0
Turkey Meat
Turkey is a large domesticated game bird. Native to North America, it is prized as food, especially on Thanksgiving and Christmas or other festive occasions.
418 Questions
How many people will a 25 lb turkey feed?
You will need at least 25 pounds of turkey. You may need up to 50 pounds of turkey to feed 25 people depending on their appetite.
How many pound turkey will fit a 32 quart turkey fryer?
If you are deep frying a whole turkey you should not go over 12 or 13 lb. because it takes 3 1/2 minutes per pound and cooking a heavier bird will result in it being overcooked or blackend on the outside before the bird is done on the inside
How long do you cook turkey meatballs?
The general rule for any food that can spoil is no longer than two hours between 40 and 140 degrees F. That includes heat-up and cool-down time -- so for example, if you let the turkey sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, then put it in the refrigerator, it will be ok as long as it gets to 40 within an hour and a half (total time under 40 is two hours or less).
The same goes for cooked turkey. Don't leave it on the table all evening while you watch the game!
Where do you put the meat thermometer in a turkey?
you should insert the thermometer in the thickest part of the bird. if you roast it breast side up, you should insert it in the thigh, between the leg and thigh but not touching a bone. the dark meat generally takes a little longer to cook, as it is not exposed in full to the heat of the oven as the breast is.
Cooking a turkey is something that is not hard, but preparation is a bit time-consuming. Not everyone does it exactly the same, but the general steps are the same.
Here are the steps:
Check the USDA Roasting Table for Fresh or Thawed Turkey to find out how long you need to cook a turkey of your size in order to have it ready on time for the dinner. (See Timetable at the end of the answer.)
Preparing the Turkey
The first step when cooking a turkey is to thaw it if it is frozen. Always thaw in the refrigerator and allow 1-2 days, depending on the size of the turkey.
When thawed, remove the giblet pack and neck from the body cavity. Wash thoroughly under cool water inside and out. Place in cleaned roasting pan or on a large sturdy baking pan lined with a strip of heavy-duty aluminum foil. The aluminum foil needs to be large enough to wrap the entire turkey.
If you are going to stuff your turkey with dressing, prepare the dressing and spoon loosely into the body cavity. As an alternate to dressing, you can season the inside of the turkey with seasoning salt, garlic powder, and pepper (or any seasoning of your choice). You can also cut 1-2 onions into quarters and 1-2 celery stalks into 1-2 inch pieces and place them inside the neck and body cavities.
Place the turkey breast-side up, being careful to keep the neck cavity closed, into the roasting pan or onto the foil. If you would like, spread butter on the outside and season the outside to your taste. There is a bar that holds the end together. Place the legs inside the bar to hold them together.
Place the lid on the roasting pan. If it does not fit, place aluminum foil over the turkey. If using aluminum foil without a roasting pan, loosely wrap the turkey and secure the edges by overlapping them and pinching them together.
Cooking the Turkey
Place the turkey in an oven that has been preheated to 325 degrees F.
Baste with the turkey's own juices every hour.
To brown the outside, remove the foil for the last 1/2 hour or so of cooking.
See the USDA Roasting Timetable for Fresh or Thawed Turkey at 325° F for approximate cooking time according to the size of the turkey (at bottom of answer).
Some turkeys have small red pop-ups. The turkey is done when it pops up. If your turkey has no pop-up, insert a cooking thermometer into the thick part of the breast. If it reads 165 degrees F, the turkey is done.
More advice from other WikiAnswers cooking contributors:
Save the giblets - Save your washed giblets in a pot of water to be cut up for giblet gravy.
Should not stuff the turkey - Unlike mom and grandma did it, it is considered unsafe to cook your stuffing inside the bird. Because it takes so long to heat to the center, the stuffing can become bacteria farms while the outside of the bird is cooking. My solution: I usually put a whole fresh apple and a small, yellow onion into the cavity of the bird. This allows moisture to "steam" out as the bird cooks. When it is finished, I generally take the apple and onion out and chop them up to add to my stuffing that I make and bake after the bird is finished. (I can also add juices from the bird to the stuffing.)
Covered or uncovered? - Covering a bird traps moisture and, again, steams it which is faster than simply cooking in dry heat. However, the steaming also prevents browning, which most people prefer. Cooking uncovered browns is nice, but tends to end up with the drier bird we think of at holidays. I usually start with a cover, in a large roasting pan for a small bird or foil for a large one, and remove it halfway through (somewhere between 120 and 140 degrees F on a cooking thermometer pushed into the thick part of the breast). I also put bacon slices over the larger, meatier areas. It seems to add a little flavor and the bacon takes most of the drying while protecting the turkey. (I don't worry if the bacon looks a little burnt, as long as the turkey is still brown underneath.)
Carving ahead - I cook my bird at 350 degrees F. If it seems to be cooking too quickly for my pre-arranged dinner time, I might turn it down to 300 F to add some time. Finally, when it is cooked, I like to carve it ahead. I know people like sitting around the table watching dad or granddad hack at it, but I like having the pieces cut and arranged by white and dark, to make selection easier.
Also, if I need time to finish the meal, I'll put the cut meat into a casserole dish, add some turkey broth, and hold it. Since my oven is probably full of stuffing and rolls baking, or pies finishing off, I set the casserole dish on a VERY low burner on the stove and keep an eye on it.
Cooking advice - Many formulas for roasting a perfect bird - My favorite is a combination of high temperature to give a nice golden brown crust and lower temperature to finish cooking the meat. Regardless of the technique you use, base you time on your thermometer. Let the bird tell you when it's done. A thermometer stuck in the thick part of the breast that reads 165 degrees F means it's time to get out your carving knife.
For juicy legs - Truss and put foil over wings and legs to avoid them drying out. Remove foil coverings for last 30 minutes.
Another way to check doneness - Check for doneness by sticking a skewer in the thickest part of the bird. Stick the thigh and deep part of the breast. If the juices run clear (not pink), the bird is cooked.
USDA Roasting Timetable for Fresh or Thawed Turkey at 325° F.
These times are approximate and should always be used in conjunction with a properly placed thermometer. The USDA does not recommend cooking turkey in an oven set lower than 325° F.
Unstuffed
8 to 12 pounds 2 3/4 to 3 hours
12 to 14 pounds 3 to 3 3/4 hours
14 to 18 pounds 3 3/4 to 4 1/4 hours
18 to 20 pounds 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 hours
20 to 24 pounds 4 1/2 to 5 hours
Stuffed
8 to 12 pounds 3 to 3 1/2 hours
12 to 14 pounds 3 1/2 to 4 hours
14 to 18 pounds 4 to 4 1/4 hours
18 to 20 pounds 4 1/4 to 4 3/4 hours
20 to 24 pounds 4 3/4 to 5 1/4 hours
(Also see all the Related links below.)
Contributor Tips
I cook my turkey upside down, and keep it covered until the last hour. If you use a roasting rack, the breast will brown and you will still get the benefit of the upside down roasting. The most usual setting to bake a turkey is 325F.
To prevent a turkey from drying out in the oven, you can cover it with aluminum foil; this prevents the juices from escaping as it cooks. If the turkey is already cooked and is too dry, you can put butter on it, or cover it with gravy.
How many pounds of turkey do you need to feed 35 people?
If you want left overs for sandwiches I'd go for 18 to 20. If it's just for the meal you can get away with 12-15. I've been doing this for the past 20 years and have it down to a science! Stick with a quality turkey such as Butterball. It's worth the difference in price. Good Luck.
How long can a turkey be unrefrigerated before it is unsafe?
The danger zone for any food is four to sixty degrees. It can stay in this zone for up to four hours, after that spoilage will begin and bacteria begins to grow. After two hours your turkey should still be ok to cook, just be sure to cook it to al full 180 degrees. Check for this temperature with a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh.
Roasted Pheasant
1 pheasant
1/4 t salt
1/4 t white pepper
1 ea bay leaf
1 t garlic
1/2 c celery leaves
1/4 c lemon
1/4 lb sliced bacon
1/4 c unsalted butter
1 c onion
1 c mushroom
1 c chicken broth
Season the pheasant with salt and pepper inside and out place bay leaf,
garlic, celery leaves, and lemon in the cavity truss the legs and wings with cotton string place, breast-side up into a roasting pan drape bacon slices over the breast
moisten a piece of cheesecloth with melted butter and place over the
bacon slices arrange the onions and mushrooms around the bird
moisten pheasant with chicken broth roast @ 350 degrees for 80-90 minutes, until tender, basting often remove and discard cheesecloth and cotton string
serve hot.
What is the drug in turkey that makes you sleepy?
Turkey has an amino acid called tryptophan, which helps the body produce serotonin, a chemical that plays a key role in sleep.
Can you freeze the meat from a frozen turkey after you cook it?
Yes, you can. Remove it from the bones and wrap it tightly to keep air out. Plan to use it within a month. It will last longer if it is covered in broth.
What are turkeys used for besides meat?
Most certainly. Hens are smaller on average but most chefs prefer the hen bird to the Tom for flavor when quantity of meat per bird is not a priority.
In home cooking it all comes down to a matter of personal preference and often expense. The smaller birds are usually hens. Hens are usually less than 16 pounds when processed while Toms are much larger at the same age. Male birds have larger bones and therefore less meat or edible portions. As for tenderness, age not gender is the determining factor.
Is it okay to use the turkey's liver when making giblet gravy?
Yes, liver is a main constituent of giblets so is essential to giblet gravy. I remove the giblets from the bird before putting it in the oven and make a stock with them for making the gravy after the bird is cooked.
Can you cook a 17lb turkey in a slow cooker?
i cook them right at 2 to 3 hour then turn burner off and let simmer for 30 minutes.
How long do you cook turkey stuffing?
Cook it in the oven till it reaches an internal temperature of no less than 180 degrees.
When cooking stuffing/dressing (but only use this when cooking it inside of a turkey) you should always put it in a cloth bag and THEN put it inside of the turkey. Although many people have made stuffing without using a cloth bag to put it in for many years, this is simply just a precaution for your health.
The suggestion of using a food safe cloth bag to cook the stuffing is new to many of us. The idea behind it is the turkey will be finished cooking before the stuffing, the bird will then over cook while allowing the stuffing to finish cooking in the bird.
If the stuffing is bagged, the bag can be removed and the stuffing returned to the oven to finish cooking at the time the turkey is removed. Because bacteria can survive in stuffing that has not reached 165 °F, possibly resulting in food-borne illness.
(according to the USDA Food Safety Service) When stuffing a turkey, it's essential to use a food thermometer to make sure the center of the stuffing reaches a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F. They also recommend not to over stuff the bird as this will cause the center to remain under cooked.
Why do you let a turkey sit for 15 min before serving?
There are two reasons, first it will carve a little better after some of the core temps are reduced and second reason is same as the first except that you bird shouldn't be so hot as to burn a persons palette lest that ruin the taste of all the other wonderful sides, desserts, etc, you'll be serving
Where is the best place to check the temperature of the turkey?
In the thickest meaty part without touching any bones (so usually the breast. If you have stuffing in the turkey you should separately take the temperature of it (in the center, also without touching any bones). The stuffing should get up to a minimum of 170 F (just like the rest of the turkey).
What to do when the pop up timer on the turkey did not pop up?
When turkey cooking, for safety and doneness the internal temperature, as registered on a meat thermometer, must reach a minimum of 165 degrees, though most cooks will prefer up to 180 F degrees in the thigh. The center of the stuffing should reach 165 F degrees in the cavity, and the center of the breast is done at 165 to 170 degrees.
There are several ways to determine if the thanksgiving turkey or chirsitmas turkey is cooked through, but the turkey pop up timer is the cheapest and effective one.
As a suggestion, you can use two 165 F or 170 F degree timers for one turkey cooking. That means, insert two timers at two different thickest part of turkey to ensure not to overcook.
If only one pop up timer and it did not pop up, then you'd better to use a normal meat thermometer to check it again.
How long does it take to thaw a 7 lbs turkey?
This food will keep for about 5 days in the refrigerator. Place the food in an air tight container for the best results. This food can easily be transferred to the freezer for longer storage time.
What meat do you get from turkey?
Turkey based meat is meat that is not fully turkey but contains turkey. This meat likely contains more turkey than other meats.
How many turkeys needed to feed 300 people?
A person should have at least 1 20 pound turkey and 1 10 pound turkey in order to feed 20 people. There should be 1 pound of turkey for each person.
If thermometer in the turkey thigh what temperature should it cook to?
Cook the thighs till they reach a temperature of 160 to 165 degrees. You can also slow roast them on 200-220.
How long after turkey is baked can it stay in the refrigerator?
From past experience, I would say a week. I recommend removing the meat from the carcus and refrigerate what you think you will eat in the next few days. Freeze the remaining meat in freezer bags, a few days worth per bag.
Freeze the carcus to make delicious soup in the coming months. Don't forget to saute your vegetables before adding them to the soup to give them extra flavor.
