How To Prepare The By Brian Halasinski and Kirk Hyust, Co-owners of Turbo Trusser When all your friends and family sit around the table to enjoy the feast, they may pass around the mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, green bean casserole and more, but the real star of the show is the turkey. Even if your side dishes and desserts are Michelin star-worthy, dry, overcooked turkey will be the talk of the family for years. Here are a few easy tips on how to achieve the perfect turkey this Thanksgiving so you can wow your friends and family:
Give your bird time to thaw
You may have seen news stories, articles, and even videos about how to thaw your Thanksgiving turkey at the last minute when you forgot. And this year, it’s time to set an alarm and remind yourself ahead of time. Allowing your bird to come to room temperature for at least an hour before you cook it to raise its internal temperature is crucial. This can allow the bird to cook more evenly from the skin to the bone, and make for a delicious, juicy, flavorful turkey. Give your turkey a few days to thaw, depending on the size of the bird, and on the day of, set a reminder for yourself to let it have time to get to room temperature before it goes in the oven. Too long outside of the fridge and you can enter a dangerous breeding ground for bacteria but giving it an hour at room temperature can create an even more delightful eating experience.
Don’t forget to truss
Trussing a turkey might seem like a complicated art using butchers’ twine, but it’s
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necessary to keep the juices from leaving the bird. Products such as the Turbo Trusser can replace butchers’ twine and help you truss a bird in under 60 seconds. Trussing also helps with the cooking process, so every part of the bird cooks evenly, and the results are more than delicious. Turbo Trusser is made of durable stainless steel (in the USA) and can be used in anything from an oven to a grill, or even a smoker, roaster, rotisserie, and deep fryer.
Start hot, and end cooler For perfectly crispy, browned skin, start the bird in a hot oven (425-475 degrees) for at least 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees for the rest of the cooking time. This
