The truth is home cooking is not a science that can be duplicated at will and cannot be quantified; there are too many variables. Here are a few examples of what I am talking about.
- What kind of heat are you using? Natural Gas, Propane, Electric, Wood, Charcoal?
- How are you cooking? Oven, Stove-Top, Grill, Slow-Cooker, Deep Fryer?
- What are your cooking skillets, pots and pans and baking sheets made of? Heavy Stainless Steel, Aluminum, Glass, Iron, Teflon coated?
- What is the weather like? Raining, Sun shining, barometric pressure falling or rising indicating a change in the weather?
- How fresh are the ingredients? Flour, Baking Powder, yeast, etc need to be fresh.
- Where do you live? What types of meats, vegetables and fruits are available?
- What is the altitude? Are you on top of a mountain or below sea level?
- Knowing how to measure in dry or liquid is key, long with knowing what to measure tightly packed and what to measure loose and fluffy.
- Are you using dried herbs and spices or fresh herbs and spices? Are your dried herbs and spices fresh?
- Another variable is: How much effort do you want to put into the recipe? For instance, the recipe says you can use canned, diced tomatoes or you can use fresh tomatoes that will have to be roasted or blanched to remove the skin and seeds before dicing and measuring for the recipe? This choice alone can change the outcome of your efforts.
I retrieved this year’s company Christmas gift, a premium quality, Honey Suckle White turkey from the freezer for a fast thaw yesterday. Mind you, a fast thaw takes at least 24 hours. I have a very large stock pot that is big enough to allow the factory-wrapped and frozen turkey to be submerged and surrounded with plenty of COLD water. I let the turkey sit in the cold water for about 6 to 8 hours, changing the water periodically. In the evening the turkey was wrapped in a large bath towel and placed in the refrigerator. The stock pot is way too large to fit in the refrigerator!
This morning I took the partially frozen turkey from the refrigerator and stripped the plastic and net packaging off it. I looked at the label and can not find a weight for this bird so I will have to estimate the cooking time.
Again I used the large stock pot to fully submerge the unwrapped turkey. It has been about 2 hours and now I am able to release the legs of the turkey from the binding wire and remove the turkey neck stored in this cavity. I unfold the skin where the turkey’s neck used to be and retrieve the bag of giblets from that cavity. At this time I trim and remove any excess goblets of pure turkey fat and discard. The turkey should be completely thawed, washed in lots of cold running water and blotted dry inside and out with paper towels. Now it is ready to dress for the oven.
Go ahead and preheat the oven to 350 degrees and
Place the giblets in a 5-quart pot with about 3-quarts of water. Toss in a teaspoon of salt, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let giblets simmer for an hour or so. You want the meat stock to reduce and the meat easily removed from the neck bone. This prepares stock for giblet gravy and/or broth for making old-fashioned cornbread stuffing. Mince the giblet meats and add to gravy with minced bits of boiled egg. Thicken the gravy with a ½ cup mixture of flour and water or a ½ cup mixture of cornstarch and water. You won’t know exactly how much to use until the turkey is done and you have added all the turkey juices to your meat stock.
As a general rule of thumb; mix 1 tablespoon of flour or cornstarch with enough water to make a pourable paste for each cup of gravy that you will make. When it is time to thicken the gravy have the broth boiling rapidly, pour the thickening mixture in slowly while stirring energetically to prevent the gravy from sticking and scorching. If it isn’t thick enough mix some more flour/cornstarch with water and repeat the process of cooking and stirring. If your gravy becomes too thick, thin it with more broth or water. Now back to the turkey.
Taking a tablespoon or so of olive oil, I want to completely cover the bird with a coating of oil using my hands to reach maximum distribution. I slip my oiled hands between the skin and the meat on the breast of the turkey and gently separate the skin from the meat leaving the skin in tact all around the edges. Into this envelope I’ve created I want to place fresh sprigs of sage, rosemary and thyme; along with thin slices of onion and apple. I place pieces of apples in the neck cavity and stretch the skin back into its original position and close by tucking and skewering the skin to the meat with toothpicks.
Likewise, I stuff the larger cavity with quartered onions and apples, along with sticks of carrots and celery after seasoning the vegetables with salt and pepper and more sage, rosemary and thyme. (Just toss all the vegetables, herbs and spices together before placing them in the bird.) Now place the legs back into the binding wire and tuck the tail back into place. Give the turkey an over-all dusting of salt and white pepper. Now the turkey is ready to place inside a prepared roasting bag.
I have on hand a Reynolds Oven Bag, turkey size, following the directions on the package I prepare the bag by adding 1 tablespoon of flour to the bag and shake it to coat the inside of the bag. This keeps the bag from bursting in the oven. I want to place the bag in a roasting pan that is at least 2 inches deep. I am using a 3-quart (about 9 X 13 inch) glass oven dish. Place the turkey inside the bag and close with the provided nylon tie. Cut six ½ inch slits in top of bag for steam to escape and tuck ends of bag in pan. Place pan in the oven, allowing room for bag to expand during cooking without touching heating elements, walls or racks of the oven.
The next step is perhaps the most important step you can take. After handling the raw turkey take the time to sanitize the work area and any utensils used. I avoid using bleach or Clorox while cooking in the kitchen. A good scrub with hot, soapy water and a rinse with pure distilled vinegar will sanitize sufficiently.
It has been 2 hours since the turkey was placed in the oven. I am beginning to enjoy the aromas of the herbs and roasting turkey that are escaping from the kitchen. It is time to check the turkey. This particular turkey has a pop-up thermometer inserted. I am going to depend on that thermometer to judge the cooking time of the bird since I am not sure how much is weighs. If I did know, I would know to cook the turkey for about 20 minutes per pound. You want the thermometer to register 180 degrees before you take the turkey out of the oven. I have turned this turkey around in the oven. The backside is browning faster than the front. I can see that the thermometer has not popped yet. So I am going to reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees and let the turkey roast for another hour.
After 3 hours total roasting time, the thermometer has popped up signifying the meat has reached 180 degrees and the turkey is fully cooked. Do a double check on doneness, the leg and thigh pieces have released from the main body of the turkey, this, also signifies that the turkey is fully cooked.
Remove the turkey from the oven and allow it to sit and rest for at least 30 minutes before trying to transfer to a serving platter for carving. Don’t forget to save the juices and add them to your meat broth for gravy.
Now I have a juicy, succulent perfectly browned bird to use in an innumerable plethora of recipes. The meat can be sliced and eaten as cold sandwiches. The meat can be sliced and placed on pieces of toast, sided with mashed potatoes and slathered with gravy for a hot open-faced sandwich. I can make a Waldorf salad. I can replace the chicken with turkey in my favorite chicken and noodle recipe. Turkey enchiladas are delicious. My choices are myriad for 4 days. After four days you need to discard any unused turkey.
Shebolith Says…Happy Holidays!
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