Ok! So you have your turkey and now you need to cook it! I really am of the thinking to keep it simple.
First of all - keep your bird cold. If you bought a fresh turkey from us then put it in your extra fridge if you have one or in the back of your regular fridge. Setting it on the edge of the door where the warm air is going to hit it every time you open the fridge door is not good. It needs to be kept cold.
The day you are cooking your turkey take it out of the fridge , place it in your sanitized sink, cut the plastic and run nice cold water over it. Take out your gizard etc and keep for gravy or discard.
I have a roasting pan for turkeys that has a rack in the bottom but I did for years just set my turkey on a bed of onions if you like. It prevents it from sticking to the bottom - You will have to strain or use a hand blender to smooth out the gravy but it makes a tasty gravy .
I season my bird with a variety of dried herbs; sage, basil, thyme, salt and pepper. I also do the inside of the cavity. I do not stuff my bird. I like it to be cooked to just 155 internal temp. and if you stuff it - it has to be 165. I find this over cooks the white meat.
I do not baste my turkey, I cover it and go by the JD Farms turkey guide
http://jdfarms.ca/roasting-guide/
This seems to work very well. I also check my turkey about an hour before it is supose to be done as sometimes it seems to cook a bit faster. I pull it out at 155 internal temp. tent it over with tinfoil and make my gravy. I also save ALL the carcass for soup - nothing better than turkey soup!
And that is my advice on - Cooking your Christmas Turkey!
First of all - keep your bird cold. If you bought a fresh turkey from us then put it in your extra fridge if you have one or in the back of your regular fridge. Setting it on the edge of the door where the warm air is going to hit it every time you open the fridge door is not good. It needs to be kept cold.
The day you are cooking your turkey take it out of the fridge , place it in your sanitized sink, cut the plastic and run nice cold water over it. Take out your gizard etc and keep for gravy or discard.
I have a roasting pan for turkeys that has a rack in the bottom but I did for years just set my turkey on a bed of onions if you like. It prevents it from sticking to the bottom - You will have to strain or use a hand blender to smooth out the gravy but it makes a tasty gravy .
I season my bird with a variety of dried herbs; sage, basil, thyme, salt and pepper. I also do the inside of the cavity. I do not stuff my bird. I like it to be cooked to just 155 internal temp. and if you stuff it - it has to be 165. I find this over cooks the white meat.
I do not baste my turkey, I cover it and go by the JD Farms turkey guide
http://jdfarms.ca/roasting-guide/
This seems to work very well. I also check my turkey about an hour before it is supose to be done as sometimes it seems to cook a bit faster. I pull it out at 155 internal temp. tent it over with tinfoil and make my gravy. I also save ALL the carcass for soup - nothing better than turkey soup!
And that is my advice on - Cooking your Christmas Turkey!