Turkey Notes

Equipment needs:
1. Sturdy roasting pan
2. Roasting rack
3. Meat thermometer
4. Sharp carving knife

5. Chopping Block Optional equipment:
6. Butchers twine
7. Baster or flavor injector

How big of a turkey do I purchase?
Remember that 12-pound turkeys have a higher bone per meat ratio, the larger the bird the more meat per pound, so here are some approximate guidelines for sizing your turkey:
1. A 12-Pound turkey should feed 6 people.
2. When you purchase a 14 to 20 pound turkey you should calculate 1-½ pounds per person. Example 10 guests =15 pound bird. 3. When you purchase a 20 to 30 pound turkey you should calculate 1-¼ pound per person. Example 20 guests =25pound bird. · All these formulas are leaving a good amount of leftovers

Fresh vs. Frozen?
Turkey is a meat that freezes beautifully and the price is usually better, so don't feel like you are doing your guests an injustice by serving a frozen bird. Fresh turkeys are more convenient and nowadays easy to find, so you can feel confident in either decision.

Defrosting times:
This is where people can make the biggest errors, either by not allowing enough time for proper defrosting, and or defrosting in an unsafe manner. Although it takes a long time, defrosting in the refrigerator for the whole defrosting time is the safest, but make sure to give yourself ample time, approximately 24 hrs per 5pounds of turkey. The second way is to keep the turkey under a continuous flow of cold running water until defrosted. In my opinion the second option should be used only in an emergency situation, or to finish the last stage of the defrosting, there is more room for food born illnesses to develop.

Roasting:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Remove excess skin and fat from turkey.
3. Rinse turkey with cold water and pat dry.
4. Tie up turkey legs if desired and tuck wing tips under.
5. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper; you may also combine softened unsalted butter, salt and pepper and stuff it under the skin.
6. Place 2 cups of chicken stock along with, carrots, onions, and celery in bottom of roasting pan (this improves your gravy and injection mixtures flavor, it also inhibits over browning of the breast meat).
7. Put meat thermometer in thickest part of the thigh and place in oven with legs pointed towards rear of the oven.
8. In 45 minutes you can reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees, also start basting and injecting the turkey at 30-minute intervals or as needed until turkey is done (keep in mind the more you open and close your oven the longer things are going to take to cook).

How long do I cook it?
Most important is not how long but at what internal temperature to remove it from the oven, 175-180 degrees in the thigh. Taking the turkey out and let it rest for at least a half an hour before carving. In that resting period you will see the temperature of the thigh meat rise to 180-185 degrees. I'm going to give you an approximate time chart to aide you in timing your meal, but please don't use this chart as an exact time chart for cooking. It is far less accurate than taking the internal temperature.

1. 12 to 20 pound turkeys take approximately 20 minutes per pound.
2. 22 to 30 pound turkeys take approximately 18 minutes per pound.

* This chart reflects cooking times in a standard oven that is more than likely chock full of other food, so if you are roasting the bird alone the cooking times could be considerably less.