Turkey is usually a big part of special occasion dinners. It's by far the most popular main course at Thanksgiving. However, it's also popular at Christmas, New Years and sometimes Easter. For those people that like to deep fry turkey, turkey is popular all of the time. It becomes a party item and can even make the barbecue menu because it doesn't take that long to cook. Once the oil is hot, a 12 pound turkey can cook up in 40-45 minutes. Deep fried turkey is awesome but it's not the only way to cook up a great turkey.

Turkey's can be marinated, injected, brined, stuffed and rubbed with seasoning. Roasting a turkey leads to great turkey gravy. If you deep fry a turkey, you'll have to stew up the neck and giblets to get your turkey gravy. It works out but it's not the same as roasted turkey gravy. I guess the point is that there are many ways to cook a turkey. The methodology and the times to cook the turkey are as unique as the individual that prepare these fabulous feasts.

Couple of warnings when it comes to cooking turkey. These come directly from the USDA. It's important to recognize that fowl is full of bacteria. All fowl must be cooked to the proper temperature (greater than 165 degrees) to make sure all of the bacteria is killed. Nothing fun about Salmonella! 

Furthermore, it's important to keep your turkey refrigerated before cooking. The USDA does not recommend buying pre-stuffed fresh turkeys. Because of the amount of bacteria that exists in all turkeys, it's not a good idea to place warm moist stuffing into the cavity and let the turkey sit for any amount of time. The bacteria will multiply and make it harder to kill simply because there's more of it. Also, the stuffing in a turkey makes it more difficult to cook evenly because heat is not well distributed inside the cavity. If you are going to stuff your turkey, either buy a frozen pre-stuffed turkey or stuff it just before placing it in the oven. Honestly, in all of our combined years of tasting stuffing, we like the stuffing that's made on the side but we realize it's personal preferance. Just stay safe!

Before moving onto cooking times, please make sure you're cognizant about keeping the turkey cold before cooking it. Some turkeys are meant to go right from the freezer to the oven (many frozen butterball turkeys, for example). But for those people using fresh turkeys or especially injection recipes, please do not place a warm marinade or injection into the turkey and then let it sit at room temperature. Use room temperature marinades or injections and then place the turkey in the refrigerator; or, use the freshly stewed warm marinades or injections and then place the turkey directly into the deep fryer or the oven.

We're going to explore the cooking times for:
Roasting a Turkey
Deep Fry Turkey
Rotisserie Turkey
Smoked Turkey