try something new

If you aren’t looking for a beautiful centerpiece bird, then you may want to try something new with your cooking technique. This includes breaking the bird down to cook in smaller pieces that will allow you to make sure both the white and dark meats are cooked to perfection. Or maybe you will want to try roasting on a grill or deep-frying. If you try something new, pay attention to special instructions, such as those provided by Butterball for frying up the turkey.

Whatever you do, make sure you plan your Thanksgiving meal ahead. Not only will this help to make sure you have enough food for everyone, but it will also make getting through the stress of cooking on such a busy day easier. And knowing what you need will help to get things moving smoothly as you make the perfect turkey this year.