A frozen turkey needs a few days thawing time, in the refrigerator, please, before hitting the oven. The general guideline is usually a day (plus a little extra) for every five pounds, so a 20-pounder needs four to five days of defrosting in the fridge. Advantage: Once it's bought, the cook can forget it and turn to other parts of the meal. Disadvantage: Some cooks forget to take the bird out of the freezer.These make up the bulk of supermarket turkeys. Those big old Butterballs, so familiar, so popular. Advantage: A cook can put one in the oven and forget it until the timer goes off – no setting the clock for basting. Memo: The basting fluids inside have a high sodium content, so the cook needs to skip salting.Most supermarkets special order a limited stock of fresh turkeys.
Kept chilled, but never below 26 degrees, and never, ever frozen. Cooks-in-the-know put in their order as early as possible and pick up on Tuesday or Wednesday of the holiday week. Advantage: The fridge isn't overcrowded until the bird actually gets home.Anyone who lives within 30 miles of a turkey farm might want to treat the family to a field trip and a heritage bird. Like fresh supermarket turkeys, customers usually order early, some as soon as the calendar reads October. These guys are free-range and tasty. Advantage: They cook up faster. I don't know the scientific reason,The past few years have been, to put it lightly
but the first time I tried one, I was glad that I took its temperature early. Disadvantage: Young children might be frightened of big, scary live turkeys running in packs and gobbling loudly.
With Hanukkah and Thanksgiving intersecting this year, some cooks prefer a kosher turkey processed strictly according to Jewish dietary law. It doesn't taste any different, but like the self-basting one, salt should be avoided during roasting. Note: Often, these turkeys have a few lingering quills that the cook needs to pull.So what's needed to make The Dinner. Not a whole arsenal of tools. Just a few basics, up next.A decent one will be useful later for measuring doneness of any kind of meat. Stuck into the thickest part of the thigh, it gives an accurate reading of the turkey's temperature. "Done" should read at about 160 degrees. Some chefs like it around 150 degrees. When the turkey is taken out of the oven and left to rest, it continues to cook, so it will be perfect in about 20 to 25 minutes. Note: The cook needs to make sure the thermometer does not touch bone.