Winners are Samantha Cruz and Kathy Sykes*
My husband and I have been cooking turkeys for years and after today’s conversation I’m convinced that I need to rethink my battle plan for cooking this year’s bird. I had an opportunity to interview Mary C. a Butterball Hotline Specialist and boy oh boy did she know her stuff.
I thought it was so important for me to gather these tips for those of you cooking a turkey for the first time and have no idea where to start. Many of us are away from home for the holidays and can use alittle help as well.
In addition to the tips provided below by Butterball here are Army Wife 101’s tips for a good turkey:
1. Rub butter all over the turkey and place alittle up under the skin.
2. Let marinate with lots of poultry seasoning and garlic
3. I prefer the bag method of cooking.
Below are just a few of the ideas and tips I left the conversation with from the Butterball expert:
Buying and Thawing The Turkey
* To determine the size of the turkey you will need to think about the amount of people you will have over to eat. Butterball has made it easy for you by having a calculator that tells you how big of a turkey you need.
* Many refrigerators are colder then people think so it is best to purchase your turkey about a week before and let it thaw out in your fridge because it can actually take a few days to fully thaw. Also many people think that just because a turkey is fully thawed that you need to cook it right away. The truth is you have up to four days to cook it, so it is not as if you will need to cook it right away. Always allow a good amount of time for proper thawing.
Cooking The Turkey
* I was surprised to find out that “basting” a turkey does not do anything to moisten the turkey. Basting would be the same as pouring water on a raincoat , it runs right off. Every time you open the oven door every hour or so you are loosing heat , essentially causing the turkey to take longer to cook. While basting makes for great drippings it’s definitely not the end all be all of a great turkey!
* For a perfect sheen spray alittle vegetable oil on the turkey or rub some olive oil on it.
* Butterball’s tried and true method of cooking a great turkey is to use a pan with sides between two to three inches high. While a rack inside the pan is very important it doesn’t necessarily need to be a metal rack. You can use a bed of carrots or ball up aluminum foil to create a base to lay the turkey on . The purpose of doing this is to raise the turkey from the bottom of the pan and allow better heat to flow all around the turkey.
How To Tell When a Turkey is Done Cooking &Preventing a Dry Turkey
* While all Butterball turkeys come with a timer, the definitive way to tell if it is done cooking is to use a meat thermometer.
* Many people cook turkey in a cooking bag and leave them in the oven thinking it won’t dry out. The truth is once a turkey has reached it’s done temperature , cooking it further only dries it out .
* The suggested temperature for a turkey is as follows:
Thigh meat- 175°-180°
Breast meat-165°-170°
*Because the darker meat takes longer to cook then the white meat, about half way through the cooking process, place a piece of foil over the breast area to avoid drying it out. Shielding the breast makes for a tender and juicy turkey.
*Poke the thermometer in the turkey in several different spots to ensure proper temperature is reached all over.
*The ideal temperature to roast a turkey is 325° while the bag method recommended temperature is 350°.
Both the roast method and steaming (bag) method are perfectly safe ways to cook a turkey.
Safe Storage Methods for Turkey
* Never put a whole cooked turkey back in the fridge because it takes to long to cool down and reach proper safe cool temperatures. You should always carve and cut the turkey into pieces and then place back in the refrigerator.
*Butterball goes by a rule that a turkey should be cut up and leftovers stored within two hours of removing it from the oven for safe consumption.
*Avoid leaving cooked meat sitting on the counter for hours.
The Butterball Hotline launched today for the holiday season and they are there to answer your questions and guides you through the turkey making task.
Call 1-800-BUTTERBALL to talk to one of they 50+ Turkey Talk-Line experts.
Giveaway
In the spirit of the holidays Butterball is graciously allowing me to give (2) readers a chance to win a FREE Butterball Turkey for Thanksgiving.
How To Enter
Simply leave a comment telling me a favorite Thanksgiving tip of yours.
Giveaway ends 11/14/2011 and winner will be chosen via Random.org
Winner must respond within 48 hours of me receiving notification email or another winner will be chosen in their place.
Please leave a valid email address so that I may contact you if you are the winner.
Disclosure: Butterball provided me with a free turkey certificate and two certificates to facilitate a giveaway. All thoughts and opinions are my own and do not reflect or represent Butterball in anyway.
You can read more about about my disclosure policy here.
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Army Wife 101
Krystel is the mom of two and an Army Wife. In addition to Army Wife 101 she is the Co-Founder of SoFluential.com a digital media agency that connects brands with the military market. She has appeared on MSNBC ,FOX LA and formerly was a weekly contributor to HLN's "Raising America". She has written for various outlets including Sheknows and Lifetime and is a big fan of cupcakes and french fries.
Krystel is the mom of two and an Army Wife. In addition to Army Wife 101 she is the Co-Founder of SoFluential.com a digital media agency that connects brands with the military market.
She has appeared on MSNBC ,FOX LA and formerly was a weekly contributor to HLN's "Raising America". She has written for various outlets including Sheknows and Lifetime and is a big fan of cupcakes and french fries. 147 Comments on *CLOSED*How To Properly Cook A Turkey Tips and Turkey Giveaway from ButterBall
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MORE MORE MORE! My Thanksgiving tip is to always make more then you think you might need for just the dinner. I mean come on who doesnt LOVE leftover thanksgiving dinner :-)
Prepare almost everything the day before is makes it thanksgiving much more fun and relaxing!
cbrocious1984 At gmail dot com
put an apple inside the Turkey while it is cooking :)
Make sure you have lots of gravy to smother on the turkey leftovers the next day..yum~
Do deserts the night before saves me time Thanksgiving day to prepare the feast and spend time with loved ones!
My favorite turkey cooking tip is a rub that I put on mine. It tastes sooo good and the house smells great when it’s cooking with it.
Here it is:
4 teaspoons rosemary leaves
4 teaspoons thyme
4 teaspoons onion
4 teaspoons garlic
1/4 cup white wine Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
I just mix it all up and rub it all over the turkey before putting it in the over and let cook with it on the whole time. MMMMMmmmmm!
My Thanksgiving tip is to have a planned menu that caters to ALL of your guests. Be sure not to serve things people are allergic to or that is too foreign. Keep it as traditional as possible.
I like to cook my Turkey overnight.. That way I can focus on all the yummy sides and desserts!
My favorite tip for thanksgiving is to not spend too much. People LOVE the staples of Thanksgiving. Green Bean Casserole is a must in most families and TURKEY of course. Huge dish of mashed potatoes and a large dish of gravy plus the previously mentioned and you have enough to stuff everyone. Don’t over do it and over spend by trying to up the antee with duck or lavish sides or too much food. Keep it simple.
Make lots and lots of food so u can have left overs =) Also make sure you put your Turkey in the oven with enough time so you wont be eating dinner at midnight lol
Baste often with butter. Put sausage in the stuffing, gives more taste.
My tip is put butter under the skin and apples in the stuffing
Hmmm…I think my tip for cooking a turkey would be to soften a cube of butter and mix it with some minced garlic & a little thyme THEN rub it under the skin and on top of the skin…soooo yummy :) and ofcourse to keep squirting juices on it while it cooks.
Amanda
My Tip for thanksgiving is keep it simple..i usually bake the Turkey with butter and cornbread stuffing and try to rejuice every 2 hrs.
i bake as much as i can the morning of and the rest is in the over.
this year is the fisrt thanksgiving me and my husband will have as a married couple.
-cordi
Cordiiroo@yahoo.com
Sounds crazy but I’ve found cooking the turkey upside down keeps it from drying out.
And I always allow 20 minutes for rest after the oven before carving.
I make desserts the day before so focusing on the Main/side dishes are easier. When making cakes I always use a small package of dry pudding mix to add moisture.
I have to say, in order to trick my hubby into eating my dressing, I put my onions and celery in the food processor in order to make them so small that he doesnt realize that they are in there, but then I also found after being sneaky that it actually gives more of that flavor per bite without actually biting into something that some people generally do not like much :)
My Thanksgiving tip would be to prep as much food as you can the day before. So you can just cook everything on Thanksgiving. Makes all the cooking seem not as long.
my tip would be to cook the turkey in a deep fryer
My thanksgiving tip is to have the neck of the turkey to make your homemade gravy. Best thing in the world for your homemade mashed potatoes and turkey. My great grandma and grandma had me in the kitchen every year growing up and taught me how. Also with the turkey we use the bag because it simply is the best way to keep all that heat and moisture in there!
Don’t stress out! It’s supposed to be an enjoyable day, and everything will fall together just fine.
My best tip is to make a record at the end of each Thanksgiving, note what quantities you used, how much was left over, whether you ran low on something, etc.
Great giveaway!
My tip is to grab a family member or close friend to clean the dishes as you cook. It decreases tons of stress!
Is it a bad thing that I am 30+ years old and I have NEVER cooked a turkey ? lol …. I always opt to volunteer for the safer side dishes like tatos, salad or even a pie! I did however have my first taste of fried turkey last Christmas in WA visiting with friends! It was Yummmmay!
The last time we made turkey we baked it with the breast down & it came out moist. I also like to stick a few clovers in it, it a nice flavor.
I’m terrible at cooking meats! My hubby should’ve went to culinary school instead of airborne infantry!!! Tip in my house, let the hubby do it :))
Plan ahead and buy non-perishable things for your meal in advance. Buying food the week of Thanksgiving is always so crowded!
My thanksgiving cooking tip is to cook to taste! Yes, I am a taste tester. Lol. I don’t really follow recipes when it comes to seasoning because it always comes out better if you eyeball it and taste test it! Just have fun with it, but don’t get carried away and always, always, always cook more food than you are actually going to need because if you do it right your friends and family will want seconds ;)
My tip is to have patience and do not stress out take it slow in the kitchen and keep a eye on your burners on your stove because you do not want to end up with a burnt house on a special day.
dont forget to cover your turkey with foil or cook it in one of those bags! i also put foil on for half of my cook time on pies so my crust doesnt get burned!
I stuff my turkey with real butter and lots and lots of onions, celery, and garlic. The butter tenderizes the meat till it’s falling off the bone. Also, I never cook my turkey uncovered (it comes out tough for me) …instead, I seal the pan tightly with foil. Cook 15 minutes per pound @350.
My Turkey Day Tip!
Don’t limit your turkey intake just so you have room for dessert. Stuff yourself silly, take a cat nap (since we all know how turkey casts the sleepy spell on us) by the time you wake up you’ll be ready to double stuff yourself with pies, cookies and cakes :)
A friend’s dad always cooked his turkey upside down.. it keeps the breast meat in the dripppings which makes for a super moist meat. So good!! Since learning that trick i havent cooked one breastside up :)
Set you table the night before so you can focus on it and make it look as nice as possible without having to worry about it while you are trying to cook also.
out of our ten years together, this will be our first thanksgiving without family around :( so i am going to read all these tips and hope for the best! sorry, no tips from me this time.
My thanksgiving tips are to prep as much.as possible the day before, I cook my turkey overnight so I can have a free oven.for other dishes. I also add some orange zest and juice to my cranberry sauce.
Stuffing your turkey can throw of the temperature and lead to an underdone or dry turkey. So, my tip is to cook it seperately. If you’re out of oven space, you can cook it in a crockpot. It takes a little longer, but you know your turkey will come out that much better.
Make more food then you will need better safe than sorry plus I don’t know many people who don’t love thanksgiving leftovers! We love to make turkey enchiladas with our left over turkey :) yummy!
I think my tip would be making the desserts the night before & getting up really early to cook the Turkey so that you can focus on the smaller things on Thanksgiving Day !!
I think that the best thing is to eat at someone else’s home and bring a dessert. You don’t have the stress of cooking or cleaning!
My Thanksgiving tip is get everyone involved even the kids!! It’s a fun way to spend time with loved ones and get everything done together!
It’s better to have too much food then not enough food!! Left overs are the best!! And we like to thaw our turkey in a cooler which leaves more room in the fridge! You’d be surprised how cold it stays in there!
Stick to the basics and enjoy time with family and friends. We always go around the table before everyone eats and say what we are most Thankful for that year. Always brings tears to everyone’s eyes.
Brown sugar and butter with some onion seasoning mix in a bag w the turkey and let that baby cook!
I always cook my turkey in my big roaster. It stands alone and u just plug it in and set the temp. I got it at Walmart and they usually have them this time of year. It’s great because my turkey always.comes out juicey and I can use my oven for other things.
My tips for Thanksgiving is one shop for what you can ahead of time, I plan out my menu at the beginning of November so I can shop little by little. secondly turkey bag, knock on wood not a dry turkey yet :)
If Possible use fresh green beans, instead of the can for the yummy green bean cassarol.
I use salt pork & cheese cloth on my turkey while baking
Do all of your preparation the day before, like your cornbread for the stuffing and chopping all your veggies. That way everything is fresh the day of but easier on you!
My fave dish during thanksgiving is the stuffing. We add oysters to ours adds a nice flavor for those who like oysters :-)