my first turkey ......HELP !?

Question

i was riased in childrens home .i never had anyone to teach me how to make a turkey dinner .my husband and i have been married 6 yrs .3 of those years he was deployeed ,2 of those went to his family (verrrrrrrry far away ) last yr we had chineese .this yr i really wanna try and do a christmas dinner .i am not the best cook .anaidn ..noone taught me so yr by yr i get better .lol
i have 3 kids ages 8 ,4 and 4.i got a 13 1/2 lbs turkey .good size ?too big?
ok keres my questions ..
how long to defrost ?what temp to cook ?when do i take the insides out ? my husband loves giblet gravy .is everything inside the bird the"giblet "?my friend said to stick an apple inside the bird .(sounded gross ) normal ?
i need the EASIEST fool proof turkey recipet.pls help ty .and
Merry Christmas!

Answer 1

The way I do it is this, and it's easy. Thaw the turkey for at least 4 days before you want to cook it by putting it in the refrigerator. Then get it out, take out the bags at both ends of the turkey. The back end will have the heart and giblets and the top will have the neck and something else, but make sure you get both bags out. Then rinse the turkey with water, get a cooking bag for turkey's. They are only a couple of bucks. Put a table spoon of flower into the bag when it is empty and shake it to coat the bag. This keeps the bag from exploding. Then stuff the bird with stuffing if you want to (homemade or stove top will be fine too), put it into the bag, put the bag in a roasting pan, cut a couple of slits in the bag, set the timer and temperature based on the direction on the box the bag comes in (For my turkey this year I did a 16 pounder with stuffing at 375 for 4 1/2 hours and it came out perfect). Then forget the turkey.
Some people don't use the bag and just put it into the roaster. That's fine too, but then you will have to baste it often during baking. With the bag it bastes itself. I have done it this way for years, and i have yet to get a bad turkey from it.
For the giblet gravy, just boil all the contents of the bag while you bake the turkey, then take everything out, I've never heard of putting the giblets in the gravy, usually people will cut them up and put them into the stuffing. Then add some juices from the tukey after it is done. To thicken the gravy mix a couple tablespoons of flour with some cold water until it is sort of pasty and smooth, and put it into the broth you made by boiling the giblets, neck, and heart. Just add a little at a time until you get the consistency you want. Just don't put the flour in the hot broth or it may make lumps. Mix it with some water first to avoid the lumps.

Answer 2

If you want a juicy bird then brim it first. There are many brimming recipes on line you can get. I do the following and I must say I have only cooked 2 turkeys and both everyone raved about it.

Defrost Turkey 2 days before. (I use fresh free range).
Take out bag and neck from inside the bird.
soak bird until ready to cook in a huge pot or pail big enough that the bird is submerged into the water.

add, kosher salt (a good amount don't worry won't be salty it cleans the bird), all spice 1 table spoon, thyme, bay leaves

I also change the water at least once and redo above.

Your bird should plump up as the brim will not allow the bird to be dry.

Good Luck

Answer 3

Let the bird sit out for a day and in the fridge for another. Take the insides out before you cook it ir it'll taste icky. The giblets are usually in a bag inside the turkey. You boil them in the juices from the turkey after it's cooked. (Use 1 cup of juice to 1/2 cup of water) cut them up into little pieces, bring it all to a boil and add flour one teaspoon at a time. Make sure you give the flour time to expand completely to thicken the gravy before adding more or you'll end up with paste. More water can be added if necessary but remember that the juices carry the flavor so you might want to use some of that too. The apple doesn't make it taste bad at all. I think it actually helps keep the meat moist. Cook your bird slowly and make sure it's wrapped in something (bag, foil, or a lid on your baking pot) The rest of the directions should be on the bird itself. Most of them come with that little pop up thing to let you know it's done. One more thing is don't salt the bird before you cook it. Salt tends to draw moisture out of the meat. Good luck and Happy Holidays.

Answer 4

I wish I could be there and walk you thru it. A turkey is just a bigger chicken.
should take about 4 days to thaw in fridge. But first go to foodtv.com and look up how to recipes. This year i did mine in a "brine" it was great. Look at "good Eats" starring Alton Brown.
and yes all that "stuff" inside the bird is the giblet and if you can boil water you can make giblet gravy. I use a recipe out of a cook book (Home and Garden).
your first turkey is daunting but just read everything ahead of time. make sure you have all your engredients and even measure them out so your not scrambling around the kitchen. and take it step by step.

P.s. your husband will love it no matter what. I'm sure he understands what this means to you.

Answer 5

YOU CAN DO THIS......Just put it in the fridge to thaw for about four to five days. The turkey will have roasting directions in the packet when you take the outer layer of plastic off, don't worry you will find them. But typically put the turkey in a roaster pan and I butter mine all over and then spread olive oil on the breast to keep them from drying out. Cut up a little onion and celery and put it in the roasting pan, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for probably 4 hours or so. But the directions on the package will tell you for sure. Turkey's are really easy to cook, I usually baste mine like three times while it's cooking but you probably don't even have to do that. Food Network.com is a great website if you need help, but honeslty if you follow the directions on the package you will do fine and sometimes recipe's for turkey are much harder to follow then just the good old fashioned way.

Answer 6

Here is the no fuss way>Turkey bag white wine mushrooms> onions>what ever you want with the turkey>No stuffing in Bird>Cook at 400 temp till you smell it cooking then 375 t till the button pops out it's done> follow the bag instructions> Close>

Answer 7

Yeah as i generally have turkey sandwiches during my weeks at school as i buy the turkey from Tesco... So yeah i would say i eat turkey months after Christmas day.... =]

Answer 8

You AND your husband figure out how to cook this bird. Don't worry about it. Get on the food network web site and do a little research. I use the reynolds baking bags for ours and it turns out great.....

The bottom line is that you both can share in this family tradition. IF it turns out bad, then laugh about it and order chinese again. IF it turns out good enjoy it. This is a holiday, not a time to stress out.

Have fun!!!

Answer 9

I'm not trying to be a smarty pants here... but the turkeys come with the directions. Just follow them. Make sure you don't over cook it because it will be all dry.

Answer 10

Here are a couple sites with EXCELLENT tutorals for all aspects of cooking:

www.kraftkitchens.com

www.allrecipes.com

Making turkey is VERY easy. You can do it!!!

Merry Christmas!