 | |||
| photo from Flickr user Nesster*, by way of the CC license** |
Turkey
The most difficult thing about cooking the turkey is the fact that the bird is essentially two different types of meat all in one ball. The white meat in the breasts is so lean that there is really nothing to protect it from turning into a dry mess if it exceeds 160F. I'd aim more for a hair under 155F on a quality bird. The dark meat in the legs is not only a different type of muscle but is also richer in fat and connective tissue, and as a result of these conditions will be stringy and unpleasant to eat roasted under 170F and will be okay up to 180F.
But how to properly cook your 15lb meat ball? Sure, we have some numbers to watch out for on the thermometer but how to cook them at the same time but not the same temperature? And what things could be done to improve the turkey? I have a couple of options.
Separate Light and Dark Meat
If you're not married to the idea of having an entire roasted bird on display before carving, this is the easiest thing to do. Simply remove each part from the oven as it is done, carve and then serve.
I would cut the bird into two pieces for this purpose, keeping everything on the bones. Poultry shears would do a good job here. Just hold up the breast and, starting at the cavity, snip through the ribs below the breast all the way along up to the shoulders. I would leave the wings attached to the breast.
McGee's Ice Pack Method
Harold McGee was published in a few places(like HuffPo) a while ago with his ice pack idea and it's a pretty good one. First of all, no matter how one cooks their turkey, it is best to let the bird come close to room temperature before roasting. A way to keep the breast from cooking as quickly as the dark meat is to keep it cold. McGee suggests placing ice packs or zipper bags full of ice over the breasts as the bird sits on the counter, so that when the turkey goes into the oven to roast the breast meat will lag far enough behind the dark that everything will be at the right temperature at the same time. Seems to work pretty well according to this guy.
 |
| On a related note, here is a mess of turducken from last year |
Other Concerns in Bullet Point Format
- Digital thermometer! Check the breast and leg separately. If you go simply by the "juices run clear" rule, you're likely to overshoot due to...
- ... Carryover cooking! Roasting that much meat at, say, 350F will mean you'll need to allow for carryover cooking, or the residual heat that will reach the inside of the meat from the outside even after it leaves the oven. This is likely to be a good ten degrees, or more if cooked at a higher temperature.
- Crispy skin! Take a cue from the masters of peking duck and prick your turkey's skin all around with a thin needle before letting it air out in the fridge for a couple of days. The drier your skin is when it goes in the oven, the better and crispier it will be when it comes out. And another thing: putting butter, with its 15% water content, on the skin is likely to just make things worse. Same for basting with juices.
- Brining! The surest way to add a safety net to your turkey cookery. Brining the bird in a salt solution will season it evenly throughout AND add extra moisture, so that even if you exceed a certain temperature there is more moisture left in the flesh than would otherwise be. Just note that your pan juices will be too salty to use for gravy... which is fine, because you made chicken stock last week for the gravy base, right?
- Stuffing! Stuffing is great, just don't cook it in the bird. Bringing the stuffing inside the bird to a safe temperature will almost surely kill the breast meat, so just make the stuffing with stock crafted from the giblets and call it a day.
Hope that helps!
* Nesster's Flickr stream.
**Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
No comments:
Post a Comment