How to Cool Off Turkey

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Jennifer Cail and on behalf of Expert Village I am going to show you how to easily carve your Thanksgiving Day turkey. In between when you take the turkey out of the oven and when you are actually going to eat the turkey, it is very important to cool the turkey properly. When you first get this turkey out of the over it is going to be steaming hot. Also, anytime you prick it either with a fork or with a knife, then the juices are going to run out, which is something that you are not going to want if you want to maintain some of the moistness of the turkey, particularly in the breast. The other thing is that moving it around and positioning it on a cutting board is going to be much easier when you are not burning your fingers everytime you touch it. But the most important thing is that the longer you wait to cut it the firmer the meat is and so therefore it is going to be able to cut a little bit more easily than if it is steaming hot. Tearing up the turkey and not getting the right positioning is going to happen most frequently when the turkey is too hot to handle. And a side note, while you are cooling the turkey that is when you can make your gravy so that you have delicious turkey gravy and the meat to go with it."