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Let’s talk turkey.
I need a show of hands. Growing up, I thought the only people who placed a beautifully roasted bird on their table were the Huxtables. Seriously. Do real families do that?! Do you? (I couldn’t find the clip of the actual bird, but here’s a look at Theo’s practice round.)
Perhaps it’s because I’ve never attended a Thanksgiving dinner with fewer than 20 people, and the norm is more like 30-50, but we have never placed a bird on the table.
Here’s how my family does the turkey, and I know we’re not the only ones!
We bake and carve it ahead of time.
There you have it. That’s it!
Brine it, stuff it, roast it, deep-fry it… whatever suits your holiday fancy (we just pat with butter and sprinkle salt and pepper – cover with foil and bake on a low temperature until done). Just do it before Thanksgiving. After it’s cooked and cooled, go ahead and carve the bird.
Place the meat in a pan. Put a few pats of butter on it and a drizzle of turkey broth. Stick it in the fridge for a day or two. Warm in the oven (or an electric roaster) before serving on Thanksgiving Day.
Cooking the turkey ahead of time is a super simple concept with far-reaching benefits.
- No waiting on the “late” bird when everyone is starving.
- Delicious, moist, flavorful meat because it’s been distributing and soaking up juices for a while.
- No staring at a bird carcass during your lovely meal.
- No carcass mess or fuss on Thanksgiving day.
- The juices can be cooled, fat skimmed, and gravy made up… all ahead of time! Put the gravy in a crockpot to warm before the meal.
- Your oven can be used for other dishes on the big day.
- So easy to serve. If you serve from the table, just put the meat on a lovely platter with a big, fancy fork.
- Did I mention that your dinner won’t have to wait on the bird?!
- Shred some of the dark meat to use in your stuffing. Yum! (Provided, of course, that you don’t do your stuffing in the actual bird. I’ve never done that.)
- No stressing about timing everything just right, because the turkey is already done.
- No last minute panic when the turkey doesn’t come out right. You’ll know days in advance if adjustments need to be made.
- If you eat your Thanksgiving meal at noon, you don’t have to put a bird in the oven at 4 a.m.
I totally respect (and admire your beautiful pictures) those of you who have a decked-out Thanksgiving table, complete with a beautifully roasted bird. If that’s your tradition and it works for you, by all means, go for it!
As for the rest of you, nix the holiday stress and cook your bird early!
Now, for that show of hands, how do you do your bird?
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Yep, thanks for the confirmation! I cook the turkey the day before too (although I always feel slightly guilty). All of that mess is cleaned up and out of the way, and the broth keeps it moist.
I very much enjoyed the TV clip!
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My daughter is getting married in October 2010 and she wants a Thanksgiving dinner for her reception. So this is how we are doing it too. Her future MIL and I are cooking all the food – crazy I know!! But we are going to cook the turkeys the week before and then just re-heat on the big day.
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Growing up our dinner was always late. Sometimes some one else cooked the turkey and brought it to our house. Other times we did. Once we even had to have two turkeys. But it was always cooked on Thanksgiving day. If it wasn’t cooked at home it usually was still warm when arriving and placed directly into the oven.
When it was time for dinner it was carved by my mother and her sisters in the kitchen and placed on a platter (actually 2 – the adult table and the kids table).
After getting married to a hunter I made a late dinner for my husband so he could hunt as long as he could on Thanksgiving. I slow cooked it at 170 degrees (and could raise the temp if I needed to) for most of the day. I like having turkey leftovers so it would be an 18 – 20lb bird.
I’m not sure, but according to my old and trusty Good House Keeping cookbook, the turkey takes less time even when stuffed. And I know its cooked because I use a meat thermometer. And the meat just falls off the bones.
I would be afraid of drying out the turkey if it was cooked, cooled and reheated whole.
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Cook the turkey BEFORE Thanksgiving? Seriously, I have NEVER thought of that. But what an awesome idea!!!
Hmmm… you could probably steal a sandwich or two before the big day, as well, huh?
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What a great idea! I never though about that before. Of course, I will be at work the day before, but I still might try to convect the bird on Wednesday night. I have 22 to feed so that would definitely make things go smoother!
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Novice here, first year making a THanksgiving dinner with a two year old and an 8 month old under foot. What a great idea. How long does it take to reheat in the oven and on what tempature? Where do you get turkey broth, I have never seen it?
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This is such an awesome idea–why have I never heard of it before?!! I really have never had a problem with timing, but it’s always a pain making room in the oven and having everything hot. I will do it this way this year for sure. I think I’ll take a digital photo of my beautiful bird to print out display beside the serving tray.
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Why in the world on Thanksgiving would you NOT bring the beautifully cooked centerpiece turkey to the table to be sliced/served? Why deprive Dad of the chance to show off his carving skills? Why pass up the compliments you’ll receive for producing that beautiful bird?
Turkey is EASY to cook. VERY EASY, especially considering the huge “wow factor” that you get with it. If your bird is thawed, and if you calculate your cooking time, there’s no problem with it being late.
If our crowd is large, I do sometimes cook one turkey ahead of time (and slice it ahead of time), but I ALWAYS do the “show bird” the day of Thanksgiving.
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Amy Reply:
November 20th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Perhaps we don’t do a “show bird” because Thanksgiving isn’t about “show” for us. Also, I have no idea on which of the 5 or 6 tables we’d even put a bird. When hosting anywhere from 20-40 people, a buffet line is called for.
And the compliments… we get them every year. I guess maybe our family is more interested in taste than presentation.
So glad a show bird works for you, though! Knock yourself out!
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PERFECT! I don’t cook the turkey for big day (my mom does), but I am cooking one for our church dinner the Sunday before. They requested the turkey be off the bone to make serving the 32 turkeys easier. I was concerned about getting it cooked, off the bone and to church on time. Now, I’ll be cooking the bird Saturday, it will have time to cool and I’ll slice it off the bone and pop it in the fridge. Come Sunday evening, I’ll warm it up and off we go for a yummy dinner with friends.
Thanks so much for the tip!!!!
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That turkey looks so good.
I’m with you….I’ve never seen a full turkey at the table. Actually we always had a big Thanksgiving growing up with a ton of people, so there was always a buffet, and you’d just find somewhere to sit. There was no formal sit down type thing like they always have on tv shows.
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Genius. We usually have Thanksgiving with my in-laws, who are from another country. They did the bird once … now I do it and everything else. They usually want the carcass, so we’ve just taken everything over there for them. This year, I probably will still cook it Thanksgiving morning (in my roaster with a bag), but will slice it ahead of time and just put the carcass back in the oven bag for them. Then we won’t have to transport a whole bird.
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Stewbert Reply:
November 24th, 2009 at 3:01 am
@Stewbert, I realized that came out a little weird. The in-laws love celebrating Thanksgiving but the traditional food I grew up with is super important to me, and they buy everything premade. Mine tastes better, which they told me, so that’s why I do the bulk of it.
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Can you brine an already cooked but thawed out turkey?
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Amy Reply:
December 29th, 2009 at 11:39 am
I’ve only brined once, but my understanding is that it needs to be done before the turkey is cooked.
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WilliamB Reply:
December 30th, 2009 at 10:58 am
@Jody King, Seconding Amy: brining is done to the raw bird, then you cook it. FYI, the bird doesn’t need to be fully thawed before you brine it.
You can also dry brine: loosen the skin from the breast and thighs (if you can loosen the skin from the legs then I tip my hat to you!), rub the meat with salt, and let sit in the fridge for 12-24 hours. Use no more than 1 tablespoon of salt per 5 lbs of bird or the drippings will be too salty.
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