Cooking Your Turkey

Cooking Your Turkey

By: RecipeCove.com

While cooking a turkey seems like a pretty simply job, it’s amazing how many times it doesn’t come out quite right. Here are some tips that will help you cook that perfect turkey.

First, turkeys should be cooked in an oven at a temperature from 325 to 350. Higher temperatures might cook it a little faster, but you will most likely end up with drier meat. Cooking at a temperature lower than 325 prevents the inside of the turkey from cooking properly and can lead to serious cases of food poisoning.

Second, NEVER partially cook a turkey, place it back in the refrigerator and then finish cooking it later. Partially cooked turkeys are breeding grounds for bacteria.

Third, even if your turkey comes with a pop-up timer, use a real meat thermometer to check for doneness. A turkey is cooked properly when the interior of the breast meat reach 170 degrees and the interior of the thigh meat reaches 180 degrees. Another check (although this should only be used as a secondary method of checking for doneness) is to pierce the turkey with a fork and see if the juices run clear.

We occasionally run into that situation where the turkey is finished cooking before we think it will be and the rest of the dinner is not ready. It is safe to leave it in a warm (200 degree) oven for a short period of time until the rest of the dinner is done. To keep the turkey from drying out, cover it with aluminum foil.