Roast Turkey

Roast Turkey

With the Holidays approaching, you may be fretting over how to cook a traditional roast turkey. Don’t worry, Dinner’s Late has your back!

The a whole roast turkey can be a daunting dish to tackle. It is large and takes a long time to cook, but with planning and patience you have nothing to fear. Roasting a whole bird is a very passive cook and following this recipe will have you looking like a Holiday Hero while taking it easy.

White vs. Dark Meat

The biggest difference between light and dark meat is which part of the turkey the meat is coming from. Dark meat contains more myoglobin, which is a protein in the muscle tissue that helps carry oxygen. In poultry, the dark meat coms from the legs (drumstick) and thighs. White meat comes from the breasts, breast tenders, and wings.

Roast Turkey Timing

This will be the most time consuming and nerve wracking part of planning your holiday meal. There are two things to consider, defrosting and cook times. There is nothing worse than finding your bird still frozen or explaining to guests that dinner’s late because your bird is not up to temperature yet. Despite this websites title, some simple planning will have everything running on time.

Defrosting

When defrosting, it is important to do it safely. If you are working with a frozen bird, this may take a few days. Three days prior to cooking, I like to move a 12 lb frozen bird to the refrigerator and let it defrost without getting above 40 degree.

Roasting

When roasting, it is safe to plan a half hour for prep work and about 15 minutes of roasting time for each pound of bird. Once the bird is in the oven and roasting, I like to check the temperature every half hour just before basting the bird. Most turkeys come with a small red thermometer sunk into the breast of the bird. I usually leave mine in, but I do not trust it. I take all my temperature readings with a digital thermometer. It is important to get your bird to 165 degrees to avoid making people sick, so if you get a late start it is much better to just have dinner late.

Roast Turkey Pro Tips:

1. Dark meat is much more forgiving when cooking. It is much easier to keep the dark meat tender and moist as you roast a bird and it does better in higher temperatures. Because of this, you should place your bird with the dark meat in the back of the oven, where your oven is hottest, to avoid applying too much heat to the white meat sections of the bird. The dark meat will reach a higher temperature before the white meat reaches 165 degrees this way, but the dark meat should not dry out.
2. When planning your get together, plan on one pound of uncooked turkey per person. A 12 pound turkey served with sides should be enough meat for 12 people.