Do Not Cover the Turkey With Foil.
I have always eaten leather, much to my mother’s chagrin. “It’s bad for you,” she said as she peeled the toasty and polished skin from Costco’s grilled chicken. “I do not care!” I screamed as I tried to rip it off her plate before she threw it in the trash.
The skin tastes good and I love to eat it. If I have fried a poultry but cannot eat the peel in one sitting, I will save it and re-fry it in the deep fryer and then crush it in salads or put it on sandwiches. So, out of love – the love of crispy poultry skins – I implore you to refrain from tying the turkey with foil after you take it out of the oven (or grill or deep fat fryer).
A turkey fresh from the oven, grill or deep fat fryer is very hot. The smoke is hot. Wrapping a hot bird in foil after it’s finished not only traps heat, but also traps steam , and steam is the enemy of crispy skins. The steam softens the skin, makes it moist and sticky and negates all your hard work.
If you are worried about Bird catching a cold, please do not worry! It is a large bird, and birds with a lot of mass hold heat quite well, especially before you cut them into pieces. (Have you ever tried slicing a turkey in the first half hour when it fell out of the oven? Hurts!)
So don’t put your turkey in the tent. Just leave it on a platter or cutting board while you arrive at the side dishes, set the table, and get your family together. It will still be hot enough by the time you cut it, and the rind is still worth eating.
Updated on November 11, 2021 at 11:55 am ET to clarify that this blog discusses foil covering turkey after cooking rather than foil during cooking.