Cooking Tips

Cooking a Turkey

Preheat oven to 325°. Place turkey on a rack and add water (or drippings) to the cavity and bottom of the pan.
10 lb. Turkey up to 45 minutes
15 lb. Turkey up to 1 hour
20 lb. Turkey up to 1 hour 15 minutes
15 lb. Turkey up to 1 hour 30 minutes
The USDA recommends the internal temperature to be 165°. The turkey will be warm, a perfect slicing temperature and will not be dry.

THAWING: (If turkey is not frozen, begin with step 2.) Leave turkey in original packaging and use one of the following methods. DO NOT THAW TURKEY AT ROOM TEMPERATURE. Place wrapped turkey in a minimum 2″ deep tray, in refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. Allow 4 hours per pound of turkey to completely thaw. QUICK THAW: Place wrapped turkey in sink and cover with cold water. Allow about ½ hour per pound of turkey to completely thaw. Change frequently, at least once an hour. Refrigerate or cook turkey when it is thawed. Refreezing uncooked turkey is not recommended, because of a loss of taste and texture when cooking at a later time.

PREPERATION FOR ROASTING: Keep the turkey refrigerated at 40* or below in the original wrapping until preparation. All equipment and material used for storage, preparation and serving of poultry must be clean. Wash hands thoroughly with hot soapy water before and after handling raw poultry. Use hard plastic or acrylic cutting boards to prepare poultry. Remove plastic wrapping from fresh turkey. Remove giblets and neck from the body and neck cavities. To remove neck, it may be necessary to release legs from band of skin or wire hock lock. Rinse turkey inside and out with cool water, and return legs to band of skin or tie loosely. Tuck tips of wings “akimbo” under back of turkey.

OPEN PAN ROASTING: – We do not recommend stuffing your turkey. If you prefer cooking a stuffed turkey, place stuffing loosely inside the cavity. Do Not Pack stuffing. Placing excess stuffing in the cavity will delay cooking and the turkey will cook unevenly, well done on the outside and raw on the inside. – Place turkey, breast side up, in shallow roasting pan, about 2 inches deep. If you are using the pan the turkey was thawed in, the pan should be washed and rinsed thoroughly. Basting with vegetable oil or margarine is optional with our birds because they are grown with a natural finish, which usually needs no basting. Our turkeys are young, fresh and very tender.
Avoid over cooking.
Once you have started roasting your turkey it would be a good time to wash all utensils and all surfaces coming into contact with uncooked product.
Check turkey periodically so the skin is not burned. Once skin has reached a golden brown, place aluminum foil over the bird to protect the skin and help reduce drying. After this is done refer to table below for cooking times and check for doneness about 45 minutes before estimated time. The deepest part of the meat should be the spot for getting the best temperature reading. The breast meat should reach 165ºF- 170°F. Signs of the turkey being cooked thoroughly are clear juices, meat that is not pink or bloody, and if stuffing is used it should reach 165°F.
If you have cooked your turkey with stuffing inside, be sure to remove all traces of stuffing before storing leftovers in the refrigerator.

Our ovens are calibrated for proper temperatures. Since every oven is different, it would be wise to check the actual temperature with an oven thermometer before roasting your turkey. Nonetheless, we recommend using meat thermometers to check for doneness.

Oven Temperature 350*

Weight

6-8 LB 3 – 3 ¼ hrs
8-10 LB 3 ¼ – 3 ½ hrs
10-12 LB 3 ½ – 3 ¾ hrs
12-16 LB 3 ¾ – 4 hrs
16-22 LB 4 – 4 ½ hrs

Stuffed

No stuffing

2 ½ – 2 ¾ hrs
2 ¾ – 3 hrs
3 – 3 ¼ hrs
3 ½ – 3 ½ hrs
3 ½ – 4 hrs

Instructions

Heating Instructions Whole Turkeys After Refrigeration

(May be heated with or without foil wrapping)
Preheat oven to 325°
Place turkey on a rack and add water (or drippings) to the cavity and bottom of the pan.
10 lb. Turkey     up to 45 minutes
15 lb. Turkey     up to 1 hour
20 lb. Turkey     up to 1 hour 15 minutes
15 lb. Turkey     up to 1 hour 30 minutes

The USDA recommends the internal temperature to be 165°. The turkey will be warm, a perfect slicing temperature and will not be dry.

Heating Cooked Turkey Breast

Preheat oven to 350°
Place breast in a shallow pan with enough liquid to keep it from drying. Cover in foil and heat approximately 15 minutes per pound, until the internal temperature reaches 160°.

Safe Handling Instructions

– Your cooked / sliced Turkey / Ham / etc. may be left out for serving a total of 2 hours.
– After serving, carve any remaining meat from the bones.
– Place small amounts (serving size) in covered containers and store in the coldest part of the refrigerator, allowing space around food for adequate air circulation.
– Cooked Turkey may be stored in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
– Cooked Turkey will keep up to 4 months in the freezer when wrapped in heavy foil or placed in freezer bags.

How to Insert a Timer Into the Turkey

Click here to View a PDF of the Timer