Thanksgiving is often mentioned in American films. The invariable attribute of this holiday is a rosy turkey. Now it has become fashionable to cook with us. This is usually done at Christmas. In Russia, it is customary to bake something on a Christmas Eve in a large piece. Earlier in Russia milk pigs were prepared like this, now they have switched to poultry. Unlike geese and ducks, a turkey is much lighter and much more healthy. What you need to know about this bird?
Key selection criteria
Mistresses worry that after baking a dry turkey will turn out. In fact, you need to be afraid of other points.
This bird can be poisoned, there are a lot of such cases.
Entire carcasses are in demand on a holiday, unscrupulous sellers and manufacturers throw out all their deposits on the counter, and even put a "Christmas" price tag.
What to look for:
- Shelf life if the bird is in its original packaging. We carefully look at the seal, the package, if there is a sticker, then try to lift it. Perhaps under it is other information.
- Look, smell, if turkey is purchased in the market. Do not be afraid to open the carcass, smell it inside, evaluate the color of meat, yellow or gray coating should not be.
- Inspect the skin. Since the turkey is cooked whole, there should be no tears, dark spots, dirt on the surface. Otherwise, there will be no beautiful crust.
Next, we select according to general characteristics: we pay attention to ice, which should not be in chilled bird or water, if frozen turkey is bought. Touching the skin, it should not be overdried, slimy or sticky.
Carcass weight
A large turkey looks gorgeous on the table, but has a huge number of minuses. It's not even the price of the bird. It will be difficult to prepare, the process will take a very long time. To take out a massive carcass from the oven, put on the table, butchering is also difficult and difficult. Another point - a small family does not need so much food. In addition to the bird, there will be other dishes on the table.
Optimum size up to 10 kg.
For a family of 4-5 people, you can buy a small turkey 3-4 kg. She will cook much faster.
Storage and thawing temperature
If you plan to purchase fresh poultry, then we buy the day before cooking, not earlier. Better yet, negotiate and pick up right after the slaughter. In this case, we will get the freshest meat, the risk of poisoning is approaching zero. But it is not always possible to buy a fresh turkey, often you have to take a freeze. In this case, other problems appear.
Important! It is also advisable to buy frozen turkey before cooking. In the freezer, there may be no place for it, the bird is dimensional. Storage "on the balcony" or on the street is unacceptable! Fluctuations in temperature, even if it does not rise above zero, destroy meat, affect taste badly.
How to defrost a turkey:
- Fill the bird with cold water, leave it in the room, periodically change the liquid.
- Leave in the refrigerator for 7-12 hours. Then stand 1-3 hours in cold water.
You can’t just keep a bird at a temperature above 15 degrees. The carcass is large, while it is completely thawing inside, microbes will begin to multiply in the external tissues, spoilage and decay processes will start. And even more so, do not try to defrost a turkey in a microwave.
Preliminary processing
The purchased turkey must not only be thawed correctly, but also processed. We do this immediately before pickling and after thawing.
What is the processing:
- The washing up. In a normal sink, the bird may not fit, we use a large basin, you can immediately go to the bath and arm yourself with a shower.
- Plucking feathers. If there are a lot of them, then you can first burn.
- Cleansing the inside. Often blood clots, some intestines or other parts remain in the abdomen, all this must be removed.
By the way! The treated bird is wiped dry with paper. Drops of water should not remain, they interfere with the penetration of salt and other spices.
A few words about stuffing
Often turkey is stuffed, like chicken. Apples, porridge, some vegetables are thrust into the carcass. It is important not to do this in advance. The bird will begin to secrete juices, the fermentation process will begin, unnecessary compounds are formed for anyone. If you leave citruses in the bird for a long time, the meat will become bitter.
Another point - do not stuff the turkey with a tight filling. This will affect the cooking time, which can be five hours for an empty carcass.
American turkey: very simple, incredibly tasty
The famous American recipe. To prepare such a turkey, cast-iron cookware such as a cauldron with a grill at the bottom and a high capacious lid are used. If there is nothing like this, then you can take a baking sheet or a cauldron, put a stand on the bottom so that the bird does not touch the bottom, and seal the top with foil.
Ingredients
- turkey 6-7 kg;
- 400 g butter;
- 1 head of garlic;
- 2 bunches of parsley;
- 1 tbsp. l salts;
- 1 tsp ground pepper.
Cooking method
- Chop the butter and leave to soften. Then add greens, salt, ground pepper and garlic to it, stir.
- Separate 2/3 of the oil mixture. Raise the skin on the turkey breast, poke the cooked dressing. Put a little in the abdomen. The remaining mixture rub the bird on top.
- We place in a cauldron or in another dish with a lid. We cover.
- Put the turkey in the oven, cook for 3 hours at 150 degrees. Then remove the lid, raise the temperature to 200 degrees, leave for another 45 minutes.
Gentle turkey under the covers
An original Christmas bird recipe that always comes out. This option differs not only in additives, but also in the way of baking. The temperature in the oven does not rise, but decreases. A bird is preparing under a blanket of ordinary gauze, take a large piece.
Ingredients
- 5 kg of turkey;
- 200 g butter;
- 200 ml of white wine;
- salt, thyme, pepper, rosemary.
Cooking method
- Mix ground spices and salt. Grate the turkey inside and out first with spices and then half the butter.
- Wrap the wings under the back, tie the legs together, you can put inside the cut lemon or orange, a sprig of rosemary. We tie the skin on the neck so that the air does not pass.
- We heat the wine and the remaining oil so that it dissolves. Take a piece of marie, rolled up 6 times. Wet in wine, cover cooked bird.
- We put the turkey under gauze for half an hour in the oven, the temperature is 200 degrees.
- We take out the carcass. We do not remove the gauze, but soak it again with wine and oil, now we do it with a brush, just lubricate it.
- Put the bird in the oven again, cook 2.5 hours at 160 degrees. Then we remove the gauze blanket. If the turkey is not browned, you can again grease it with wine and bake for several minutes without coating.
There are many recipes for turkey with pre-marinating, soaking in salt water, sauces. It is believed that after such manipulations, the taste of the bird improves. This is a great option if there is still a lot of time before the holiday.
