The holiday season is upon us. Our minds turn to
delicious Christmas aromas wafting from
kitchens of celebrations-past. The busy cook hosting this years' gathering, however, doesn't always get to enjoy
thoughts of gingerbread cookies and buche de noel. Instead, he or she worries about
turkey... "How long should I cook it? Which method should I use? What's
right temperature for cooking it?"The answers to six of
most-asked turkey-roasting questions are right here.
1. What size turkey do I need to buy? Plan for at least one pound of uncooked turkey per person when purchasing a whole turkey. You'll have enough for
feast and for leftovers, too.
2. How should I defrost
turkey? Turkey can be thawed in
refrigerator, in cold water or in
microwave.
Whole turkey takes about 24 hours per four to five pounds to thaw in
refrigerator. In cold water, changed every 30 minutes, turkey takes about 30 minutes per pound to thaw. When using a microwave to thaw a turkey, follow
manufacturer's instructions for
size turkey that will fit in your oven,
minutes per pound and
power level to use.
Never defrost turkey on
counter.
Once thawed, keep turkey refrigerated at 40 degrees F. or below until it is ready to be cooked. Turkey thawed in
microwave should be cooked immediately.
3. How should I stuff
turkey? Stuffing should be prepared and stuffed into
turkey immediately before it's placed in
oven for cooking. If preparing
stuffing ahead-of-time, wet and dry ingredients should be refrigerated separately and combined right before stuffing
turkey.
Stuff
turkey loosely, about 3/4 cup stuffing per pound of turkey.
Test
suffing for doneness. Place a meat thermometer in
center of
stuffing. Once
stuffing has reached 160 to 165 degrees F.,
stuffing is done.
Do not remove
turkey from
oven until
stuffing has reached
required temperature.
For over 100 stuffing recipes, visit http://www/allrecipes.com/.
4. Do I have to stuff
turkey? No. If you do not stuff your turkey, add about 2 cups of coarsely chopped celery and onion, with a few sprigs of fresh sage, to
cavity to enhance
fragrance and add to
flavor of
pan juices.