“Day Ahead” Turkey Recipe

Instructions

1. This recipe makes a really great turkey and also alleviates some of the stress on Thanksgiving day.
2. • Buy an “External Read Thermometer” You can get one at Bed Bath and Beyond, Target or Wal-Mart for $20 to $35 dollars. The beauty of this device is that you stick it into a roast and you can watch the progress of the cooking without having to open the oven. They are also digital so there is no confusion on what the temperature is. One big benefit is that you will know where you are. So if the roast is cooking too fast you can turn down the oven temperature. If it is going too slow, turn the oven up.
3. • The day before the dinner prepare the turkey as recommended and the place it in a roasting pan breast side up.
4. • Insert your external read thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh trying to have the end of the probe in the middle of the thickest part being careful to not have it touch the bone
5. • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
6. • Cook the turkey to 75% doneness. A fully cooked turkey is cooked to 165 degrees so your goal is 125 degrees. A fully cooked turkey takes 2 hours and 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Correspondingly, your cook time to 75% doneness is 1 hour and 50 minutes. Your external read thermometer trumps the time method.
7. • Take the turkey out of the pan and let it cool on the carving board.
8. • Drain off the drippings from the pan reserving a cup of the good drippings (without fat) to make gravy, saving the rest of the drippings for later.
9. • Cut the turkey into quarters using a sharp knife. The result will be 4 pieces. Two breast with bones and two thigh/leg quarters
10. • Place the quarters back in the roasting pan laying them flat with the bone side down.
11. • Add back the remaining drippings to the bottom of the roasting pan getting liquid to a little less than a half an inch. You made need to add some chicken stock to get the liquid close to the half inch level
12. • Cover the pan with aluminum foil and place it in the refrigerator over night.
13. • Three hours before dinner pull the turkey out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temp
14. • Place your external read thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh.
15. • Preheat the oven to 250 degrees
16. • Two and a half hours before serving place the turkey in.
17. • Here is where your external read thermometer makes it work. Your goal is 165 degrees. A half hour before serving you should be getting close.
18. • Thirty minutes before serving I bring the oven temp up to 365 degrees and insert my stuffing.
19. • Watching where you are with the turkey temp and stuffing doneness you can bring the temp up or down or pull the turkey out altogether f you are up to 165 degrees.
20. • When it is time to serve take the turkey out and let it rest for 10 minutes.
21. • When carving the turkey, A "chef trick” i learned was to take the whole breast off the bone. This makes it easier to cut the turkey following the grain of the meat into uniform slice sizes.
22. • Another benefit of this approach is that you can make the gravy well ahead using the cup of drippings reserved from day one and chicken stock, butter and flour following traditional recipes.
23. We have used this approach a few times and really like it because:
24. • Makes it easier on the big day
25. • You get a really moist and easy turkey
26. • The gravy is made ahead of time
27. • You get to use the oven for other side dishes because the turkey is cut into quarters and lies flat in the pan, taking up less room