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In Lan Lam's recipe, the turkey is cooked in a preheated roasting pan placed on top of a preheated pizza stone or pizza steel to deliver more heat to the legs and thighs. "By the time the breasts hit 160 degrees, the legs are done and you don't have to go in and do much to the turkey," she says. America's Test Kitchen hide caption
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In Lan Lam's recipe, the turkey is cooked in a preheated roasting pan placed on top of a preheated pizza stone or pizza steel to deliver more heat to the legs and thighs. "By the time the breasts hit 160 degrees, the legs are done and you don't have to go in and do much to the turkey," she says.
America's Test KitchenIt can be daunting to make a turkey for friends and family for Thanksgiving, especially if you haven't done it before. How big should the bird be? What seasoning should you use? What recipe should you try?
Lan Lam, a chef, senior editor for Cook's Illustrated magazine and a cast member of the cooking show America's Test Kitchen, has cooked 500 turkeys in her life — and she says "it's a lot easier than you would think."
It's also "a great starter project" for beginner cooks, she says. "It doesn't require a ton of equipment or complicated knife skills."
Lam offers some basic guidance for first-timers on how to prepare a turkey. And she shares a recipe that she developed for America's Test Kitchen. It involves roasting the turkey on a pre-heated pizza stone to avoid the dreaded task of flipping the piping hot bird midway through the cooking process. .
Go for a 10- to 12-pound turkey
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Many cooking guides will tell you that you'll need about a pound to a pound and a half of meat per person. But Lan says there isn't a hard and fast rule. Generally, "a 10- to 12-pound bird is going to serve eight to ten people with leftovers. You can get away with something a little smaller if you have a lot of sides."
If you plan on having more guests at dinner, don't cook a larger bird, says Lam — cook more turkeys. "Large turkeys are harder to cook well than small turkeys. They also take up more space in your fridge and they take more time in your oven. At Thanksgiving, you need that oven for other projects."
Buy your bird at least a week before Thanksgiving dayIf you plan to serve a homemade turkey on Thanksgiving day, buy your bird at least seven to ten days in advance. "Seven days is the minimum because it gives you time" to thaw and season the bird, says Lam.
Once you have your turkey, transfer it into the fridge to thaw. How long that takes depends on how big the turkey is. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, you'll need . So if your turkey weighs eight pounds, it will take about two days to thaw.
Don't forget to factor in the time you will need to season your turkey, says Lam. That can take "anywhere between six hours to two days," depending on your method.
If you choose to brine your turkey, you will need to soak it in salted water for six to 12 hours in the fridge. If you choose to rub salt into your bird, you will need to let it rest for one to two days in the fridge.
Get that bird in the oven earlyDepending on the size of the turkey, you will need three and half to four hours of oven time, says Lam. "So if you're serving dinner at 1 p.m., you're going to have to get your turkey [in the oven] at 9 a.m."
The goal is to get the breast meat to 160 degrees and the thighs to 170 to 175 degrees, says Lam, which you can measure with a meat thermometer. "Then it's juicy and tender."
Because the white meat cooks at a lower temperature than the dark meat, it can overcook while you're waiting for the dark meat to get to that higher temperature. To account for this, says Lam, some recipes tell you to cook your turkey on a roasting rack, starting with the breast side down to give the legs and thighs more heat from the top of the oven.
