The Right Way to Freeze and Rest Your Turkey
If you’ve never cooked a whole turkey before, the process can seem daunting. Undercooked poultry is dangerous to health, but dry meat is just sad. To make the meat juicy and tasty, you need to know how best to measure the temperature of the bird and how to give it.
The aforementioned video from America’s Test Kitchen can visually guide you through the process, but the main thing is to stick a thermometer (we recommend this or this one ) into the thickest parts of the thigh and chest, being careful to avoid bones and check meat from both sides. Once the chest reaches 165 and the thickest part of the thigh reaches 170 ℉, you can start. Let the turkey rest for 45 minutes to redistribute the tasty juice, then chop. Oh, and don’t be alarmed if you see a little pink meat that is bound to an oxygen-carrying protein called myoglobin , as long as you reach the set temperature, you are safe.