With safety in mind, we have decided to stay home for Thanksgiving, and wanting to keep the tradition alive, we decided to cook our very own (pause for dramatic effect) turkey. While feeling completely overwhelmed by the thought of prepping, basting, and carving a turkey, we decided to do the most reasonable thing: We Googled it!
Here’s a list of some helpful tips we’ve discovered:
- Everyone hates a dried-out turkey so you’ll need to add some fat to help keep it juicy. Herb butter is definitely the way to go and it’s basically soft unsalted butter mixed with chopped rosemary, thyme, sage, salt, and pepper. You can make small cuts in the skin on top of the turkey and smooth out the butter underneath the skin. By adding chopped pieces of bacon to the butter also adds some fat and a delicious smoky flavor to the turkey.
- Some people might not like the next one but by cooking the stuffing in the turkey can actually dry out the turkey because you need to cook it longer to ensure the stuffing is cooked all the way. Rather stuff the turkey with some carrots, onions, lemon, and apple to enhance the flavor.
- Keep basting to a minimum to prevent hot air from escaping the oven multiple times.
- Lastly, when the turkey is finally cooked, don’t underestimate the power of resting the turkey for a good 15 minutes while covered in foil.
While cooking our own thanksgiving dinner is slightly daunting, cooking it in our spacious and well-equipped kitchen is definitely a great experience worth being thankful for. From our family at HighPoint apartments to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!
