Mega Recipe

Cooked Turkey

Cooking a turkey a whole turkey, whether for Thanksgiving or for any celebration, can seem very confusing and difficult at first. This article will show any beginner how to prepare a turkey, and how it can be cooked.

Steps

1. Choose a good turkey. Although a lot of people will have a different budget for buying a turkey, it’s a wise idea to purchase one that you can best afford. The turkey should be free range, organic, and rather purchased fresh from a butcher instead of a supermarket to ensure quality and freshness.
2. Thaw the turkey, if necessary. If you happen to choose a frozen turkey for your Thanksgiving, it’s very important to take it out of the freezer ahead of time to allow the turkey to fully defrost and thaw prior to cooking. It should be thawed in its original wrapping in a deep tray at the bottom of the refrigerator and opened only to allow it to set to room temperature a few hours prior to preparation.
3. Remove the giblets from the inside cavity and then the turkey, rinsed under cold running water. Afterward, pat dry with a dish rag thoroughly. If the turkey is going to be stuffed, the stuffing should be added to the neck cavity at this time. See How to Stuff a Turkey for Thanksgiving. Weigh the whole stuffed turkey to determine how long cooking time will be. The average cooking time is 20 minutes per pound of the whole turkey.
4. Brine the turkey if desired. Brining is the very simple and inexpensive process of “marinating” the bird in a salt solution infused with aromatic herbs, spices, fruits and vegetables. The salting process encourages very deep, cellular moisture penetration, which basically means less drying out during roasting…resulting in a moister bird.

hope This helps. You Can find more tips on how to cook Turkey in my blog- www.turkeyrecipes-howtocookaturkey.blogspot.com