For many, “the bird” is the focal point of the Thanksgiving meal. If you’ve never prepared a turkey and you’re in charge this year, no worries. Our friends at Whole Foods have posted a comprehensive guide on their blog and shared a few quick tips and recipes with us to successfully guide our turkey prep from selection to cooking and carving.

At the end of the day, it’s all about gathering and spending quality time together, so relax and enjoy your family and friends. We always take a break, stroll and play outside – enjoy the fresh air, no matter what the weather – it’s a great way to balance the frenzy of indoor activity. Before you kick back – here’s how to prepare for the festive feast:

Choosing the Turkey

• Working with the highest quality ingredients makes it easier for any cook to produce a great meal. When ordering your whole turkey, allow at least 1 pound per person, plus 1/2 pound per person for leftovers. (Remember to take into account the size of your fridge and oven!) For turkey breast, plan on 3/4 pound per person. If it is a boneless breast, allow 1/2 pound per person.  Whole Foods Market has a wide variety of turkeys that are locally grown and raised with NO ANTIBIOTOCS EVER! From organic, kosher to free-range, the turkeys here run the gamut.

Turkey Tool Kit
Depending on your method of preparation, here are a few things you may want to have on hand:

• Heavy duty roasting pan with rack to keep turkey from resting on bottom of pan, trussing string for tying together the turkey legs for a nicer presentation, foil for covering turkey while it cooks to keep it moist and tender, basting brush to baste turkey with melted butter, bulb baster for basting with pan juices, fat separator for a leaner gravy, fine sieve for straining the pan juices, wire whisk for making lump-free gravy, good quality carving set and meat thermometer, preferably instant read variety.

Safe Turkey Handling

• While prepping turkey, wash your hands, knives, cutting board, and counter thoroughly and often with hot water and soap. Take care that raw turkey or its juices do not come into contact with other foods. Make sure you use your meat thermometer to check for the proper internal temperature. This is the only way to ensure the bird is cooked adequately and safely.

General Turkey Cooking Tips

• Always remove the giblets before seasoning and roasting your turkey.

• Whole Foods Market fresh birds have not been frozen, but you may find them coated with a thin layer of ice. This is to ensure the freshest, best-tasting bird. The ice glaze keeps the turkey colder without affecting taste and texture.

• Refrigerate a fresh turkey immediately. Frozen turkeys should be defrosted in the refrigerator for two days prior to cooking (larger turkeys may require more time). Do not thaw at room temperature.

• Remove a turkey from the refrigerator about one hour before placing it in the oven.

• Brush the bird generously with melted butter before roasting to assist in browning and adding flavor.

• Baste only at the beginning of the roasting process. Basting later may make the skin soft instead of crispy.

• Cook your turkey on a rack with white wine or chicken broth in the bottom of the pan.

• Roast the bird with the breast side down for the first hour.

• Use a meat thermometer for best results. When done, all parts of the turkey should be 165°F.

• Save the drippings for gravy!

• Allow bird to rest (covered) after cooking for about 30 minutes. This redistributes the juices and makes for smooth carving.

• How long to cook? Link to their Turkey Roasting Chart.

To Stuff or Not To Stuff?
Stuffing is a matter of preference. If you do stuff, we advise baking the stuffing and turkey separately and then placing cooked stuffing in the turkey cavity during the final 30 minutes of roasting time. Here are some additional stuffing tips:

• Estimate about one cup of stuffing per pound of turkey.
• Stuffing your bird increases the cooking time, add about 5 to 7 minutes per pound.
• If you stuff your turkey, make sure you check the temperature of the stuffing and not just the bird before serving. The stuffing must register at least 160°F before it is safe to eat.
• Never stuff the bird ahead of time. Stuff it just before putting in the oven.
• If brining your turkey, we do not recommend stuffing it since the stuffing will absorb too much salt.
• If not stuffing, you can place some fresh herbs along with roughly chopped celery, onion and carrots in the cavity for added flavor.

All About Brining
Brining your turkey helps produce a moist, flavorful bird with minimal effort. The brine works to infuse the meat with flavor, and helps the bird retain moisture. Brining at its most basic is simply submerging the turkey in a large pan filled with a salt-water solution for several hours, in the refrigerator.

• You can brine for a few hours or overnight. Brining only works well for small and medium birds. The really large 20+ pound birds are too heavy to make this practical. The basic brine ratio: 1 gallon water to 1 cup table salt.  Remove the neck and giblets from the cavity. Soak the turkey in the salt-water solution, making as much as you need to fully submerge the bird. Place the container in the refrigerator for approximately 4 hours. If you prefer to brine overnight, reduce the salt to 1/2 cup salt per gallon of water. If using Kosher salt, you will need to double the quantity used since it is less dense than table salt. Brining may produce saltier pan gravy than you prefer, so when making gravy from brined drippings, be sure to use low-sodium broth.

For vegetarian/vegan meal planning and recipes for tasty sides, wholefoodsmarket.com offers lots of great ideas. Enjoy the special gathering and give thanks – cheers!

Related: tips for a Green Thanksgiving – previously on altCon