how do you cook and keep your thanksgiving turkey moist and juicy?

Question

this is my FIRSTIME cooking a turkey and I'm nervous. first i want to know what seasons do you use to get that pretty brown color and taste?
second, how do you keep the turkey juicy?
and third do you let the turkey defrost in the refrigerator or let it sit out to get room temperature. and what temperature do you cook it on.
thanks so much for answering and happy holidays

Answer 1

It takes several days for a turkey to thaw in the refrigerator. Take it out now!. It is not safe to thaw a turkey at room temperature. If you need to do some emergency thawing as turkey day approaches, it is safe to thaw it submerged in cool water. Leave the water running slightly. The movement of the water creates a convection effect, thawing much faster than still water.

There are lots of different recipes for turkey. My favorite is from Giada on Food network. She alters the temperature, covers it lightly with foil for part of the roasting time, and has a pool of chicken broth in the bottom of the roasting pan. http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_29171,00.html

Answer 2

A turkey will take 12-15 min in keeping with pound at 325 F. the interior temperature of the poultry could be one hundred sixty five F. Pre-warmth the oven to 4 hundred F. place the turkey interior the oven for 30 min and cut back the temp to 325 F. The extra you baste, the juicer the turkey would be. Baste approximately each and every 10 minutes or so. If the turkey starts to get too dark, disguise it loosely with aluminum foil. 350 F. is a ways too warm, by potential of how. 325 F is appropriate in case you do no longer want your turkey to dry out. No, its no longer accessible to make a reliable volume of gravy from a poultry that length. yet no might desire to fret. merely upload turkey inventory or fowl inventory to the drippings from the pan to make your gravy. That way, you could make as lots gravy as you want. fowl broth/inventory could be offered in cans or cartons.

Answer 3

1. Brine the turkey overnight the night before.
2. Do not overcook it. use a meat thermometer in the thigh (not touching bone) and remove bird when temp reads 150ºF.
3. THEN cover w/ foil and let sit on the counter for 30 minutes while it reaches 165ºF. It will also retain juices if you let it sit 30 min before carving.

ROASTED BRINED TURKEY

1 (14 to 16 pound) young turkey, fresh or thawed

For the brine:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1/2 tablespoon allspice berries
1/2 tablespoon candied ginger
1 gallon iced water

For the aromatics:
1 red apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
Canola oil

Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stockpot, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

Early on the day of cooking, (or late the night before) combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5-gallon bucket. Place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) for 6 hours. Turn turkey over once, half way through brining.

A few minutes before roasting, heat oven to 500 degrees. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes.

Remove bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard brine.

Place bird on roasting rack inside wide, low pan and pat dry with paper towels. Add steeped aromatics to cavity along with rosemary and sage. Tuck back wings and coat whole bird liberally with canola (or other neutral) oil.

Roast on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover breast with double layer of aluminum foil, insert probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and return to oven, reducing temperature to 350 degrees F. Set thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let turkey rest, loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving.

--Alton Brown, Food Network

Answer 4

1. Purchase a hypodermic needle and syringe
2. Fill syringe with brine or stock
3. Insert needle into turkey
4. Inject brine or stock
5. Lie about how you got your turkey so juicy.