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How to Roast a Turkey

Roasting a Turkey - Finishing Touches & Leftovers

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Daniel Traster, National Turkey Federation
Chef/Culinary Consultant, Self-employed
http://www.eatturkey.com  
 

Currently, culinary consultant, freelance food writer, and author of "Welcome to Culinary School."  8 years experience in culinary education management.  Prior industry experience includes: Four Seasons Philadelphia, Occasions Caterers, American University, MacArthur Beverages.  Education: AOS in Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of America; BA in English/Theater from Yale University; MS in Adult Learning and Human Resource Development from Virginia Tech.  Active in the following professional associations: The International Association of Culinary Professionals, The American Institute of Wine & Food, The American Culinary Federation, and the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington

Roasting a Turkey - Finishing Touches & Leftovers

 

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Roasting a Turkey - Finishing Touches & Leftovers

Ingredients

A Turkey
Any seasonings and flavorings that you might wish to add

Instructions

 


1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.


2. Cut open the turkey and lift it out of its packaging and remove the giblet bag.


3. Season your turkey by placing some seasoning underneath the skin so that it's directly against the meat. You could also place the seasoning on top or stuff the cavity with flavors.


4. If you choose to stuff your turkey with a traditional turkey dressing, you'll want to keep the wet and dry ingredients separate until just before stuffing them. Then combine them and place them loosely in the cavity of the turkey.


5. Tuck the wings underneath the breast and back to pin them down. Place a V-roasting rack inside the roasting pan and place the turkey on the rack.


6. Place it in the oven, close the door, and allow it to roast. Fifteen minutes per pound of turkey.


7. Use an instant-read thermometer to check the turkey's temperature. 165 degrees is the minimum for a final temperature.

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Transcripts

Daniel Traster: I am Daniel Traster and today we are learning how to roast a turkey. In this step, we are going to talk about carry-over cooking and what to do with leftovers.

When a turkey is finished and you have gotten the right temperature, you want to cover it with some foil and give it a chance to rest for about 20 minutes. That will let the residual temperature move towards the center and allow the juices to distribute. Here, this turkey has had 20 minutes resting time. So we going to go ahead and remove the foil, it still nice and warm; it would be great to serve to your guests.

We are going to now take it and just transfer it to a little platter here, if you want to show it off to your guests at this point, so they see the beautiful turkey you have done this is a great time to do it. However, we are going to carve the turkey. And when you carve the turkey its important to carve it all the way. You want to save your leftovers and make sure they are safe to eat several days or months from now.

So rather than putting a whole turkey in the refrigerator, after you are done eating, carve the turkey, and put the leftovers into shallow containers in the refrigerator. There they will cool down quickly and give you a chance to eat them safely for three to four days. If you think you want to use them for longer than that, put them in the freezer where they will last three to four months. From there you can turn them into turkey casseroles or different soups and stews; I even love to make ravioli out of them.

For great recipe ideas, check out www.

eatturkey.

com. So there you have it, we have learned how to roast a turkey. I wish you all a wonderful holiday season.

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