It's Just That Simple

   I am not going to ramble on and on about how you should stuff your turkey, season your turkey, cook your turkey, prepare your turkey or handle it in any manner. I am simply going to give you a few basic facts and observations about our national bird....well, almost our national bird at least. 

   For generations, your family has had their own special way of preparing the best of all year round meals served in your household. Far be it for me to tell you that your grandmothers, grandfathers or any ancestor of yours was wrong in any aspect of roasting this Holiday fowl. Nor will I tell you the best way to season a bird. Again, we all have our tastes and all hold dear our methods as passed down from one generation to another. Heck, I do as well. But there are certain points and tips that will help your tried and true recipe shine through without a hitch. Case in point...that point that pops out when the turkey is cooked. 

   As you are aware, many turkey companies add this little "pop out" button to let you know when it is sufficiently cooked. This is great, especially for the beginners or for those who may not have a temperature gauge on hand on this busiest of all Holidays.

   But did you know that these little buttons are set to pop out at between 185-195-degrees F? Yup, too overdone for me!

That's almost 30 degrees TOO cooked!

   I always remove the turkey from the oven when it reaches 160-degrees F(when taken in the proper place of the breast). When I remove it from the oven to rest for at least 15 minutes, it ALWAYS continues cooking to AT LEAST another 5 degrees, bringing the internal temperature to the appropriate 165-degrees F.

   We all know how to safely thaw a turkey, so I will excuse myself from saying anymore on that subject. But I will add a couple of tips for an extremely crisp skin.

   Once you have thawed your turkey(hopefully the day before), leave it uncovered in your refrigerator overnight. This will dry the skin off from any moisture. If you don't have the time to do this, at the very least, heavily dab the skin with paper towels before baking. You want the skin to be as dry as possible because moisture only slows down the browning process as well as giving you a blotchy browning.

   Now we have crispy dry skin, how about moist meat? The rule of thumb for this ultimate result is fat. Fat directly on the meat, underneath the skin. Sure, the skin provides a little fat, but not nearly enough to keep the turkey meat moist as it is cooking. The meat itself has even less fat then the skin. So loosen the skin from as much of the turkey as you can(don't forget the important legs and thighs) and rub some soft butter on the meat. As much or as little as desired. 
   If you want some extra flavor, simply mix in some herbs and spices into the butter before rubbing. 

   Now for the cooking part. Another tip for crispy skin is the temperature. The skin NEEDS to be at LEAST 300-degrees F for the maillard reaction to happen. This is the process in which the skin will turn color, dry out and crisp up. Any temperature below that and this action will not be accomplished.

   Now say you are having a horde of people over for Thanksgiving dinner. How much turkey do you need? I ALWAYS supply 1 1/2 pounds total bird weight per person. This seems like a lot, but by taking the bone weight into consideration, along with any moisture loss(turkeys have at least 50% water by weight), I think you will find this weight distribution will be perfect for everyone. 
DO NOT..I repeat..DO NOT...buy one large, 30 pound bird to feed the masses! Buy two 15 pounders instead. The larger the bird, the longer cooking time needed. This only significantly increases cooking time, thereby drying your turkey out substantially!

   Truss or not to truss? Yes, indeed! But loosely tying the legs together with pure cotton string, this helps to evenly cook the turkey, rather than bunching one part of the turkey with another, creating a space or two where heat is fighting to get in there and cook evenly.
   How about the wings? Well, if you are considering nibbling on the wing tip, or even the thin segment of the wing where there is no meat to begin with, then cover it with foil. I find no reason to do this, but of course have at it if you want.

   Place your turkey on the most shallow pan you can, but one deep enough so that no juice will spill out onto any inside oven surface. This will help brown and crisp as much of the bird as possible as well as evenly cook. Now if you are adding vegetables to the mix, then this tip is irrelevant. Which bring us to another subject...gravy.

   If you are going to use pan dripping as part of your gravy, then add some carrots,  halved onions and celery to the pan first, then the turkey plopped right on top. Not only will these vegetables add to the flavor of your gravy, but it acts as a lift, of sorts, to keep your turkey from "stewing in its own juices", making it a mushy mess on bottom. If desired, use a large, all metal serving spoon or two underneath the bird if you don't have a rack to fit your pan.

   Cook at 350-degrees F...PURE AND SIMPLE! Not any higher or lower. Some swear by roasting at 425-degrees F for a certain length of time, then reducing temperature to somewhere in the 300's. Nope! 

   Always rest your turkey before carving. I really don't need to say this anyway because every single person I know has NEVER removed the turkey and started carving the moment it is removed from the oven. There is so much that needs to be done that most of the time, the turkey rests more than the 15 minutes, needed anyway.

   Brining. I am not even going to get into brining because like handed down traditions, everyone and their mother has their own little secrets. The only thing I will add is that you should dry the skin as much as possible after brining for crispiness. When I brine, I follow my own advice above and remove the turkey from the brine the night before and let the bird sit in the fridge overnight before plopping that bad boy in the oven.

   And for a last little bit of a sweet tip. We all love pumpkin pie. But have you EVER replaced that American favorite with a Southern flair? Try Sweet Potato pie instead. Why you ask? Because sweet potatoes are much sweeter than pumpkin and deliver, what some believe, to be a far superior flavored pie. To help prove a point, try just a simple mashed pumpkin straight from the can sometime. No spices or anything. Kind of bland, don't you think? Now try a bite of mashed sweet potato. See what I mean? You don't need much in the way of spices or sugar to transform a good pie into a great one. Use about 1 1/4 pounds sweet potatoes that have been peeled, cooked and mashed per pie, with only a half cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup milk, 2 eggs and 1 teaspoon cinnamon and see what I mean. Superb!

There, that's it! Post done. 

Continuing with "It's An Old New England Custom"

Chapter-To Serve Turkey and Cranberry Sauce

"Thanksgiving has, of course, always been the time par excellence for food in new England, with roast turkey the traditional piece de resistance of the feast. Even the puritans forgot their fear of sensualism at Thanksgiving, abandoning themselves with gusto to the pleasures of the table, though there were times when the country was a desert island for food, and the colonists, like castaways, were in no danger of overeating.
There seems, however, to have been an abundance of provender at the first Pilgrim Thanksgiving at Plymouth in 1621, which was not an affair of a single day, but lasted a whole week, and, contrary to what many persons think, was without any religious significance. It was simply a period of relaxation and recreation following the gathering of the first harvest.

Edward Winslow wrote to a friend in England on December 11, 1621, in which he said:

'Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruits of our labors. They four killed as much fowl as with a little help beside served the company about a week. At which time among other recreations we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoyt with some ninety mean, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer which they brought and bestow'd on our governor, and upon the captains and others.'

Since Governor Bradford mentioned that 'beside waterfoule there was great store of wild turkies' that fall, we may be certain that the men he sent out to make provision for the feast succeeded in bagging enough unsuspecting turkeys to make the tables groan.
Other writers of the period have told of the great flocks of wild turkey that inhabited the oak and chestnut forests of New England. So common were they that in the 1730's, dressed wild turkeys sold for only a penny and a half a pound in western Massachusetts. The price, of course, increased as the wild turkey population decreased , and by the close of the eighteenth century they were bringing fourpence per pound. In 1820, when these great game birds were rapidly vanishing, the price had risen to twelve and a half cents a pound and it became less common to see wild turkey wings used as hearth brushes in New England homes."

By the end of the eighteenth century the wild turkey of New England, which had been retreating steadily westward, reached the line of the Connecticut River, where they made their last stand. There were flocks of them in the Berkshires and the mountainous regions of Vermont and among the hills of the Connecticut Valley. In the lifetime of the writer's grandfather, there were still wild turkeys around Mount Holyoke and Mount Tom. During the winter of 1850-1851, the last one was shot on Mount Tom. A turkey killed on Mount Holyoke in 1863 is thought to have been a fugitive from a barnyard.
Before the wild species was exterminated, they sometimes visited their civilized relatives of the barnyard. In the mating season a wild turkey cock would fly in and strut and gobble and fight the domestic cock for the favors of the females. The wild gobbler always won, and in this way the domestic species was invigorated and kept up to scratch.

In the olden times the New England housewife never had to worry about the Thanksgiving turkey being too large to fit her oven because she cooked it over an open fire. Families were larger then, and big birds favored. But the oven problem brought about an annual Thanksgiving invocation just before the festival of 1945. This was the sale of split turkeys occasioned by the great number of extraordinarily large birds coming into the market. Raised to meet the requirements of the armed forces, these birds were released for civilian consumption as a result of the sudden end of the war.

Marketmen, knowing that many housewives had ovens too small to accommodate such whopping birds, split the oversize turkeys in two, and the housewives, agreeing that half a turkey was better than none, bought the bisected, although they were uncertain how to prepare half a bird for the table and were apprehensive that it might dry unduly while cooking. All apparently turned out well, but in the future smaller turkeys will probably be the rule.

Pie, especially pumpkin pie, was considered as essential to the old-fashioned New England Thanksgiving dinner as turkey and cranberry sauce.

A want of molasses with which to make pies was more than once the cause of a New England town postponing its observance of the day. Once at Newberry, Vermont, when the minister read the Thanksgiving proclamation, a worthy deacon, who was not unmindful of the earthly pleasure to be derived from a good dinner, rose and said that as there was no molasses in town and his boys had gone to Charlestown, New Hampshire, to get some, he would move that Thanksgiving be postponed a week.

When the boys did not return, the day was put off again, until finally the people fo Newberry had to go without their molasses, and, since there was no 'sweetnin', presumable also without the customary pumpkin pies. Once can only guess what happened to the boys. Similarly, at Colchester, Connecticut, the celebration of Thanksgiving was delayed a week beyond the appointed day because a sloop from New York with a hogshead of molasses for pies failed to arrive.
An amusing account of a public dinner given in 1714, at which bear meat and venison were eaten, has come down to us from the pen of the Rev. Lawrence Conant of Danvers, Massachusetts, who was evidently not averse to eating game that had been killed on the Sabbath.

'When ye services at ye meeting house were ended,' he wrote, 'ye council and other dignitaries were entertained at ye house of Mr. Epes, on ye hill near by, and we had a bountiful Thanksgiving dinner with bear's meat and venison, the last of which was a fine buck, shot in ye woods near by. Ye bear was killed in Lynn woods near Reading.

The First Church in Salem

After ye blessing was craved by Mr. Garrick of Wrentham, word came that ye buck was shot on ye Lord's day by Pequot, an Indian, who came to Mr. Epes with a lye in his moth like Ananias of old. Ye council therefore refused to eat ye venison, but it was afterward decided that Pequot should receive 40 stripes save one, for lying and profaning ye Lord's day, restore Mr. Epes ye cost of ye deer, and considering this a just and righteous sentence on ye sinful heathen, and that a blessing had been craved on ye meat, ye council all partook of it but Mr. Shepard, whose conscious was tender on ye point of ye venison.'

Thanksgiving did not immediately become a fixed annual festival in new England after the first Pilgrim observance, but it made headway steadily. It proved popular because it was a substitute for the festival of Christmas, which the Puritans had banished. It was as if they said, 'If we can't have Christmas, we will have our own feast.' The idea of a Thanksgiving Day for the Lord's bounties gradually spread throughout the country until this old New England custom became a national one."

Turkey 101(and Pork too)

Having whetted my taste buds with W.A.Bean and Son's smoked products, I feel compelled to tell you that this chef will be enjoying Bean's Smoked Whole Turkey this year. I know many of you are hesitant about changing turkeys in mid-stream, and I fully understand you stubborn lot, us Yankees don't sell our soul easily. But at least give it a try sometime. The Smoked Whole Turkey and Turkey Breasts(along with individual chickens)are fully cooked. All you have to do is tightly cover with foil and bake. I will give you the instructions and tips below. The only drawback is that I wouldn't recommend stuffing the bird itself before baking. The smoky flavor will immerse itself throughout the stuffing and it's nice to have those different flavors melding together instead of one through.
If you don't care to change right now, Bean's also offers whole turkeys for sale and their price is aligned with all the supermarkets, and you know they are as fresh as you are going to get.
Let me give you some insight and recipes for you and your culinary adventure regardless of where you get your turkey this year.

Let's start with how much meat per person:

Now with the thawing of the bird.

For thawing in the refrigerator:

For thawing in cold water:

Cooking Fresh or Frozen Whole Turkey

Preheat your oven to 325-degrees F. This is the optimum temperature for cooking turkey because it doesn't significantly alter the cooking time(as opposed to 350-degrees F.) and it helps to keep the skin from browning. Remove your turkey from the package and drain very well. Place the turkey on a rack in a high-sided(at least 2-inches) roasting pan.
As for the wings. There just is no need to fold the wings back and tie them. some chefs will tell you this stabilizes the turkey while others tell you it keeps the wing tips from burning. How about a raise of hands here, who eats the tips of the wings? Thought so.....
If you aren't basting with your own marinade, then you can brush the skin with oil if you want, but I find this to be just a complete waste of time. They say it helps the skin from drying out. All I know, is that everyone I know loves to eat the skin when it IS dried out and crispy. I do, however, advocate covering the drumsticks and thighs with tin foil when the turkey is about 3/4 of the way through with cooking. Being I am a dark meat kind of guy, I am turned off by dry leg or thigh meat when I sit down to the table. I am one of the very few who enjoys that large turkey leg on my plate but most of the time, the cook pays no heed to this part of the turkey, giving me a dried up ol' leg that's chewier than Charlie Chaplins shoe.

Insert oven-safe meat thermometer deep into the lower part of the thigh muscle but not touching the bone. When thigh is up to temperature and if turkey is stuffed, move thermometer to center of stuffing. Stuffing should be 165 degrees F when done.

Use this roasting schedule as a guide and start checking for doneness about 30 minutes before end of recommended cooking times. Lift roasted turkey onto platter with turkey lifter if you have one and discard lifter. If not, use very sturdy spaghetti forks. Before removing stuffing and carving, let your turkey stand 15 minutes to allow juices to set. Your turkey is done when the meat thermometer reaches the following temperatures:

180 degrees F deep in the thigh. At this temperature juices should be clear, not reddish pink, when thigh muscle is pierced deeply.

165 degrees F in the center of the stuffing, if turkey is stuffed.


Net Weight (lb.) Unstuffed (hrs.) Stuffed (hrs.)

4½ to 7 2 to 2½ 2¼ to 2¾
7 to 9 2½ to 3 2¾ to 3½
9 to 18 3 to 3½ 3¾ to 4½
18 to 22 3½ to 4 4½ to 5
22 to 24 4 to 4½ 5 to 5½
24 to 30 4½ to 5 5½ to 6¼

(Bean's Whole Smoked Turkeys run in at 8-10 lbs.)

Now for the Fully Cooked, Smoked Whole Turkeys I mentioned in my long-winded intro.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Remove wrapper. DO NOT STUFF. Follow the directions as listed above for Cooking Fresh or Frozen Whole Turkey. Place your turkey in the pre-heated oven at 325 degrees F and heat until hot (140 degrees F).

For Smoked Turkey: Cover pan completely with foil for the entire cooking time. Use the roasting schedule below as a guide and start checking for doneness about 30 minutes before end of recommended cooking times. Your turkey is done when the meat thermometer reaches 140 degrees deep in the thigh. Carve and serve immediately.

Net Weight (lb.) Smoked Thawed (hrs.)

8 to 10 1¼ to 1¾
10 to 16 1½ to 2
16 to 18 2 to 2½



Whole Turkey Breast

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Remove whole breast from bag. Drain juices and pat dry with clean paper towels. Place prepared breast, skin side up, on a flat roasting rack in a 2-inch deep roasting pan. Do not add water to pan. Roast uncovered according to time guidelines below or until meat thermometer in thickest part of muscle reaches 170 degrees F. If breast is stuffed, center of stuffing should be 165 degrees F.
Roasting time will vary from guidelines above if turkey is covered or placed in an oven-cooking bag.

Size (lb.) Time

3 to 5½ 1½ to 2¼
5½ to 9 2¼ to 2¾



You may roast your whole turkey breast from a frozen state as well. In that case:
Roast skin side down, uncovered, on a flat rack in a 2-inch deep open roasting pan at 325 degrees F for the first hour. Let breast stand 10 minutes before carving.

Size (lb.) Unstuffed (hrs.)

3 to 5½ 3 to 3¾
5½ to 9 3¾ to 4½



Fully Cooked Smoked Whole Turkey Breast

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Remove whole breast from bag. DO NOT STUFF. Cover pan with foil and place in oven. Heat until warm. Carve and serve immediately.

Size (lb.) Baked (hrs.) Smoked (hrs.)

4 to 7 1½ to 1¾ 1¼ to 1¾

(Bean's Smoked Turkey Breast weighs in about 3-4 lbs.)



Lest we forget Pork

Porks' cooking times have changed so many times over the years, it is hard for the consumer to keep up. Because today's pork is so lean, overcooking is detrimental to this great white meat. The Dept. of Agriculture now recommends cooking pork roasts, tenderloins and chops to an internal temperature of 145-degrees F. Allow it to rest for 3 minutes before cutting into this savory loin. this reference is for a 350-degree F oven.

For Bone-In and Boneless Pork Loin Roast, cook for 20 minutes to the lb. for a 2-5 lb. roast, or 145-degrees F.
Crown Roast, cook for 12 minutes to the lb..