I have a confession in the kitchen: I don’t make turkey on Thanksgiving.
It’s not the diet, although I try to limit my meat intake. It was also a matter of heartbreaking disappointment. Years ago, my family and I decided we wouldn’t serve Thanksgiving turkey anymore because it kept becoming dry and flavorless.
What good is it to wake up super early and spend hours of labor and stress in the kitchen if you just end up with a bland bird?
I don’t need such heartbreaking holidays.
And I’m not alone in my disdain for turkeys. “It’s one of the most boring and unappetizing cuts of meat,” says cookbook author Nik Sharma. “And I think that’s probably why people struggle every year with this bird.”
But bad turkey is a problem that science can really solve. That’s why this year, I decided to tackle the turkey tradition again – this time, with the help of two famous cookbook authors unraveling the science behind the dishes. delicious: Sharma, a trained molecular biologist and author of The Equation of flavorsand Kenji Lopez-Alt, a New York Times food columnist and author of Food Laboratory.
As Lopez-Alt explains, the fundamental trouble with the turkey stems from its anatomy. You have two different meats that need to reach two different internal temperatures: white breast meat, which should reach 150 degrees Fahrenheit, and dark thigh and thigh meat, which should be at least 165 degrees — and ideally, 175 or so than. But by the time your feet reach the right temperature, your breasts are overcooked.
It all makes sense when you think about how turkeys used their bodies while they were alive. White meat is made up of fast-twitch muscles – these are not used very often but are activated in short bursts. “These types of muscles are typically low in connective tissue, low in fat, and very strong,” says Lopez-Alt.
Meanwhile, dark meat is made up of slow-twitch muscle fibers that turkeys frequently use when walking or standing, so it has a lot of connective tissue – which means you have to cook them at room temperature. higher enough to break. them down.
So how to solve this problem rooted in bird biology? Science to the rescue! Continue reading.
Understand the shape of meat and remove your roasting pan
“It would be very difficult to design a turkey roaster worse than a roasting pan because you’re taking an already existing problem and making it even worse,” says Lopez-Alt.
In a roasting pan, the high sides shield the lower part of the turkey – the legs and thighs – from the heat, which means they take longer to cook to temperature. Meanwhile, the breast protrudes above the man’s top, which means it receives most of the heat and dries out more.
So a simple trick for grilling a whole bird is to choose a different type of pan – a low-rimmed baking sheet with the bird placed on a v-shaped rack. Better yet, place the baking sheet on a preheated pizza stone. Heat will radiate up through the bottom of the tray and help the thighs and thighs cook faster. (This is a Instructions on how to.)
To really solve this dilemma, bring poultry shears.
Sharma and Lopez-Alt agree that the best way to solve this white/dark meat temperature conundrum is to get rid of the idea of serving a whole turkey and shred your bird instead. . Although that may sound offensive to those who cling Norman Rockwell-a vision of a Thanksgiving party, it is really the key to a better bird.
There are a couple of ways to get around this: If you’ve got the skills and tools right, you can cut your own turkey using a technique known as spatchcocking – that’s where you sort of go. Remove the backbone so that the bird lies flat. (Here’s a helpful guide from Lopez-Alt.)
Or, if you want to skip the hassle, just ask the butcher to dissect the bird for you when you buy it. You can also simply buy turkey that’s already been shredded, Sharma notes.
Really, the whole goal is to make all parts of the turkey lie flat, so the turkey breast and legs and thighs all get the same amount of heat at the same time. The thighs and legs are relatively thin compared to the brisket, so it cooks faster. That’s what you want, because that dark flesh is going to hit 175 degrees or so like breasts are rising to 150 degrees. “So it worked perfectly,” says Lopez-Alt.
Hack the temperature rules for a juice bird
For food safety, the USDA recommends cooking turkey to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. But at that temperature, Lopez-Alt notes, the brisket will dry out. “Food safety is really about temperature and “He explains. While you’ll kill a bunch of bacteria instantly if you cook your turkey to 165 degrees, you can wipe out the same amount of bacteria a little bit slower at 150 degrees — as long as you don’t cook it to 150 degrees.” is your turkey breast maintained at that temperature for at least 3.7 minutes.
Just make sure to let the bird rest before feeding it. And make sure to use a food thermometer — don’t just rely on the minute-per-pound chart, says Lopez-Alt.
Wet or dry, brine time available
We’re focusing on better roasting tips, but of course, you want to soak your poultry for maximum tenderness and flavor – something you’ve probably heard many times. “Salt is the most important thing in brine because it’s what adds flavor. It’s what helps create moisture inside,” says Sharma.
Normally, during cooking, some of the proteins in the meat fibers tighten, Sharma explains, eventually squeezing the juice out of the turkey – like water being squeezed out of a sponge. But when you add salt, it loosens the proteins in the meat so they retain more moisture, so your bird will stay fresher.
Traditional brine is usually wet – they involve soaking your meat in a brine bath. But Lopez-Alt says this can result in a bird, while the juicer, which is also watery, can degrade the flavor. He likes a dry brine where you rub kosher salt and possibly herbs and spices on the bird and leave it in the fridge for a night or two before cooking.
Too lazy to soak in salt water? Buy a kosher turkey – they’re pre-salted, so they’re basically brine.
Better yet, try a brine of fermented milk
If you really want a science-based boost to your turkey this year, says Sharma based on his kitchen experiments, a brine that rules it all: fermented milk. Think plain yogurt, skim milk or kefir.
The key here is the lactic acid in these products. Sharma notes that animal muscles synthesize lactic acid on a regular basis, so their cells have evolved mechanisms to regulate how much of this acid they contain. That’s why marinating in lactic acid, he says, tends to have a more gentle effect on meat – leaving it tender but not mushy. What’s more, milk is also rich in phosphates, and Sharma says they’re even better than table salt at promoting water binding in meat.
Sharma, who moved to the US from Mumbai, India, notes that milk-based marinades are popular in Indian and Middle Eastern cooking. “I find that very interesting historically,” he said. “You see that wisdom without scientific knowledge is available today.”
Do you want to try? Sharma recommends this recipe for buttermilk soaked turkey from cookbook author Samin Nosrat. “It’s pretty awesome,” he said.
Bonus: If you cut poultry, it’s much easier to brine, wet, or dry because you can simply put the meat in a plastic bag in the fridge, instead of having to clear the entire shelf for one bird. large, whole bird.
Remember it’s not really about turkey
If your turkey is still a bit overcooked, that’s okay. Really. As Kenji Lopez-Alt told me, cooking for the holidays can be stressful, let alone what’s important:
“As long as the turkey has people around the table, it will get its job done no matter how dry it is.”
Derek Campanile’s Dad with a pan contributed images to this report. Find his full version of how he makes spatchcocked turkey here.
