I have a few questions for all the seasoned chefs out there. When buying a turkey should I ~ ~ go for store brand or Butterball? ~ go for a rounder or flatter turkey? ~ larger or smaller is better? ~ pop up timer or no pop up timer? ~ how large for 9+ people? Now some more questions for you ~what is best to "rub/flavor" the turkey with? ~should I add liquid to the pan? (I will be using an on counter roaster) ~do you put breast down or up while cooking? ~do you cover the bird in foil? Now on to questions about other parts of the dinner. ~how many pies should I make for 9+ people? ~Also do you have a fool proof dressing recipe? Thank you for all your help on this.
Butter Ball is my favorite but most recently I made a hunysuckle white and it was good. I would make 3 pies. Usually the large can of Libby's pumpkin makes 2. if you want left overs make about 1 1/2 pounds of turkey per person. the pop up timmer doesn't matter, but don't take it out if it has one because it wil make that area of the turkey dry out before hand.......... use a real meat themometer. I put oil on the skin then sprinkle with paprika (that gives it a golden color) then a little salt and pepper and we like dill weed and garlic powder. I put the sage on the inside of the cavity with an apple and an onion, cut in half (4 kids---- 4 pieces)
STUFFING.............. we like stove top....... its a boxed mix...... we make it as it says except that for special occasions like Thanksgiving we saute diced onion and celery and mix it in........ shhhhh its a secret............. there are so many recipes I'm sure some one will give you something more home made.
Ok guys - I'll tell you my biggest secret. I raise turkeys (though we had a major death issue this year) I bought the 49ยข/pound turkey at our grocer. I mean I can't beat $5 for a 13lb turkey!! Funny thing is - I'm not cooking for Thanksgiving - lol!! I roast it and do multiple types of rubs depending on my mood. I usually have paprika in it. I use stove top stuffing most of the time. There is another one too I like cause it has more in it pepridge farm or something like that. 3 pies at least are needed!! We usually have 4-5 at Christmas for I think 10-11 of us. I like left-overs
Here's my dressing recipe: (It's not stuffing. It's Southern dressing) 2 pans cornbread, crumbled (You can cheat and use Jiffy if you aren't a cornbread maker.) 1 stick butter, melted 1 onion, chopped and sauteed in butter I can cream of chicken soup 1 can cream of celery soup I can chicken broth 1 tbsp. sage Mix all ingredients and bake for about 45 minutes at 350. This will make a 9x13 dish. *My kids/husband won't eat celery, so I use the soup for the celery flavor. If your family likes celery, you can use 2 cans of cream of chicken soup and throw some celery in with your onions to saute. I also use more chicken broth, as I am a Southern girl who likes "wet" dressing. You can adjust the liquid level to your taste!
Got you beat, Dana! Krogers had their turkeys for $.29/lb. So I got a 21 lb. turkey for under $7. Actually, I bought two...one yesterday to make and take to the shelter for the homeless, and one today to put in the freezer to bake in January or February. I buy the cheapest turkey, Carl puts them in the oven as is and covers them with foil. Like Amy, I use Stove Top, but I DO stuff the bird with it! And she's ABSOLUTELY RIGHT about taking forever for the durned thing to thaw out!!!
I like to use the cooking bags for mine. Last year I prepped it the night before - I rinsed it off, then used seasoning salt inside and out. I let it sit in the fridge overnight like that and then stuffed it the next morning. Personally, I like the Pepperidge Farm stuffing but it is pricier. I'm on a tight budget this year so I bought a box of the store brand instead. Jackie - I thought $.59 a lb was good! Walmart had them for $.89 but they match competitor's prices so I was able to buy 10 lbs of potatoes with the difference in price!
Gosh, I got mine for 0.77/lb, and I thought I did pretty well! I'm not actually cooking Thanksgiving dinner for us. Our family is cooking for the families at the local Ronald McDonald House.
Hey I even had a $1 off coupon! I bought 2 though Probably use 1 for Christmas.... and then who knows....
At Meijer's you got $16 off an 18+ lb. turkey with a $20 additional purchase. When I got there on Saturday AM, there was an additional $4 off. But even with $20 off, it was about $10 more than what Kroger's cost. And since Kroger's was right across the street......
Kroger here is called Fry's and my DH's work gave a $25 gift card....... If they still have the deal friday........ and ours is .42 a pound we'll get one for christmas. On the coupons...... I had the dollar off of the huneysuckle white and DH did not use it!--- if he would have used all of our coupons we could have saved an additional $5.
FWIW, I roast mine breast side down. It does not make for a pretty turkey, but it's very moist. Since we don't carve at the table, I figure how nice it looks isn't that important.
We get natural, free-range turkeys, but then we go organic as much as possible. My husband is the one who LOVES to cook, and I like baking. He has tried different ways of preparing the turkey, but the one that absolutely has worked for not making the meat dry is soaking the turkey in a brine over night.
I use a countertop roaster for my turkey. Brand doesn't matter to me a bit, but I do far better with a pop-up timer than a meat thermometer. Shape and size doesn't matter as long as it fits the roaster, so I usually go with the biggest bird possible. I think the rule of thumb is 1 pound of bird per 1 quart of roaster space max. Usually, I rub my turkey with olive oil and roast breast up on the rack that came with the roaster. I've tried breast down, but never had success keeping the turkey from falling against the side of the roaster. Keep the turkey from touching the sides of the roaster--whatever touches will get crispy. You don't need foil over the bird or liquid in the pan. As for pie, I'd say at least three. If your family likes pie like mine does though, then I'd say at least five. I use Stove Top stuffing like several others do. For special occasions, I make it with chicken broth instead of water and add carrots, celery, mushrooms, and onions. Just make sure to saute the veggies first. Did I answer all of your questions?
Foggy, does the turkey turn brown in the roaster? My MIL gave me a roaster about a year ago. I will buy three or four chicken on sale and roast them all at once. We eat one for dinner, and then I chop and freeze the rest, make soup, etc. But they never really turn brown. Is there a trick to that?
Ok I'm the strange one I think but I buy the cheapest turkey (this year Jeanie-O for .39 per pound) then I brine the turkey in a cooler the night before, then the day of I remove the turkey dry it very well and then season it with a mix of paprika,brown sugar, pepper, and a tiny bit of red pepper. Then I coat the whole thing with a mix of melted butter, brown sugar, and honey (I also inject this into the bird) and roast in the oven until the breast meat reaches 155 and the thigh meat reaches 165 Then I take it out and let carryover cooking do the rest (remember with a bird as big as a turkey there will be at least 10 degrees carryover so plan for it so you don't dry out your bird.) Stuffing I make as follows: 1 loaf italian or french bread cubed and placed in a paper bag over night to "stale" 3 - 4 ribs of celery diced and sauteed 1 medium onion (I like sweet onion) diced and sauteed 1 carrot grated fine and sauteed 8 oz fresh mushrooms diced and sauteed 1 - 2 cups turkey stock finely diced walnuts to taste salt and pepper to taste mix all ingredients together place in casserole dish and bake about 30 min or until top gets crusty and golden brown. Jackie...you can't really brown a turkey in the roaster but a trick I have used in the past is to cook the turkey to an internal breast temp of 145 and thigh temp of 155 and then place turkey in the oven at 375 - 400 for 30 - 45 mins or until breast temps at 155 and thigh at 165 then let the bird rest for 30 min and carve. TIP: TO keep your breast moist and get your thigh meat to the optimal temp do one of two things...either ice down just the breast meat of your bird before roasting in the oven OR tent the breast meat of your bird for the last hour to hour and a half of cooking.
yes, Jackie on the browning the chicken do you put butter on the breast that is what I do and they turn brown. I bought a fully cooked smoked Turkey.... can't wait...
Thanks for info about how to brown! I had read somewhere to trun the heat in the roaster way up for the last 15 minutes or so, but that didn't work. I'll try the butter; if that gives me trouble, I'll try putting it in the oven for the last bit.
