Thanksgiving is just over a week out and we understand some turkey recipes can take up to 5 days of prep! Great Plains Communications has turned to our cable channel Food Network to find some of our favorite turkey preparations, if it’s a wet brine, dry brine, how to carve it, or even how to cook just the turkey breast for a smaller crowd.
Two Ways to Brine a Turkey
There are two main methods to brining a turkey, dry and white. Here they show you tips for both, from adding baking powder to your dry brine to help crisp the skin and a simple wet brine of earthy bay leaves and peppercorns paired with the bright citrus notes of lemon peel. Either can be customized to your favorite seasonings, but no matter if you choose wet or dry, you’ll be on your way to a very juicy and flavorful turkey.
Alton Brown’s Good Eats Perfect Roast Turkey
This video may be older, but many people swear by Alton’s method of setting the oven very hot for the first 30 min, adding the foil triangle and lowering the temperature for the rest of the cooking. Follow the math in the recipe and your turkey will turn out golden, moist and delicious.
Barefoot Contessa Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast
Maybe you have a smaller family, or you plan to have multiple proteins and don’t want to deal with the entire bird. If that’s the case, this roasted turkey breast is a great alternative. It still has the warm savory flavors we all know and love with the thyme and rosemary used in the rub but provides a smaller portion and shorter cooking time.
How to Carve a Turkey
You have the turkey cooked and rested. Your hungry guests are anxiously waiting, so it’s time to carve the turkey. It can be intimidating if you’ve never carved a turkey, so here Food Network breaks it all the way down for you step-by-step.