The palatability and juiciness of ready-made meat dishes depends on many conditions. For example, in order to enjoy delicious turkey meat, you need to properly prepare the turkey marinade, which is a determining factor in the quality of the future food.
When going outdoors, many are faced with a choice: what meat to choose? Pork is fatty, and lamb has a specific taste... In this case, you should try dietary turkey, but keep in mind that it will need to be properly marinated.
For 2 kg of the main product you will need:
- ½ l kefir;
- ½ kg of onion;
- 1 kg bell pepper;
- 100 g tomato paste;
- salt and spices.
Cooking steps:
- Equal pieces are prepared from fillets that have been pre-washed and dried with paper towels.
- The fermented milk product is kept on the table for about 1 hour until it reaches room temperature.
- In a bowl, mix kefir and tomato paste until smooth.
- Onion heads are cut into thick half rings.
- The pepper is washed well under running water, freed from the core and seeds, and then cut into pieces 4 cm thick.
- All crushed ingredients are mixed and seasoned with sauce, in which the meat is marinated for 5 hours.
Before roasting over coals, turkey meat should be salted to taste.
For baking in the oven
To prevent the baked turkey from coming out too dry, you should marinate it first. In addition, the dressing will make the product especially aromatic and rich in taste.
Ingredients for one turkey leg:
- 60 ml each of pomegranate juice, balsamic vinegar and soy sauce;
- 15 ml lemon juice;
- Provencal herbs;
- salt and ground pepper.
Sequence of preparing marinade for turkey in the oven:
- The loin is separated from the bone and cut into 80 g cubes.
- The turkey meat is sprinkled with salt and seasonings.
- All liquid products are mixed in a bowl, after which the resulting mixture is poured over the meat.
- The turkey is marinated for 3 hours, after which it is baked in a sleeve for 40 minutes at a temperature of 180 °C.
Before baking in this way, punctures must be made in the sleeve.
The most delicious pan frying recipe
The recipe for this marinade takes into account the specifics of cooking in a frying pan, after which the meat may turn out to be tough and dry.
To make it as aromatic and juicy as possible, just prepare:
- lemon;
- 80 ml sunflower oil;
- 5 g cumin;
- ½ garlic head;
- a little salt.
Sequence of steps:
- The zest is peeled from the lemon, which should be at least 10 g.
- Then a shot of juice is squeezed out of the citrus.
- The resulting ingredients are mixed in a bowl and supplemented with oil and cumin.
- Fillet pieces are prepared from parts of the bird, which are immediately filled with aromatic dressing.
- The container is refrigerated for 3 hours.
Turkey meat is fried in a hot frying pan with vegetable oil until cooked, indicated by a golden crust.
Marinade for turkey steak
First of all, you should buy 1 kg of fillet, which produces the juiciest steaks.
When the meat is purchased, all that remains is to prepare the ingredients for the marinade:
- 30 g mustard seeds;
- 20 g peppercorns;
- 36 g of a mixture of herbs (oregano, marjoram, basil);
- 20 ml olive oil;
- a little salt;
- 50 ml sunflower oil.
Sequence of actions:
- The fillet is cut into equal pieces 2 cm thick, which are then lightly beaten with the blunt side of a hammer.
- All the listed ingredients are mixed in a bowl, except for vegetable oil - it will be used for frying.
- Meat steaks are rubbed with marinade and sent to the refrigerator.
- The turkey is fried for 3 minutes on each side over intense heat, and then at lower heat until cooked, which will be indicated by a uniform golden color.
You should start marinating the meat 2-4 hours before cooking the dish in a frying pan.
How to marinate poultry fillet
Turkey is a dietary variety of white meat that is rich in nutrients and at the same time devoid of fatty layers. You can prepare a great variety of healthy dishes from it, and to make them tasty, you should use one of the marinade recipes that makes turkey juicy and tender.
Ingredients for preparing dressing for 1 kg of meat:
- 340 g mayonnaise;
- 3 onions;
- a little salt, ground pepper and nutmeg.
Step-by-step cooking instructions:
- The fillet is cut across the grain to produce slices 3 cm thick.
- The bulbs are finely chopped in a convenient way.
- In a small container, mix onion pieces, spices, salt and classic mayonnaise without additives.
- The meat slices are well coated with the resulting dressing.
If the meat is cooked in a frying pan, it should sit for about 1 - 2 hours, but for baking in foil there is no need to wait.
For the turkey wings
A delicious marinade with soy sauce will allow you to enjoy a delicious dish reminiscent of oriental cuisine. It is characterized by richness and brightness of both aroma and taste, which make such dishes very popular all over the world. Do you want dinner with a special oriental flavor?
Then, if there are 600 - 700 g of wings in the refrigerator, you should additionally look for:
- 30 ml soy sauce;
- 15 g honey;
- 1 orange;
- ½ garlic head;
- ½ bunch of greens;
- salt and pepper.
The sequence of basic steps for bringing the recipe to life:
- The garlic head is disassembled into cloves, which are crushed with a knife or passed through a press or pounded in a mortar.
- Honey is melted in a steam bath or in a microwave oven.
- Juice is squeezed out of an orange.
- Prepared honey, soy sauce, garlic gruel, salt, pepper and orange juice are mixed in a bowl.
- The wings are placed in the resulting dressing, coated well with it and marinated for 2 hours.
- To prepare, use a baking dish greased with vegetable oil, which is sent along with the wings to an oven preheated to 180 °C for 45 minutes.
When serving, the wings should be decorated with chopped herbs, which will add flavor and freshness to the dish.
Marinate turkey drumstick
Relatively affordable are turkey drumsticks, which, when properly prepared, turn out to be especially appetizing. According to this recipe, it is recommended to cook such parts of the carcass on the grill in order to surprise your household and guests with juicy meat with a sweetish-fruity flavor.
To prepare the most delicious marinade, you should take:
- 40 ml cherry syrup;
- 50 ml liquid honey;
- 1 lemon;
- 20 g basil;
- a little salt.
How to bring the recipe to life:
- The marinade is prepared by heating honey in a steam bath with the addition of cherry syrup and juice from ½ lemon.
- The shins are rubbed with salt, after which they are covered with the resulting liquid composition, in which they remain for 60 minutes.
- After the specified time, the meat parts are placed on the grill, where they are crushed with basil and cooked for about 30 - 40 minutes (depending on the size).
Other parts of the turkey carcass can be marinated in a similar sauce according to the cook’s preferences.
Every housewife should know that there is no such thing as dry meat. It all depends on the preliminary preparation. If you choose the right marinade and marinating time, then any part of the meat carcass will be very appetizing and tasty.
Good day, dear friends and readers of my blog! Well, the long-awaited spring has arrived. Summer is just around the corner, and therefore dietary food is especially relevant now. This is what turkey meat is like. You can prepare a large number of different, delicious dishes from it. So, the topic of our article today: delicious turkey marinade and recipes.
According to nutritionists, such meat is very healthy and easily digestible by the body. For those who want to lose weight, low-calorie turkey is the best option. Turkey meat contains only 114 kcal, 23.7 grams of protein, and 1.5 grams of fat. In addition to being a valuable source of protein, it contains the following nutrients:
- B vitamins including niacin and pyridoxine. Niacin aids digestion and converts food into energy. And vitamin B6 is important for the development of the child’s brain during pregnancy, maintaining immunity and metabolism.
- Selenium, which plays an important role in the metabolism of thyroid hormones and acts as an antioxidant. If you eat 100 grams of meat, you will get 40% of your daily requirement.
- Phosphorus – This mineral is used in building healthy bones and teeth. Turkey contains about 25% of the recommended amount per day.
Turkey thigh baked in orange marinade
Believe me, it is very tasty and aromatic. I had never worked with orange before, but now I started adding it to poultry meat.
Take the following ingredients:
- 1 kg turkey thighs;
- orange juice and zest (can be replaced with lemon);
- 120 ml sour cream or yogurt;
- 1 teaspoon mustard;
- small head of garlic
- 50 g butter (chilled);
- 50 ml olive oil;
- a little thyme and rosemary;
- salt and spices to taste (for example, black pepper and a little chili).
Wash turkey thighs and dry. We make a shallow cut along the thigh bone. Rub with salt and pepper. Grind the spices (you can do this in a mortar). And mix thoroughly with orange juice, olive oil and mustard. Rub the resulting marinade over the turkey meat. Place hermetically in a bag and refrigerate. We forget about it for at least an hour, ideally 4-5 hours.
Then, we get rid of the package. We make punctures in the thigh with a knife and coat them with sour cream or yogurt. We make cuts so that the turkey is well saturated with the marinade. If this is not done, the fibrous structure of the bird will not be saturated from the inside.
Push small pieces of cold butter into the slits. This will give the meat even more juiciness. Place the meat in the baking sleeve. I used to make such dishes in foil, but now I prefer the sleeve :) We also put rosemary, zest, thyme and garlic there. I wanted to add some vegetables, so I added eggplant and yellow bell pepper.
Close the sleeve and place in a preheated oven at 200°C. After 20 minutes, reduce the temperature to 160°C. Bake for another 35-50 minutes, depending on the size of the thigh. Ten minutes before readiness, open the sleeve to form a golden brown crust.
The side dish can be whatever you like: mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes, rice, baked vegetables. I just had boiled potatoes. Be prepared to be patient while waiting for the dish to finish cooking - throughout the baking process. A simply divine aroma wafts through the house :)
Marinate turkey fillet for barbecue
If it’s frosty outside, but you really want to cook kebabs, make them at home. By the way, we will not add salt to this marinade. Let's add soy sauce instead. For a kilo of fillet you will need the following components:
- large head of onion;
- 5 cloves of garlic;
- 2 tbsp vinegar 9%;
- 100 ml water;
- 1 tbsp. smoked smoke;
- 3 tbsp. soy sauce.
First of all, cut the meat into equal pieces and place in a pan. Grate the onion on a coarse grater. This way the juice will be released much more than if it were chopped. Add onion and chopped garlic to the meat.
Dilute the vinegar with water and pour it over the turkey. Leave for 30 minutes. Once marinated, add a spoonful of liquid smoke and soy sauce. Leave for another half hour.
Thread 3-4 pieces of meat onto each skewer. Heat the oil and place the skewers in the pan. Once browned, turn it over to the other side.
If you barbecue outdoors, make pickled onion salad. Take 1.5 large onions, chop them into half rings. Place in a deep bowl, add salt and remember well with your hands. Then chop the green onions and add to the onions. Mix well with a spoon. From the spices, add another 1 tablespoon of sugar and 9% vinegar. While the kebab is cooking, the salad will marinate. And before serving, add a little olive oil.
Fillet on kefir with mint for the oven
I found this recipe on a culinary forum. The girls praised me very much and it turned out that it was not in vain. I slightly changed the composition to suit my taste, it turned out incredibly tasty!
Required ingredients:
- 300-400 g turkey fillet;
- 250 ml kefir (2.5% fat);
- lemon;
- a small handful of fresh chopped mint;
- salt.
Divide the turkey fillet into four parts, beat it a little and add salt. Squeeze the juice from the lemon and remove the zest. Mix juice, zest, mint and kefir. Generously coat the fillets with this marinade and leave in the refrigerator for several hours.
Place in a baking dish, pour in the remaining marinade. Place in an oven preheated to 180°C for 40 minutes. The fillet turns out very tender, and the mint adds a piquant flavor. Bon appetit!
Grilled turkey fillet
This marinating option will be useful if you have a grill pan. For one fillet weighing 400 grams you will need the following ingredients:
- half a lemon
- 3 tbsp. olive oil (or sunflower);
- 2-3 cloves of garlic;
- ¼ tsp. cumin;
- ¼ tsp. dry oregano;
- salt (or 2 tbsp soy sauce);
- pepper to taste.
The meat will marinate for only 2 hours. First, remove the tendons and cut the fillets into portions for grilling. Then lightly beat each portion. In a deep bowl, mix the marinade from the juice of half a lemon, chopped garlic, oregano, cumin and salt and pepper. Place the fillet pieces in the marinade and leave in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.
Set the heat to medium and heat the grill pan. No additional oil is needed, because it is in the marinade. Place the steaks. Cook on each side for 2-3 minutes. Although look at the appearance of the meat to determine the degree of roasting.
New Year drumstick with soy sauce
Very soft and juicy legs. They will become a decoration for any holiday table!
For 2 turkey drumsticks you will need:
- 130 ml soy sauce;
- 1 liter of white wine (you can use the simplest one);
- 1 small head of garlic;
- red pepper or adjika - to taste;
- salt and allspice - to taste.
Wash the turkey drumsticks and pat dry. Make punctures over the entire surface. Coat with garlic passed through a garlic press (try to get it into the holes).
Heat the wine (do not bring to a boil). Add half of the prepared amount: peppercorns, adjika, salt, 130 ml soy sauce. Cool.
Soak the turkey in the resulting mixture for 6-10 hours and leave in the refrigerator. The longer the better. To reduce wine consumption, you can put the drumsticks in a bag, pour marinade over them and tie them up. Turn over periodically.
After the time has passed, remove from the marinade and rub with the remaining salt, adjika, and pepper. Bake in an oven preheated to 200˚C for about an hour. We check readiness like this: if, when pierced (with a knife or fork), clear juice comes out - it’s ready. Turn over once during baking to ensure golden brown on both sides.
Breast for baking in a sleeve
The recipe, although it seems complicated, is simple to prepare. Any housewife can do it! For a breast weighing 1 kilogram, the following ingredients are needed:
- 2-3 tbsp. l. olive oil;
- 1 PC. onions (chopped);
- 2 tbsp. l. balsamic vinegar;
- 2 l. Art. cream 30% fat;
- 1 tsp. salt;
- pepper, dry garlic, chili - to taste;
- 1 tbsp. l. dry spices (for example, “Italian herbs”);
- bouillon cube;
- 300 ml water;
- 1 tbsp. l. potato starch.
Wash the turkey and dry it with a paper towel or napkin. In a container, mix: olive oil, herbs, salt, pepper, chili, garlic and chopped onion. Coat the breast well with the resulting mixture.
Place it in the sleeve and fill it with a bouillon cube dissolved in water. Tie the sleeve and make a couple of small punctures. Place in an oven preheated to 180˚C for 50 minutes.
After removing the turkey from the sleeve, strain the broth. Add balsamic vinegar, cream and starch to it. Learn a very tasty addition. Serve the breast with prepared vegetable cream sauce. Delicious!
I am pleased to present to your attention an excellent marinade for turkey in the oven. Of course, there are many marinades, and I like to experiment with them. Shortly before the New Year, I came across a marinade recipe that I immediately wanted to try. I was pleased with the result, and I decided to cook turkey in this marinade for the New Year's table. Since then I’ve already cooked this way several times, it always turns out great, so I feel free to share this recipe with you. You can marinate either a whole turkey or individual parts of it. Depending on the size of the bird, the amount of marinade should be increased.
To marinate a turkey for baking in the oven, you need to immediately prepare all the necessary products.
The orange should be washed thoroughly with warm water. Then cut crosswise into 4 parts, then into pieces.
Place the orange slices in a saucepan, add sugar and add water.
Place the saucepan on the fire, bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. Then cool the syrup.
In a separate container, mix soy sauce with mustard, squeeze the garlic through a press.
Mix all ingredients thoroughly.
Add the cooled orange syrup to the container with mustard, soy sauce and garlic. We will also need orange slices.
The marinade for the turkey in the oven is ready. Place any turkey parts into a pan. Pour over the prepared marinade. Place orange slices on top. Cover the mold with film and place in the refrigerator for 10-12 hours. A couple of times during this time you can turn the bird over in the pan so that it is saturated with the marinade as best as possible.
Turkey before roasting.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Cover the pan with turkey with foil and bake for 1.5 hours. Then remove the foil and brown the bird to the desired crust color.
This is such a delicious bird.
Bon appetit!
The turkey marinade adds a nice flavor to the dish. It can be made from mayonnaise, soy sauce, pomegranate juice or champagne.
Turkey marinade can be made from mustard and soy sauce.
- Number of servings: 5
- Preparation time: 24 minutes
- Cooking time: 30 minutes
Soft turkey in marinade
We offer you a very simple recipe for poultry breast or thigh steaks.
- Grate the onion or pass it through a meat grinder. Mix it with sparkling water, olive oil, adjika, salt and spices.
- Cut the turkey fillet into pieces 2-2.5 cm thick, cover them with cling film and beat them with a hammer.
- Dip the pieces in the marinade, then put them in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
- 1 hour before cooking, add ketchup to the sauce and stir the meat.
- Bake the dish in the oven at 190°C for 30 minutes.
Serve the dish with vegetable salad.
Marinade for turkey in the oven
Meat marinated in a fragrant sauce has a distinct taste.
Ingredients:
- turkey leg – 1 pc.;
- pomegranate juice – 60 g;
- balsamic vinegar -60 g;
- soy sauce -60 g;
- lemon juice – 15 g;
- Provençal herbs - to taste;
- ground pepper and salt - to taste.
- Remove the skin from the leg, cut the meat into large pieces weighing 50-80 g. The bone can be put in the refrigerator to later make broth from it.
- Mix meat with salt, herbs and spices.
- Combine soy sauce, pomegranate and lemon juice in a bowl.
- Pour the marinade over the meat and place it in the refrigerator for 3 hours.
- Place the pieces in a baking bag and pour in the sauce. Tie the edges of the bag and make holes for steam to escape.
- Bake the dish for 40 minutes in an oven preheated to 180°C.
The dish goes well with salted vegetables.
Turkey marinated in champagne
We invite you to prepare a beautiful dish for the holiday table.
Ingredients:
- turkey – 1 pc.;
- oranges – 3 pcs.;
- champagne – 1 bottle;
- butter – 120 g;
- lemon zest – 60 g;
- ground ginger – 60 g;
- Provençal herbs - to taste;
- salt - to taste.
- Mix herbs, zest, ginger and salt.
- Rub the turkey with spices inside and out and leave for 3 hours.
- Place the bird in a tight bag and fill it with champagne. Place the dough in the refrigerator for 12 hours.
- Cut 1 orange into cubes and stuff the turkey. Sew up the hole or pin it with toothpicks.
- Brush the bird with oil, place it in the pan and cover with a lid. Bake it at 300°C for 2 hours. After that, open the pan and cook the bird for another 1 hour. Periodically baste the carcass with the released juice.
- Cut the remaining fruit into rings and place them on the turkey. Turn off the heat and leave the bird in the oven for another 10 minutes.
Serve the dish hot.
Slightly forgotten during times of total shortage, turkey is again increasingly becoming the main dish of a good holiday table, and in our regular daily menu, turkey dishes are again beginning to take their rightful place. After all, despite the fact that thanks to American cinema today we most often associate turkey with the American holiday Thanksgiving, this tasty bird was known in Russia long before the advent of American films. Already at the beginning of the 13th century, a wide variety of recipes for preparing “Indian chicken” appeared in Russian cookbooks. Even today, a juicy, soft, aromatic fried turkey becomes a real source of pride for the housewife who managed to cook it. But, unfortunately, expectations do not always correspond to reality, in which an improperly cooked turkey turns out dry and tasteless. To save you from unnecessary hassle and disappointment, today we invite you to work with us to figure out and remember how to cook a turkey soft and juicy.
A well-cooked turkey is not only extremely tasty and flavorful, but also very healthy. It is not for nothing that the meat of this bird is considered one of the most dietary among all meat products. Low fat content, and therefore very low cholesterol content, makes turkey an indispensable product for those who adhere to weight loss diets. In addition, the protein of turkey meat is absorbed much better than the protein of chicken and even rabbit meat, which means turkey fills you up much faster. Of course, turkey meat is an excellent source of many microelements. Among them are almost all B vitamins, vitamin A, E and K, sodium, magnesium, phosphorus, etc. But what is even more important is that turkey meat is hypoallergenic, which means it is perfect for baby food and for feeding pregnant and nursing mothers, and even for feeding patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
However, you and I are much more interested in the culinary qualities of this tasty bird. A wide variety of dishes are prepared from turkey. It is fried and baked, boiled and stewed, turkey is cooked in batter and deep-fried, turkey makes excellent kebabs and grilled dishes. And yet, the main, most common and favorite way of preparing a holiday turkey, of course, was and remains baking the whole bird carcass. And this is where the problem often arises, when improperly cooked poultry comes out too dry and tough. Many housewives who do not yet feel confident in the kitchen are disappointed by such a failure and even force them to completely exclude turkey from their menu. And completely in vain. After all, cooking a tasty, juicy and soft turkey is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. It is enough just to understand the intricacies of choice and small culinary tricks of preparing this bird.
Today the Culinary Eden website has collected and recorded for you the most important tips and culinary secrets that will definitely help you and tell you how to cook a turkey soft and juicy.
1. When choosing a turkey, try, if possible, to pay attention to the bird that is chilled and not frozen. Steamed, chilled turkey always turns out more flavorful and juicy. If you can only buy a frozen carcass in your store, then defrost it correctly: thaw the turkey as slowly as possible, placing it in the lower compartment of the refrigerator. This slow defrosting will allow you to retain most of the moisture, making the bird more juicy and tender. In addition, when buying a turkey, choose a smaller carcass: the simplest rule for choosing any bird works perfectly here - the younger the bird you choose, the more tender and softer its meat will be, and therefore the dish prepared from it. By the way, it will take much less time to cook a turkey of small size and weight.
2. Of course, before purchasing, be sure to make sure the bird you choose is fresh. A good fresh turkey has moist, tender skin with a light, slightly yellowish tint. The weathered skin of a turkey will tell you that it was improperly stored and is far from being fresh; excessively rough skin and excessive yellowness will tell you that the seller is being cunning, trying to sell you an old bird. The meat of such a turkey will be tough and dry. Be sure to smell the bird you choose before purchasing. A good fresh turkey has a pleasant, sweet smell. Any foreign odors, the smell of ammonia or mustiness will tell you that the bird being offered to you is no longer fresh - nothing tasty can be prepared from a spoiled turkey. Be sure to inspect the turkey carcass before purchasing. A good fresh bird will delight you with plump breasts and legs with dense and elastic meat. Press your finger into the turkey at the meatiest part - the indentation left by your finger should disappear immediately. If the hole remains for a long time after pressing, there is a high probability that you are being offered a stale turkey or a turkey that has been frozen and thawed again more than once.
3. Be sure to soak the turkey in salt water before you cook it. This culinary technique will not only saturate the bird carcass with additional moisture, but will also allow the turkey meat to be evenly salted inside. Here it is only important to correctly calculate the amount of salt in the brine and the soaking time. For a whole turkey carcass, you need to take 400 grams per four liters of water. coarse salt, soak a whole turkey carcass in this brine for 12 hours. If you want to cook only part of the turkey, for example, only the breasts or wings, then prepare the brine at the rate of 50 g. salt per liter of water, and the soaking time for individual parts is calculated based on two to three hours for every 500 grams. bird weight. The brine is prepared as follows: water is brought to a boil, all the salt is dissolved in hot water, and then the brine is cooled to room temperature. Soak the turkey in the already cooled brine. In addition to salt, when preparing the brine, you can add your favorite herbs and spices to it, which will make your turkey even more tasty and aromatic. To make poultry meat especially tender, instead of water to prepare the brine, you can use carbonated mineral water, beer or apple cider. Of course, in this case, the salt will have to be diluted without heating the liquid.
4. Remove the well-soaked turkey from the brine and thoroughly blot excess moisture outside and inside. The next step in preparing the bird for baking or frying is oiling. You can use regular butter, warmed to room temperature, or pre-prepared herbed butter. In order to maintain the juiciness of the turkey meat, you will need to generously coat the entire bird with a generous layer of butter, and in the breast area, be sure to insert a few pieces of butter just under the skin. In addition, be sure to place a 100-gram stick of butter inside the bird. Butter will perfectly help you retain most of the juices inside the turkey meat, and in addition will give the finished dish a pleasant taste and aroma. If you decide to use spiced oil, your bird will turn out even more tasty and aromatic.
5. By the way, making herbed turkey butter is not at all difficult. Thoroughly wash and dry one bunch each of thyme, basil and rosemary. Remove all rough branches and finely chop the remaining tender leaves. Remove from the refrigerator in advance and warm to room temperature 300 gr. butter. Cut the butter into small pieces and place it in a blender bowl, add the herbs and blend everything together for just a few seconds. Transfer the butter to cling film, wrap it in the shape of a sausage and put it in the refrigerator for a day. If you don't already have a blender or food processor, simply combine the butter and herbs, then mash everything together thoroughly using a potato masher. In winter, instead of fresh herbs, you can use the same herbs in dried form, adding one tablespoon of each type of herb to the oil. This spicy oil will perfectly highlight the taste of turkey meat, without overpowering it, but only adding new notes of aroma.
6. If you want your turkey to be truly juicy and tender, avoid stuffing the carcass. Even if your mother or grandmother insists that this is an absolutely necessary tradition, refuse! The thing is that during baking, the heat of the oven cooks the stuffed turkey only on the outside, and by the time the bird is well-fried from the inside, its meat will completely dry out and become tough. This is why traditional stuffed turkey always turns out either too dry on the outside or undercooked on the inside. If the turkey is not stuffed inside with anything other than a small piece of butter, then it is simultaneously and evenly heated both inside and outside, which reduces cooking time, thereby preserving the tenderness and juiciness of the poultry meat.
7. Temperature is very important when roasting a turkey. It's easiest for those who own a culinary thermometer: the turkey is ready when the temperature inside the meatiest part has reached 70°C. However, you can cook an excellent juicy turkey without using a thermometer. Calculate the poultry roasting time based on 20 minutes for every pound of turkey weight at 200°C. It's even better to bake the turkey by gradually reducing the oven temperature. Start roasting the turkey at 250°C for the first 20 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 200° and bake the turkey based on its weight for 15 minutes for every pound of bird. Then reduce the temperature to 170° and bake the turkey until cooked for another 20 - 30 minutes. This temperature-graded roasting of poultry will allow you to get a perfectly cooked, juicy, tender and at the same time well-cooked turkey.
8. Traditionally, the turkey is cooked by placing it breast side up on a baking sheet. However, most modern chefs agree that the traditional method is not as good as it previously seemed. The turkey turns out much more juicy if you start baking it breast side down, and then, after about 30 - 40 minutes, carefully turn it breast side up and continue baking. Thus, it turns out that all the juices that flow abundantly from the bird at the first stage of baking do not flow out of the breast, but, on the contrary, saturate it, making the driest dietary white meat of the turkey breast especially juicy and tender. To prevent the turkey breast from sticking to the pan and the delicate skin from being damaged when turning, it is recommended to use a special turkey roasting rack. However, you can do without it at home. Just crumple up a large piece of foil with your hands so that you get reliable ribs on which the bird carcass will rest. In addition, a roasting rack or an improvised stand made of foil will allow the heat to evenly cover the entire surface of the bird, which means it will bake much more evenly than a turkey simply laid on a baking sheet.
9. Another way to cook a perfectly juicy whole turkey is to deep-fry it. This method is suitable only for those who have their own garden plot. It is not worth repeating this procedure in a city apartment. You will need a deep pan, so deep that the bird carcass you have chosen fits entirely into it and leaves at least 20 centimeters of free space on top. Fill the pan halfway with vegetable oil and heat the oil over high heat for 20 minutes. Dry the turkey carcass well soaked in brine as thoroughly as possible, inside and out. Using a long skewer, carefully lower the turkey into the hot oil. Be extremely careful - even a small amount of water can cause serious boiling and splashing of the boiling oil! Dry the turkey as thoroughly as possible! Deep-fry the turkey over low heat until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Carefully remove the cooked turkey from the pan with oil and place it on a wire rack to allow excess oil to drain. Of course, this method of cooking turkey is quite dangerous and is not suitable for everyone, but as a result you will get an excellent fried bird - tender and juicy inside with a bright, aromatic crispy crust. However, there is no need to take risks. If you try really hard, you can purchase a special electric fryer designed just for cooking large birds whole. You most likely will not be able to find such a deep fryer in your nearest electrical goods store, but it is quite possible to purchase it online.
10. There is another relatively simple way to cook a whole turkey so that it turns out juicy and soft. To do this, you will need a special bag or baking sleeve. The only difficulty here is to find a large enough roasting bag on sale that could accommodate a bird as large as a turkey. Otherwise, everything is very simple. Soak the turkey carcass in the brine with spices, rub it with spices and a small amount of butter. For baking, you only need a little oil in a bag. Place the prepared carcass in a bag or baking sleeve and carefully tie the open ends of the bag. Place the turkey on a baking sheet, make a couple of small holes in the top of the bag and bake the turkey in an oven preheated to 200° at the rate of 20 minutes for every half kilo of bird carcass. Turkey cooked in a roasting bag is soft and tender. The only downside to this cooking method is that your bird will not have that delicious crispy crust that a traditionally cooked turkey has. However, this can be easily corrected by frying the finished turkey under the top grill of the oven for 10 minutes on each side.
And on the pages of “Culinary Eden” you can always find even more useful tips and proven recipes that will definitely tell you how to cook a turkey soft and juicy.
Loading...