A perfect, moist turkey for the centerpiece of your holiday table does not need to be an impossible dream. There are simple things you can do that will make all the difference.
Chef Elizabeth Mehditach said the secret to juicy, tender, flavorful and evenly cooked turkey starts with spatchcocking. “Spatchcocking is an abbreviation of ‘dispatch the cock,’ simply meaning to remove the backbone of any bird – turkey, chicken, Cornish game hen, etc., then splaying it flat,” Mehditach, founder of Liza Michelle Lifestyle, told The Journal. “You’ll need some muscle to crack the breast bone flat too, when prepping for roasting.”
She added, “White meat stays just as tender and juicy as the dark meat; plus, carving is easier.”
Here are her other tips:
1. Marinate your turkey in an adobo brine or some sort of marinade for several hours prior to cooking. The acidity in any brine or marinade helps tenderize the meat and adds loads of flavor. Tip: Double the amount of marinade or adobo noted in the recipe for basting during cooking time; you don’t want to run out.
2. Add fat under the breast skin along with red wine/extra marinade. Kosher friends can use margarine or any of the vegan spreads out on the market now. This is all about adding moisture and flavor to the white meat as well as the rest of the bird.
3. Make sure you season the inside cavity of the bird really well. Adding aromatics, like cut up quarters of lemon, onion quarters, thyme, sage or rosemary, is a nice touch as well. (Make sure you remove any gizzards, the neck etc. from the cavity first!) You can add the innards of the bird to the roasting pan with your other vegetables (i.e., carrots, onions, celery, garlic cloves) and aromatics and marinade — it will make a richer base for your gravy. Discard after roasting.
While cooking:
1. Most recipes recommend starting at a higher temperature; then, after 30 to 45 minutes, turning the temp down. Be sure to follow this important step.
Most recipes recommend starting at a higher temperature; then, after 30 to 45 minutes, turning the temp down. Be sure to follow this important step.
2. Next, cover the breast area or, if spatchcocked, the whole area with foil. This will keep the steam in and the bird moist, while preventing the skin from burning.
– Baste your bird every 30 to 40 minutes. Check the roasting pan for liquid, if it’s drying out, add more water, stock etc.
“Dry brine with kosher salt and black pepper at least 24 hours before cooking,” Lindsey Baruch, CEO and founder of Lindsey Eats, told The Journal. “It adds flavor and keeps the bird moist.”
If your kosher turkey has been pre-salted, Baruch suggested placing the turkey on a large sheet tray in the fridge, uncovered for at least 24 hours, or up to 2 days ahead.
“This allows all the moisture to get taken out and results in a crispy bird when roasting,” she said.
Baruch also recommended:
1. Use a large roasting rack, or large baking sheet. That way, you have the ability to baste throughout the cooking time all around the bird.
2. Layer vegetables, like carrots, fennels, red onion and garlic, around or under the bird, so the turkey dripping falls on them. These can then be used as a side dish.
Layer vegetables, like carrots, fennel, red onion and garlic, around or under the bird, so the turkey dripping falls on them. These can then be used as a side dish.
3. Save any leftover turkey schmaltz to make turkey matzah ball soup the next day!
Tabby Refael, a weekly columnist for The Journal, and her family enjoy a “Persian-style” Thanksgiving each year.
“As an Iranian Jew, I have a natural aversion to pale-looking poultry, because I only grew up with radioactively yellow chicken or turkey, covered in turmeric or saffron,” Refael told the Journal. “I like to dissolve about a teaspoon of saffron in some boiling water, cover it in a small glass bowl for about an hour and then pour it under the skin of the turkey, as well as on top.”
If you don’t own a turkey baster, she explained, throughout the cooking process, take a small ladle or a spoon and continuously spoon over some of the liquid.
“This really helps keep the flesh tender and the skin very crispy,” she said.
Here are some more of Refael’s turkey tips:
1. My go-to for any moist poultry is fresh onion. I cut one large onion into rings, which I place under the bird, whether it’s a whole roast chicken or turkey. Then, I cut a second, large onion into rings or half rings and cover the top of the turkey or chicken with it as well.
2. Rub under the skin with parve butter, like margarine. Don’t melt it and pour it in. Depending on the size of the bird, take maybe four or five individual teaspoons of solid margarine and place it under the skin in various areas, particularly the breast, because the breast dries out the most.
3. Stuff the inside of the bird with an orange, a lemon and garlic. Cut an orange cut in half, squeeze the juice of the orange over the bird and then put the remaining part of the orange inside. Use the same technique with a lemon, too. Then put in one head of washed, unpeeled garlic. If it doesn’t fit, use half a head, half an orange and half a lemon.
