Are you ready to cook that Turkey?

With the holidays right around the corner, you should be deciding what you would like to have for dinner. Most people love turkey for thanksgiving, but are getting bored with the same old way to cook it.

How about checking out the different ways a turkey can be cooked? You know there is the traditional way of baking in the oven, with or without stuffing, putting in a smoker or deep frying it in peanut oil. You can also grill it, microwave it, and even bake it in an oven safe bag or covered with aluminum foil.

The traditional way is to bake it in the oven. You can add stuffing or not, your choice. But to insure a moist turkey, it must be basted very often. The turkey must maintain 165 degrees for a whole turkey and for turkey parts, as measured with a meat thermometer. You can cover the entire top of the pan with aluminum foil to help keep the juices in the turkey or put the turkey in an oven safe bag, so that the turkey will cook in it’s own juices. The juice in the pan makes a great addition to dressing and to gravy.

Another popular way is to deep-fry your turkey. You must have a turkey fryer and lots of peanut oil. The key to not setting anything on fire though is to not fill the fryer up too full. There is a line to add oil to, so don’t go past it. When the oil reaches the right tempter, you lower the turkey in and let it cook to a golden, crispy brown.

Your turkey can also be cooked in a microwave. This is a less traditional way and you must have a large microwave to cook that big whole bird. If you were cooking just a turkey breast, this would be perfect. A small whole turkey will cook 7 – 9 minutes per pound and should be checked when finished to make sure the inner most part of the turkey is 165 degrees. When it reaches that temperature, it is done.

A smoker is a neat way to cook a turkey. They meat comes out with a slight pink color and a slightly smoky taste, my favorite. A smoker cost about $50.00 or less and uses charcoal. You put the charcoal in the bottom pan, water in the top pan, then there are two racks for food. While your turkey is smoking on the top rack, you might want to cook a ham on the bottom rack or put the turkey on the bottom and some ribs on the top. You much keep adding charcoal and water through a side door, about every two hours or so, to keep the smoker at the best temperature. You will be very pleased with the taste of whatever you cook in a smoker.

Whichever way you cook your turkey please be careful not to dry out the white meat and have a great holiday.