Pop Up Turkey Timers

How reliable are those pop up turkey timers that come with the turkey? They will pop when the internal temperature reaches 170-180 F which means a dry turkey. Your turkey needs to come out of the oven when the temperature is 160 because of carry over cooking. The bird maybe out of the oven but the internal heat will continue to cook the turkey and dry it out. Butterball turkey doesn’t use them because they will destroy their juicy turkey.

This year I invested in a digital meat thermometer. My old one moved very slowly and was bent. It has served me well thru the years and I only threw it across my kitchen once (that's when it got bent) when I burned my hand taking the bird out. In fact, I cursed like a drunken sailor but the thermometer got the worst of it and hasn't worked right since then. Did I mention that I scratched the paint on the wall too?

To find out if your turkey is cooked, stick a meat thermometer in the meatiest part of the bird. Because of presentation, I don't like to puncture the top of the breast and stick it on the side of the breast. An ideal temperature is 165 F. for a nice juicy bird. Remembering carry over cooking, I normally take the turkey out at 160 F and let it rest.

If there's an "oops" no worries, cut your turkey after it cools and serve the slices in gravy. The gravy will re-hydrate the turkey and keep it juicy. No one will know but you! You may want to put the exhaust fan on to get ride of the black smoke. If you're serving a blacken turkey put some Cajun spice on it and tell everyone you tried something new this year. They'll be so impressed that you went outside the box and served blacken turkey. No one will know that it's internal temperature was almost 200 and it was burnt!

Carving the turkey is as personal as finding the right color for your house. Some like to take the breast off in one piece and slice it from there. I'm old school and slice the bird after it cools, as one unit. First the legs come off and the thigh is separated from the drummer. Wings are next and I start to slice the breast in thin slices. After all the meat is off the breasts, I flip the bird and harvest the best part of the turkey, the oysters. The bones are saved to make turkey stock or soup. Nothing is wasted in my house.

It's all good in your kitchen and you can slice your bird anyway you choose. Food is a side note, the most important thing is that you stay safe. This year has been a challenge and the "norms" are out the window. Stay in your own family pod and give thanks that everyone is healthy. Maybe drop a dish to a neighbor or friend that is alone this year.

Happy Thanksgiving!