Partial 1: unfreeze
1, put the turkey in the freezer to thaw. The United States Department of Agriculture suggests that every 2 kg of turkey needs to be thawed for 24 hours, which is safer and can be calculated according to the specific weight. Every 2 kg of turkey needs to be thawed for 24 hours. If you are worried about dripping water during thawing, you can put turkey in a baking tray and catch the water condensed on the packaging bag.
After the turkey is completely thawed, keep it in the refrigerator for more than 48 hours, otherwise the meat will go bad.
2. If you want to thaw and cook the turkey on the same day, soak every 0.45 kg of turkey in water for 30 minutes. Fill the sink or a big bowl with cold water, and soak the turkey directly in the water without unpacking. If the turkey weighs 7 kilograms, it must be soaked in cold water and thawed for 8 hours before cooking. Change the water every 30 minutes to ensure that the water is cold and the turkey is at a safe temperature. Drain the water from the sink or the bucket and pour in new cold water again.
3. If you want to thaw quickly, you can put it in the microwave oven and heat it for 6 minutes every 0.45 kg. Remove the packaging bag and put the turkey on a plate that can be safely used in the microwave oven. The specific thawing time depends on the weight of turkey and the power of microwave oven. During thawing in the microwave oven, make sure that the turntable under the turkey is rotating and turn it over several times. Cook immediately after thawing. Usually, you can find instructions on thawing turkey in the user manual of microwave oven, and you can also use "microwave oven brand" and "thawing turkey" as keywords to search online.
If the turkey starts to cook slowly instead of thawing during thawing, you should take it out quickly and let it stand for about 5 minutes before thawing.
Part 2: Cleaning and Seasoning
1, put your hand into the turkey and take out the internal organs. If you buy a turkey from a store, there may be a bag of internal organs or other organs in it. Put your hand into the belly between the legs of the turkey, grab everything inside, dig them out and set them aside. Some people will save their internal organs to make delicious gravy and then pour it on the turkey.
If you don't want to eat internal organs, you can throw them away immediately after taking them out.
2. Wipe off the excess water on the turkey with a dry paper towel. Sometimes after thawing, the turkey will get wet. Before seasoning the turkey, take a paper towel to dry the water, so that the seasoning can adhere to the chicken skin. The bacteria on the turkey will be destroyed during baking, so there is no need to clean it thoroughly now.
Do not rinse the turkey with running water or wipe the chicken with a kitchen rag. Water contaminated by bacteria drips or splashes everywhere, spreading bacteria throughout the kitchen.
3. If you want to bake a crispy skin, you can use dry salting. Use 0.5 teaspoon (2.5 ml) coarse Jewish salt, 1 tablespoon (15 ml) black pepper and 1 lemon peel per 0.45 kg turkey. After mixing, apply it to the whole turkey and marinate for at least 1 hour. Turkey can be marinated for up to 2 days before cooking, and even coated with marinade when thawing.
You can add more black pepper or other seasonings according to your own taste!
4. If you want to bake a moist and juicy skin, you can use the wet salting method. Put the turkey in a large pot, add 0.5 teaspoon (2.5 ml) coarse Jewish salt, 1 tablespoon (15 ml) black pepper and 1 lemon peel per 0.45 kg of turkey, and then pour in water until the turkey is clean. When the turkey is soaked in salt water, it can be put in the refrigerator to keep it at a safe temperature.
Expert tips
Alex Hong
Executive Chef Alex Hong Executive Chef and co-founder of Sorrel, a new American restaurant in San Francisco, USA. He has worked in the restaurant for over 10 years. Alex graduated from the American Culinary Institute and worked in Michelin-starred restaurants Jean-Georges and Quince kitchens.
Alex Hong
Executive chef
After soaking in salt water, let the chicken dry to bake a crisper skin. Alex Hong, executive chef of Sorrel restaurant, said, "To roast the perfect turkey, soak it in salt water overnight. This will make the meat tender and juicy, then put the turkey in the refrigerator and let it dry for a day. All the flavor and salt will remain in the meat, and then it will be baked in the oven, and the skin will be crisper. I like to bake it at a very high temperature for a while, and then turn down the temperature and cook it slowly. "
If you want to prepare some delicious side dishes to eat with the turkey, you can stuff the turkey with stuffing. Turkey stuffing is bread and some other ingredients, which can absorb turkey gravy. Mix 950 ml of engraved bread, 240 ml of celery (chopped) and 1 onion (chopped), and stuff it into the turkey by hand to fill the whole cavity. Turkey stuffed with stuffing needs to be roasted longer. If you stuff it, bake it for another 30 minutes.
6. Bundle the turkey to ensure that it is roasted evenly. Tie the turkey's legs and wings to the chicken with a rope. This will ensure that the whole turkey is roasted evenly. Use cooking string to fix the chicken wings on both sides of the chicken, and then wrap the string from under the chicken to the other end to tie the chicken legs together. Turkey stuffed with stuffing can also be tied to prevent stuffing from falling out of the cavity during baking.
source material
1 turkey
0.5 teaspoon (2.5 ml) coarse Jewish salt
1 tbsp (15ml) black pepper
1 lemon peel
6 cloves of garlic (peeled and crushed)
350 ml cider
350 ml dry white wine
1 onion (peeled and cut into quarters)
3 laurel leaves
240ml olive oil or melted butter.
950ml engraved bread (optional)
240ml celery (chopped, optional)
1 onion (chopped, optional)