How to Select a Thanksgiving Turkey

Buying the right turkey for Thanksgiving dinner involves a lot more than a quick trip to the supermarket: you have to consider how many people you’re serving, how much time the bird will need to thaw, and even whether you have enough room to store the blessed thing. Here’s how to get this most basic part of the holiday right.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A big freezer
• A big refrigerator

1. Count heads. As a rule of thumb, you should procure between one and one and a half pounds of turkey for each guest—so a 12-person Thanksgiving dinner calls for a 12- to 18-pound bird. If you can afford to, err on the side of generosity; it’s better to suffer through a week’s worth of turkey sandwiches than to leave your guests hungry.

2. Know your appliances. One of the worst mistakes you can make is to buy a Brobdingnagian bird a week in advance, then discover that you can’t stuff it into your freezer. If the size of your Thanksgiving guest list is inversely proportional to the size of your refrigerator, consider buying an already-thawed bird the day before the holiday.

3. Plan the rest of your menu. While we’re on the subject of storage, remember that a frozen turkey may not be the only thing for which you need to clear space—there’s also dessert, salad, and various side dishes. If you have a tiny fridge, now is a good time to ask your guests to bring specific dishes, so you can concentrate all your efforts on Big Bird.

4. Consider the bird’s “thaw time.” Hopefully, you’re already aware that you can’t pop a frozen turkey into the oven, cook it for half an hour at 800 degrees, and serve 22 guests. You need to weigh the size of your turkey against the two or three days it will need to defrost in the refrigerator, and also clear out enough space for this to happen.

Tips & Warnings

• Always check the package of your frozen turkey for any signs of damage or frost buildup—clues that the turkey may have partially thawed in the grocery store, then been refrozen. Also, the turkey should be solidly frozen, with no areas that feel soft to the touch.
• Never leave your turkey out overnight to defrost at room temperature, since there’s a possibility that this can lead to bacterial contamination. If you don’t anticipate having enough time to thaw out a frozen bird, a fresh turkey may be your best choice.
• Remember, your standard, store-issued, bagged and frozen turkey has a plastic bag full of giblets (the bird’s heart, liver, and other internal organs) stashed away somewhere inside. Always remove this bag before roasting your turkey, unless you want to reprise the plot of about 137 Thanksgiving-themed sitcoms.

on 12/12/2005 The only thing the pop-up thermometer does is tell you when your bird is overcooked. They're useless, and if you go by that you'll end up with dry, stringy meat. Spend $5 to get an actual meat thermometer to gauge the temperature of the meat. Pull the bird from the oven when the thickest part of the thigh reads 170. The temperature will go up another 10 degrees as it rests outside the oven.

on 12/12/2005 Do not use the pop-up thermometer mentioned above. It only pops up at the 180 degree point. What it doesn't gauge is the carryover cooking time when you take the turkey out of the oven. While resting, the bird will raise in temp another 5-10 degrees, making your pop-up thermometer bird overdone and dry. Use a traditional meat thermometer in the thickest part of the meat and pull the turkey at 170, then let it rest- it will finish cooking on the counter.

on 12/12/2005 By the time these pop up, the breast will be overcooked. Use an instant read thermometer and remove from the oven at 165 degrees F. The carryover heat will bring it to serving temperature.

on 12/12/2005 I am not sure how the pop-up thing works, but don't trust it! Your turkey will be overcooked! Buy yourself a meat thermometer. They cost five bucks in the baking aisle at the grocery store. The turkey is safely done when it reaches 180 degrees F in the thickest part of the dark meat.

on 12/12/2005 Spend a couple of dollars and buy an instant read thermometer with a thin probe. Take the temperature of the breast and thigh separately, since dark meat cooks slower than the white meat. An even better option is a thermometer with an external probe that can stay in the over and connect to an alarm unit that will go off when your meat reaches your preset temperature.