How do you prep a turkey for baking?

Answer

I'm assuming it's a store bought turkey. Remove the wrapper, and then reach up into the cavity between the legs, there is usually a package of "giblets" the neck and whatnot. Remove them, but save them if u want to use them to make a tasty gravy. Then rub your turkey down with butter, stuff it if you wish, season if you wish(salt and pepper usually work great), and place it in the pan. Don't forget to cover it with foil, and to place some water in the pan. You should baste it throughout the baking time so you get a moist and yummy turkey dinner.

All that stuff is fine. One more thing you ought to do with turkey, chicken, some seafood and pork is brining. Essentially, this involves soaking the meat in a salt water solution prior to cooking. This results in a juicier, more flavorful meat, especially with hot, dry cooking methods. Specific instructions for brining your turkey can be found in many good food science or cookbooks.

It is usually a terrible idea to stuff a turkey. You can make yourself very ill and this usually dries out the turkey. I usually put a carrot, an onion, a small apple and a celery stick in my turkey to add flavour and moisture to the bird while it cooks. I also oil my turkey but I prefer to use an oil with a higher smoke point like peanut or canola because butter browns at a low temperature and does not stand up well to a long roasting (olive oil will have the same problem. Brining is wonderful, it flavours your bird and keeps it moist, basting cannot do that. Basting just keeps the skin from crisping. And one more thing, insert an oven safe thermometer into the turkey before putting it in the oven, if it has a large dial or is a probe that has a dial outside the bird you can keep an eye on how your turkey is doing.

Answer

The best turkey on earth: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/11/24/FDG819VBSR1.DTL

• How do you make kiwi jelly?
• What is the best way to season a wild turkey?
• How to made milk freshcream?