Properly Prepare A Holiday Turkey

Whether you are feeding two people or twenty, it is important to know how to properly prepare a turkey dinner.

Step 1: Gather Ingredients and Cookware

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Before you being anything, you'll want to first gather all of your ingredients and cookware. For this dish, you will want to have:

Ingredients

1 Onion, coarsely chopped

1 Stalk celery, coarsely chopped

1 Carrot, coarsely chopped

1 (12 pound) whole turkey, neck and giblets reserved

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

1 Tablespoon ground black pepper

1 Teaspoon cayenne pepper

3 Tablespoons butter

4 Sprigs fresh rosemary

1/2 Bunch chopped fresh sage

Cookware

Shallow roasting pan

Paper towels

Small bowl

Saucepan

Twine

Thermometer

Step 2: Prep

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Now that you have your ingredients you can begin the preparing process. You'll want to start by:

1) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F

2) Place onion, celery, and carrot into the roasting pan

3) Put the turkey on top of the vegetables then pat it dry with the paper towels

4) Place your salt, pepper, and cayenne into a small bowl and mix them together

5) Take about 1/3 of the salt and pepper mixture and season the inside of the turkey

6) Melt the butter for around 2 minute then add sage and rosemary for 1 minute

7) Take part of this mixture and season the inside of the turkey with it

8) Take the twine and tie up the turkey legs

9) Take a brush and cover the turkey with the melted butter

10) After that, take the rest of your salt pepper mix and season the outside of the turkey

Step 3: Time To Cook

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1) Place turkey into the oven and cook for about 3 hours

2) To check if its ready, place the thermometer into the thickest part of the turkey, near the bone. You want the turkey to be around 180 degrees F

3) When the turkey temperature is ready and the juices run clear, remove the turkey and allow it to rest for around 15 minutes

Step 3: How to Carve

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Carving the turkey is just as important as cooking it. If you want to impress your guests with your carving technique, follow these instructions:

1) After removing the twine from the turkey legs you'll want to remove the legs, thighs, drumsticks, and wishbone. Tip: removing the wishbone makes it easier to carve off the breast meet

2) Remove the breast, here's how:

Find the breastbone. Position a long, flexible knife (or a boning knife) on one side of it, and slice downward, as close to the bone as possible. As you slice, use your other hand to pull the meat away from the breastbone, until you’ve cut the breast off the carcass in one piece. Transfer to the cutting board.

3) Remove the wings

Using the chef’s knife, slicing through the joint to remove a wing, and transfer to the platter. Repeat steps 5 and 6 on the other side.

4) Slice the thigh meat

Work on the cutting board. Holding the thigh bone with tongs or a paper towel, remove the meat from the bone with the edge of the chef’s knife. Transfer meat to platter.

5) Slice the breast meat

Using the tongs to steady the breast, position the meat so you’ll cut it at its shorter length. Slice against the grain, taking care to keep the skin attached. Transfer pieces neatly to a platter.

Step 4: Enjoy

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Happy Holidays