Tips to nail your Turkey for Thanksgiving Day Dinner 2024

This Thursday, November 28, Thanksgiving Day will be celebrated in the United States, a very common tradition prior to the Christmas festivities, in which American families get together to have dinner and share a pleasant moment. Originally, Thanksgiving Day was created to give thanks for the harvest and for the previous year, although now it is held to give thanks for the blessings received in the current year. It is celebrated every fourth Thursday of November in the United States and the second Monday of October in Canada.

Something fundamental that cannot be missed on Thanksgiving Day is to cook a delicious turkey to share at dinner. Therefore, here I leave you with the main tips so that you can cook it in a perfect way and be enjoyable for everyone in your family.

How to make a turkey for Thanksgiving?

The difficulty of this recipe is medium, with a total time of 3 hours, since it will be 2 h 30 m of cooking and 30 minutes of elaboration. The first recommendation is to use a roasting bag, as used for chicken, but of a larger size. These roasting bags can be found in American food stores.

Now we proceed with the preparation. Before baking, it should be brushed with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and stuffed with apples. The ends of the turkey legs must be well lined with aluminum foil so that they do not burn and we put it in the roasting bag. Chop the celery and the onion in big pieces and put them together with the turkey, then put it in a tray and put it in the oven.

We bake the turkey with the bag at 175°C for approximately 2 hours and a half, placing our tray in the central area and being careful so that the turkey does not collide with the heating elements at the top.

At the end of these two hours, place a sheet of aluminum foil over the breast so that it does not burn excessively and turn off the oven. Of course, do not remove the turkey until you are ready to serve it.

More tips for you to cook the turkey on Thanksgiving Day

1. One day before cooking the turkey, make sure it is completely thawed and remove all the contents of its cavity.
2. Coat the turkey with a good amount of salt and pepper, especially under the skin.
3. Preferably, the turkey should be covered with plastic wrap or roasting paper, in order to be refrigerated.
4. The turkey can be stuffed with fresh herbs, butter, among others, especially under the skin of the breast.
5. A good tip is to place the neck at the bottom of the oven, in order to give more flavor to the central part during cooking.
6. Preferably, turn the turkey every 45 minutes and baste it every 20 minutes, until the two and a half hour cooking time is completed.
7. When finished cooking, let it rest for about half an hour before carving.