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 Beginner's Stuffed Turkey
- Most of us learn to cook from our parents. If you're lucky,
you've attended a cooking school or perhaps a cooking class at
your local Parks-n-Recs service. But there are a lot of people
out there who never had those opportunities and trying their
hands in the kitchen for the first time. If you're one of those
novice cooks, this recipe is for you. There are no frills to
this recipe. You will need:
- Turkey
- Turkey Baking Pan
- Turkey Baster
- ½ stick of Butter or margarine (softened)
- 1 large package of Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing.
- A large serving dish for the turkey
- A large bowl for the stuffing
- Buying Your Bird:
- When you buy your turkey, make sure you check the weight.
A 12 to 13 lbs turkey can serve 4 to 8 people, depending on portion
size. There's just 3 of us, so we tend to look for a 10 lbs turkey,
and we still have plenty of left overs.
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- When you purchase your turkey make sure you also buy a large
enough aluminum baking pan to cook it in. Pick the turkey first
so you can measure it in the pan. It's better to have a pan that's
too big, than one that's not big enough. I prefer the aluminum
pans that have wire handles that stretch from the sides, under
the pan to the opposite side. This makes it much easier to lift
the turkey out of the oven when necessary. Oh, and don't forget
the turkey baster!
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- Refrigerating & Thawing Your Bird:
- If you don't have a large freezer at home to store your turkey
in, buy it about 2 days before you'll be cooking it. Keep your
turkey refrigerated until the evening before cooking. On that
night, remove the turkey from the fridge and place it in a cooler
(don't take off the wrapping!) Cover the bottom of the cooler
with ice (at least 3 inches deep) and place your turkey on top.
Then sprinkle ice around the sides and top of the turkey. It
doesn't have to be fully covered. You want it to thaw out, but
to remain cold. The average thawing time for an 8 to 12 lbs turkey
in the fridge is 2 days. Up to 16 lbs, allow 3 days in the fridge.
Up to 20 lbs allow 4 days in the fridge.
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- The directions on the turkey will tell you how long it needs
to bake based on it's weight. A 10-11 lbs turkey will take about
4 to 6 hours to bake (if it's fully thawed). If your turkey is
still frozen on the day of baking, don't panic. You'll just have
to calculate extra baking time based on how much of it is still
frozen. If you have to chisel the innards out of the turkey,
you'll probably have to bake it a significant amount of extra
time. It's better to have a dry bird, than an under cooked one.
So consider an extra 6 hours of baking if it's this frozen.
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- Preparing Your Bird For Baking:
- So it's time to prepare your turkey for baking. Most turkey
instructions will tell you what temperature to preheat the oven
to. Rule of thumb is a minimum of 375° F. Start up the oven
prior to preparing your turkey. If your turkey is frozen, don't
think you can just up the temp and cook it faster. It doesn't
always work that way. You're better off, adding cooking time!
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- Clear and clean your sink, make sure you rinse it well. Place
the turkey package in the sink and cut away the covering. Careful
not to cut the baking schedule. Once the covering has been removed,
you may have to pull the legs out of a plastic holder. DON'T
CUT IT! You're going to need those holders after you stuff your
turkey. Once you have the legs open, wash your turkey inside
and out. You'll find a package inside the turkey; this is the
gizzard, liver and neck. If you don't plan on cooking those,
just toss them in the trash. Some companies, split these up into
2 packages and place one in the gut of the turkey and one in
the neck flap. You will need to wash your turkey inside and out,
so while you're doing that, check both crevices for innards.
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- Drain your turkey well and place it, breast up, in the aluminum
baking pan. Mix the stuffing according to the package instructions.
Stuff both sides of the turkey, the gut and the neck. Start with
the gut. Any remaining stuffing goes in the neck. Make sure you
pull the neck flap over the stuffing and tuck it under the turkey
body.
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- Now here you can do a couple of things if you'd like, but
no matter what you do, you're going to get your hands dirty.
- Method 1: Take the ½ stick of butter and slather it
over the entire turkey body.
- Method 2: Mix your favorite herbs in the butter, then slather
it over the entire turkey.
- Some herb options: Sweet Basil and Parsley, or Rosemary and
Sage, Sweet Basil and Pepper. What ever your favorite herb combinations
are.
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- Once you've washed your hands, measure out 2 large sheets
of aluminum foil. You want the sheets to be long enough to stretch
over the turkey and about 4 inches down the sides of the baking
pan. Place the 2 sheets together and fold one side (length ways)
about ¼ inch down. Do this 3 times. Your fold will double
the width of your foil covering. Now place this over the turkey
and tuck in all 4 sides around the edges of the pan. If any edge
doesn't reach the pan, you'll have to start over. The entire
bird and top of the pan needs to be covered.
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- Basting & Cooking Your Bird:
- Place the turkey in the oven and start baking. Every hour,
return to the oven and pull out the rack. Carefully remove 3
sides of the foil for basting. Simply suck up some of the juices
in the bottom of the pan and gently squirt it over the breasts,
legs and wings. Try to douse each part of the turkey at least
3 to 4 times. Recover the bird and push it back in the oven for
cooking.
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- When your turkey is nearing the end of it's cook time, check
it to make sure it's cooking properly. You can make a small cut
into once side of the breast near the bottom and check to see
if the meat shows any sign of pink. If it does, you have more
cooking to do. If not, you're almost done.
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- About 20 minutes before serving, pull the rack out and remove
the foil entirely. Baste the turkey heavily. This should be easy
now as there should be a large amount of drippings in the pan.
Place the turkey back in the oven uncovered for about another
20 minutes. This will allow the outside of your bird to brown
to a golden color.
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- Serving Your Stuffed Turkey:
- I like my turkey served hot. So I typically set the table
with everything else we're having for the meal and work on serving
the turkey last. Everyone is different, so you might want to
set out your turkey first. But when you're ready, remove the
turkey from the oven. Removing the turkey from the pan to the
servicing dish is best done with 2 people. Each of you takes
2 large wooden spoons, or equivalent. Place one set of spoons
under the front of the turkey, the other set behind. Quickly
raise the turkey from the pan and place it on the serving dish.
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- Remove the stuffing from the front, or the gut of the turkey
and place it in the large serving bowl. And serve both to your
dinner table.
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- Storing Your Stuffed Turkey:
- After dinner you need to properly store your turkey. It's
very important to remove ALL the remaining stuffing from the
bird and store it separately in the fridge. I put all the stuffing
in a zip lock bag because it takes up less room. With all the
leftovers you may have, you might not have enough room to put
the whole turkey in the fridge. What I do is pull out 2 gallon
size zip lock bags and start tearing the remaining meat off the
bones of the bird. All the white meat in one bag, all the dark
meat in the other bag.
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- The remaining carcass goes in a well tied plastic bag and
out to the trash. Just keep in mind that cooked bones can splinter
if chewed. Any out door animals that might get into your trash,
can be severely harmed by the bones, or by food poisoning. So
ensure your trashed bird is secured safely.
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- Turkey Left Overs:
- A few ideas for your turkey leftovers:
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