Turkey Tips From the Expert

Cathy Jaindl

Vice President, Jaindl Land Co

The lunchmeat that omnivores devour throughout the year can't compare to the browned bird fresh from the oven, wafting savory scents through the home to summon a houseful of family members to the banquet table. To help hosts get the best of this challenging culinary pièce de résistance, Cathy Jaindl talks turkey with some tips and tricks from the Lehigh Valley's largest agricultural operation. The chosen source of the White House's annual turkey dinner, family-owned Jaindl Farms in Orefield has raised succulent specimens for over 75 years.

Get a Great Turkey

We may be eating them, but we want to know they lived well. Not only does good quality of life seem to rest easier in the stomach, increasing awareness of unwholesome practices means more and more holiday shoppers are shelling out for a bird that hasn't been pumped full of antibiotics. Jaindl Farms takes their commitment to good care very seriously, scoring a perfect 100 on a third-party Animal Welfare Audit. They enjoy what Jaindl calls “clean country living” in open-air barns with clean straw, fresh air, water and feed readily available.

“Our organic, free-range turkeys are fed an all-organic diet,” says Jaindl, “and our ABF [antibiotic-free] turkeys eat farm-fresh meal made from grains grown on our farm.” Their Harvest Brand is the same quality, but with some superficial quirk like a missing wingtip or a tear in the skin, so the price is a bit lower.

This is the type Jaindl roasts for her own family, and she makes sure to calculate one to one-and-a-half pounds per serving. “I've never roasted a turkey under 16 pounds,” she says. If there isn't enough for leftovers, why bother?

Thaw Responsibly

Whatever turkey you choose, chances are you're buying it frozen, and unless you're an old hand at assembling a multi-phase feast, you run the risk of the ultimate disaster: a turkey that's a half-frozen, charred embarrassment to this hallowed holiday. Like any meat, it should be thawed in the refrigerator in its packaging at a simple rate of four to five pounds per 24 hours. This means thinking ahead, so a 15-pound turkey can have its three to four full days to thaw all the way through.

Speed-thawing is real, if time is of the essence, and can be done by submerging the packaged bird in cold water that's changed every half-hour, but it will still need 30 minutes per pound.

Stuff the Stuffing

“My mother likes to make her stuffing outside the turkey and pour turkey drippings over it before serving,” Jaindl says. Nothing wrong with that, but she prefers to stuff the turkey. Even if you're not making proper stuffing, tossing a few carrots and onions in there can add a little something to the flavor of the drippings. If the flavor imbued by actually stuffing the stuffing satisfies you like it does Jaindl, try her trick of lining the turkey cavity with cheesecloth so that your stuffing pulls painlessly free for serving. It'll add half an hour to cooking time, but for many it's well worth it.

Don't Forget Gravy

Turkey dinner is a great occasion for using all parts of the bird. Those gnarly innards you extract in a pouch come into play for that divine drizzle welcome on almost every side dish—gravy. Jaindl's advice promises a formula for gravy with the fullest flavor.

Add the giblets, neck and liver to a saucepan holding a couple of cans of chicken broth to simmer throughout the turkey's cook time. Add liquid from everything else you're cooking—any canned vegetables, the water from your mashed potato pot, etc.

After the turkey has roasted and it's resting for about half an hour to retain its juiciness, strain the drippings into a frying pan, combining with your cocktail of feast flavors. Make a paste in a separate cup with a few tablespoons of flour and water, and add this to the drippings. Keep stirring until it thickens.

Jaindl's mother makes a fantastic turkey tetrazzini. For this and other Thanksgiving leftover

recipes, check out Jaindl Farm's website.

Cathy Jaindl's Step-by-Step Turkey Technique

Preheat oven to 400˚F.
Be sure turkey is thoroughly thawed.
Remove giblets, neck and liver from the two cavities in the bird.
Rinse turkey with cold water.
Place turkey in a roasting pan.
Stuff turkey. If not placing stuffing in the bird, place a peeled onion, celery and carrots in the cavity to give extra flavor to the drippings for gravy.
Rub turkey with butter or olive oil. (Jaindl uses both.)
Season with pepper, poultry seasoning, parsley, paprika and/or your favorite seasonings.
Pour two cans of chicken broth into the bottom of the roasting pan.
Place an aluminum tent over the turkey, crimping the edges to the pan.
Roast at 400°F for half an hour, then turn oven down to 325°F for the balance of the roasting time. (Calculate total roasting time at 15 minutes per pound, adding 30 minutes if turkey is stuffed.) Actual roasting time may vary depending on oven type, roasting pan, temperature of turkey when placed in oven, etc.
DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN. Every time the oven is opened, valuable cooking time is lost.
Approximately 1 1/2–2 1/2 hours prior to the turkey being done, remove the aluminum tent so the turkey may brown. You may want to put some aluminum on the wing tips so they don't burn.
Turkey is done when it reaches a temperature of 170°F in the center of the breast. To find the accurate temperature, insert a meat thermometer in the center of the breast until it reaches bone then pull it back about 1/4 inch.
Jaindl checks for doneness the old-fashioned way—grab the turkey by the legs with hot pads and move the legs up and down. If the drumsticks move easily, the turkey is done.