OK 20 yrs of turkey here. key to a moist bird is basing and butter unfortunately. I don't know how big your bird is but you may find the cooking times on the bird package.
not good with Hispanic
1.clean bird set in your Roaster
2 You will need:
1 stick of butter
3 tsp. poultry seasoning(I use McCormick's, but if Hispanic is what you are after I would check your local store in the ethnic foods department for a good spicy one made for poultry).
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
I like to call this the moisture technique
Take the bird and gently separate the skin from the breast on both sides.
in your hand get 2 tbsp of butter and massage it into the one side do the same with the other
(I know this sounds messy but trust me it works)
Take your 1/2 seasoning, 1/2 your garlic powder and half your onion powder and do the same as you did for the butter
with the half a stick of butter left melt it and drizzle all over bird. add 3 cups water to bottom of pan.
I place mine in a 400 degree oven for 15 min then cut it down to 325 for the remainder. cooking time will vary depending on your size bird. EVERY HALF HOUR BASTE!! till done You have to be consistent with this. check bird temp to check for doneness.I need help on how to cook a moist turkey. I'm reading recipes, but the instructions are unclear. Please help.
THE SOAKING YOU'RE REFERRING TO IS CALLED BRINING its really an unnecessary step)if its you're first turkey may i suggest using a cooking bag the instructions come right on the package and you can't screw it up(for latin flavor add some cumino) to the flour mixture also i cook my turkey -breast side down and carve it in the kitchen b-4 serving.its delicious ,moist and juicy everytime good luck and happy thanksgivnig p.s. i've stuffed my turkey with blackbeans and rice b-4 delicioso
Alton Brown suggest covering it competely in a brine, which is water and salt.
I know you asked for a receipe but I don't have one. What I can tell you is you should buy a self-basting bird (i.e. Butterball). Then, make sure it is FULLY thawed before cooking. Follow the package directions. Usually 20 min. per pound at 325 F. And most importat...let it REST when cooked!!! Don't carve it for at least 30 minutes after you take it out of the oven.
My trick is brining my Turkey. Oh my gosh it ends up so moist. Here's what I do and it's so worth the work: Have Fun.
Remove the neck and gizzards from the inside of the turkey and discard. Rinse the bird thoroughly inside and out with cold water, pat dry.
Brine:
8 quarts water
2 cups kosher salt
2 cups pure maple syrup
2 bunches fresh thyme
6 bay leaves
4 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
3 tablespoons black peppercorns
1 (20-pound) turkey
Place all the ingredients, except the turkey, in a large pot and bring to a boil, stirring until the salt dissolves. Remove from the heat and let cool.
Line a large stockpot with an unscented garbage bag and put the turkey into the pot. Pour the cooled brine over the bird, close and seal the bag, and refrigerate overnight.
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 bunch fresh sage, leaves finely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large onions, finely chopped
1 loaf cornbread, cubed (about 6 cups)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 cups chicken stock
1 (12 to 14 pound) fresh turkey
1 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup hot water
8 strips smoked bacon
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 lemon, juiced
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and remove the top rack.
Combine the butter and sage in a mixing bowl, mash with a fork or spoon until the sage is well incorporated and the butter has flecks of green in it; season with salt and pepper.
In a saute pan, melt 4 tablespoons of the sage butter, add the onions, cook and stir for 15 minutes until soft and golden. Remove from heat. Put the cornbread in a large mixing bowl and scrape the sauteed onion mixture on top. Add the egg, heavy cream, and just enough chicken stock to moisten the stuffing without making it soggy (about 1/2 cup.) Toss well to combine, season with salt and pepper.
Fill the bird with the cornbread stuffing without packing too tightly; cook the remaining stuffing separately in a buttered baking dish. Truss the turkey; place it on a rack in a large roasting pan, and put into the oven.
Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl, whisk together the maple syrup and hot water to thin the glaze out a bit; use this to baste the turkey every 30 minutes. The turkey should take about 3 hours to cook (i.e. 15 to 20 minutes per pound.) If the legs or breast brown too quickly, cover with foil.
About 2 hours into cooking, shingle the strips of bacon oven the turkey breast to cover; continue to roast and baste for another hour or so. The turkey is done when an instant-read thermometer inserted into the meatiest part of the thigh registers 170 degrees F (the thigh juices will also run clear when pricked with a knife.) Transfer the turkey to a cutting board and let rest for 20 minutes before carving, so the juices can settle back into the meat.
Skim off the excess fat from the pan drippings with a spoon and place the roasting pan over 2 burners set on medium-high heat. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up brown bits stuck to bottom of pan. Whisk the flour into the drippings, stirring as it thickens to prevent lumps. Add the remaining chicken stock and bring to a simmer; season with salt and pepper and hit it with a squeeze of lemon juice to brighten the flavor. Simmer for 5 minutes and then strain to remove any particles. Serve the gravy with the maple-roasted turkey and cornbread stuffing.
Brining the turkey overnite works. That's just soaking in salt water. Another trick that's worked for me in the past is covering the bird in cheese cloth that's been soaking in chicken stock. When the bird is 20 degrees from being done, remove the cheesecloth so the skin can crisp.
I have a friend who is Cuban, and she always takes a cooler and cleans it really well and then adds enough ice water and salt to make a brine that completely covers the Turkey. I have also seen variations that uses salt and sugar and salt and maple syrup. She leaves this in the brine over night and then cooks it the next day. This is why she uses a cooler and ice water...so that the Turkey stays cool enough. Make sure you put the cooler lid on to keep it from warming up too much.
One responder suggested Alton Brown's recipie...you can probably find it at:
www.foodtv.com
This is a great resource that will tell you exactly how to cook the turkey and for how long. A good cookbook like Better Homes and Garden Cook book can tell you how long because, how you time your turkey is x# of minutes per pound. I don't have my cookbook here to tell me exactly how many minutes per pound or I would include it here.
One trick to figuring out if the Turkey is done is (many of them have a popup timer in them) but, sometimes you can wiggle a leg and know if it is done but, better yet is to simply get a meat thermometer and use it to check and make sure the meat is the correct temp. The packaging on the Turkey should tell you what this should be.
Turkey done this way is wonderful.
Ingredients
3/4 cup apple cider
5 tablespoons dark corn syrup, divided
1 (12-pound) fresh or frozen turkey, thawed
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
1 tablespoon dried rubbed sage
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 garlic cloves, sliced and divided
2 onions, quartered and divided
2 Golden Delicious apples, cored, quartered, and divided
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon butter
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Preparation
Preheat oven to 375掳.
Combine the cider and 4 tablespoons corn syrup in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; set aside.
Remove and reserve giblets and neck from turkey. Rinse turkey with cold water; pat dry. Trim excess fat. Lift the wing tips up and over back; tuck under turkey. Combine poultry seasoning, sage, salt, and pepper. Rub seasoning mixture into skin and body cavity. Place half of the garlic, onion quarters, and apple quarters into the body cavity. Place turkey, breast side up, in a shallow roasting pan coated with cooking spray. Arrange remaining garlic, onion, and apple around turkey in pan. Insert a meat thermometer into meaty part of thigh, making sure not to touch bone. Bake at 375掳 for 45 minutes. Baste turkey with cider syrup, and cover with foil. Bake at 375掳 an additional 2 hours and 15 minutes or until meat thermometer registers 180掳, basting with cider syrup 4 times at regular intervals. Let stand for 10 minutes. Discard skin. Remove turkey from pan, reserving drippings for sauce. Place turkey on a platter; keep warm.
Strain drippings through a colander into a bowl; discard solids. Place a zip-top plastic bag inside a 2-cup glass measure. Pour drippings into bag;let stand 10 minutes (fat will rise to the top). Seal bag; carefully snip off 1 bottom corner of bag. Drain the drippings into a bowl, stopping before fat layer reaches opening; discard fat.
While turkey bakes, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the reserved giblets and neck; saute for 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Add broth, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes. Strain mixture through a colander into a bowl, discarding solids. Reserve 1/4 cup broth mixture. Combine the drippings and the remaining broth mixture in roasting pan on stovetop over medium heat, scraping the pan to loosen browned bits. Combine 1/4 cup reserved broth mixture and cornstarch; add to the roasting pan. Add 1 tablespoon corn syrup, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil; cook 1 minutes. Serve gravy with turkey (gravy will be dark and thin).
Yield
12 servings (serving size: 6 ounces turkey and about 3 tablespoons gravy)
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/turkey/tech鈥?/a>
The key to a moist turkey is to begin with a very hot oven to sear the juices in, and to cook in a Roaster bag available at all grocery stores. The keep the turkey in the vapor during the whole cooking.
I put it in a bag (Reynold's Turkey bag?) and it comes out moist every time. Super easy too!
One of the things I do is to separate the skin from the breast (don't take it off, just lift it up to separate the skin from the muscle) and then smear butter (or margarine) all over the meat, along with some seasonings, and lay the skin back down. Not really sure if this in fact makes a difference but I've never had a dry turkey since I have been doing this.
Get oven very hot, but then turn it down and cook it slow. Keep a bit of fluid in the bottom at all times, and keep it tightly covere'd until just before its done to allow the top to brown. DO NOT OVER COOK IT. You can bast it if you'd like, but if you take per say a roasting pan and add a few inches of seasoned water, and wrap a piece of foil tightly to the rim of the pan, leaving headspace above turkey and don't over cook it you don't need to baste it for moisture. You can always buy a self basting turkey and do this too.
I use salt, pepper and poltry seasoning with a bit of butter, chopped fine, cerey and onion. You can add more. The length of the cooking depends on its size. It should list it on the package. Although it may say so many minutes for each amount of poundage so know what it weighs!!! I'd heat oven up to 500 then when placing turkey in, I'd turn it down to 200-250 or to whatever instructions say. A turkey can take several hours to bake. (4-7) more or less........depending on weight and if you stuff it. If you stuff it, it will take longer. Also if you stuff it remove the dressing as well as you can IMEDIATELY upon the turkey being done. Also take extra care in getting the turkey in the fridge sooner as it can spoil faster.
I also save the turkey neck and boil it in a sauce pan for almost as long as turkey, on a simmer, with water and salt pepper, to make gravey with the broth and use the neck meat for meat in gravey. Its very good!
THE INSTRUCTIONS ARE USUALLY FOOLPROOF ON HOW TO COOK A BIRD !!!!! ALWAYS DEPENDS ON THE SIZE OF IT......BUT TO MAKE IT REALLY MOIST....SPREAD THE TURKEY WITH ';MAYONAISE';, YOU'LL SEE THE RESULTS AND TASTE IT TOOO...
I have always wrapped mine in bacon and tented with tinfoil. No basting! But I think I will try those bags.
My mother always uses an oven bag. She rubs the entire turkey with butter and places it in the bag, then pours several cans of chicken broth in with it. We usually chop up some carrots and celery and place those inside the bag, seal it, and follow the directions on the turkey as to how long to cook it and at what temperature.
This is the best way we've found to make a very moist turkey without having to constantly baste it.
You could probably throw in some long-cooking Spanish rice mix in the bag with the turkey or sprinkle it with cumin.
Good luck! :)
I agree with the brining as a good way to help produce a moist well seasoned product, a good saltwater bath also is a good way to rinse some impurities away (remnants of processing). Also don't neccesarily trust any pop up thermometers, poultry should be cooked to an interrnal temperature of 160-165 f, take internal temperatures in the center of the breast meat and in the large joints of the thigh, and allow for some carry over (the internal temp at the center of the item will continue to rise after you remove the bird from the oven, how much depends on how hot the oven and surrounding meat ont he bird is, but allow a few degrees) Basting is important, keep in mind a moist product is moist not because of water content but because of fat content, which is why lean meats (like turkey) are easy to overcook. Last don't stuff the bird with anythin you intend to serve directly form the body cavity without additional cooking as you will be force to overcook the bird to safely cook the ';stuffing';. For color and timing keep in mind that mailllard browning (';caramelization'; of protiens) will only occur at temperatures above 300 and will be slowed by water excess vapor in the oven therfore if you achieve too much color early in the cooking process tent the product with foil and reduce your oven temp to slow maillard browning. Resting before serving is also critical.
Try to use a turkey that has been frozen only once. In the somewhat unlikely event that you have a fresh turkey, you have to watch as these tend to dry out at a faster rate that a frozen bird.
Brine the turkey in one of the above mentioned recipes, being careful not to overbrine the bird. A 12 pound bird should only brine for 10-12 hours AT THE MOST. You might also want to reduce salt in brining recipes, as even recommended amounts can lead to a turkey being overly salty.
The turkey should be almost completely covered while it is brining. Ideally, you would use TWO large, clean garbage bags to hold the bird while it brines in the refrigerator. It also helps to have it resting in some sort of tray to give it the support that it needs. A deep sided, strong foil pan will help to support and move the bird and catch any brine that might leak out of the bags.
Slow roast at a lower temperature. However, be aware that this will require you to substantially increase the amount of cooking time. You should expect 5-10 minutes extra per pound (at the minimum) if you decrease the temperature by 10-15 degrees.
Don't stuff the turkey. The outside will dry out before the stuffing or the inner filling has the chance to cook to the desired point.
One older method that was used to help poultry cook better was to truss the bird with string to help support it and shield certain areas so they didn't dry out from cooking too quickly. You can search the Internet or reliable poultry cookbooks for ideas on trussing, or you can post a seperate quiestion here on Yahoo for some help in this area.
One method that is getting increased attention lately is inverting the turkey. Start out the with the turkey upside down and partially covered with chicken stock to protect and shield the breast meat. Roughly a third to halfway through the cooking process, you should flip the turkey so that it is cooking in the traditional way with the breast meat on top. I hesitate to mention this though, as you need to be careful when handling the hot bird in the oven so you dont burn yourself. This should only be undertaken if you have the strength to flip the bird carefully.
If you really want to try something wild and you have the equipment and time, roast the bird with some chicken stock or other flavorful liquid (no water please) in a covered dutch oven. You would want to remove the cover for the last hour or so so that the skin will crisp well. If you use that method, you will have to make certain that you increase the cooking time, as the dutch oven cover will slow down the cooking process substantially.
My grandmother was such an awesome cook. The slower you cook the bird the better. Constantly baste the turkey. Make sure the turkey is not frozen and season well. A long process but worth the wait believe me.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE to use the bag method. It has NEVER let me down. Check out the grocery isle where the baggies/ziplocs are. Someone makes these clear plastic cooking bags especially for turkeys, you put your whole turkey inside the bag, which you flour, then use a special twist tie. The turkey browns and everything, even bastes itself, because of the bag.
MY FAV
You can soak you tukey overnight with whatever marinade you want. Goya puts out a couple that are really good. since you have time you could get a flavor injector instead if you want.
I put my turkey in a roasting pan, put water in half way or a little less in pan. Allow room for the turkey juices that come out while cooking. I make a tent out of tinfoil and cover. Bake at 225 for ten hours. Then uncover and turn oven up to 400 just to crisp up the skin.
Sounds stupid but don't forget to take the neck and giblets out of the turkey! I've forgotten before!
No comments:
Post a Comment