While turkey is a classic Christmas meal, it’s also delicious any time of year, albeit most of the year, it’s only available in portions rather than whole birds. Moreover, turkey provides all of the nutritional benefits of chicken, but with a reduced-fat level. This is beneficial to one’s health, but it does imply that the flesh maybe a little dry if cooking is timed wrongly.
In this article, you’ll learn how to properly cook a 10-pound turkey, as well as some awesome tips for your benefit. We have also highlighted the befitting cooking timing for your 10-pound turkey.
Tips for Cooking a 10lb Turkey
The following tips will help you work with a 10lb turkey to get great results:
Allow enough time to defrost – If you buy a frozen turkey, make sure you give it plenty of Time to defrost because it won’t cook adequately unless it’s completely defrosted before cooking.
Keep in mind that the process of thawing a whole turkey can take several days, and the cooking time highlighted below is for a fully defrosted bird.
In general, every 5 pounds of turkey requires 24 hours of thawing time after being placed in the refrigerator – This means a 10 lb turkey will need 48 hours of thawing.
Brine the turkey – Older turkey recipes recommend basting the flesh frequently to keep it moist. Still, current recipes recommend cooking the bird faster and employing dry brines, including soaking the turkey in salt and flavoring overnight. This process removes moisture from the turkey, which it then absorbs, seasoning the flesh and drying the skin for a crisp finish in the oven.
Brining a turkey in salt for a day or two before cooking improves the flavor. Brining is not required. However, it is recommended. This procedure, which involves immersing the turkey in a salt-water solution or dry brining in salt for a day or more before cooking, has gained popularity in recent years.
The end product is succulent white and dark meat that has been nicely seasoned. You can continue with any recipe without bringing though.
Remove the wishbone – Taking the wishbone out of a raw turkey makes it easier to carve later and results in cleaner slices. Pull the skin of your neck back until you find the wishbone. Cut through the flesh under the contour of the bone on both sides with a small, sharp knife just deep enough to liberate it. Cut it free at the tips to ease it out.
How to carve – Chopping a turkey is similar to carving a huge chicken: Pop out the joints that keep these sections attached to the bird and cut straight through them. You should remove the wings first, then the thighs.
When carving the breast flesh, slice close to the rib cage, right up against the rib bones, with the flat of your knife. You can split the thighs into thighs and drumsticks once the meat has been removed, then chop the breast meat into individual slices once the meat has been removed.
Rest the turkey – The turkey should be rested for at least 15 minutes after roasting before carving. You should see this Time as the ideal Time to make some gravy if you prefer.
Transfer it to a cutting board and cover it loosely with foil to keep the turkey warm. This way, you can make gravy out of all those delicious pan drippings.
The ideal amount of turkey to serve – If you’re not sure how to serve the turkey, here’s a tip. If you look forward to the leftovers of thanksgiving almost as much as the main course, 1½ pounds per person is the way to go.
Though, 1 pound per person is all you will need if you are not making turkey soup or sandwiches.
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Cooking Time for a 10lb Turkey
The Time it takes to cook a turkey can vary – depending on the temperature of the oven and whether your turkey recipe asks for a stuffed or unstuffed bird (for an unstuffed turkey, we recommend roasting it at 350 degrees F for 13 minutes per pound).
You can check the table below for the ideal cooking time for a 10-pound turkey. This cooking time is based on a whole unstuffed turkey being placed on a rack in a roasting pan and placed in a 350°F oven.
Turkey Weight
Servings
Cooking Time
10 lb
12 to 14
2¾ hours
Print
Roast Turkey, 10-Pound (Servings – 12 to 14)
- Author: Bobby
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeIngredients
- 10-pound turkey
- Salt (optional)
- Stuffing (optional)
- Cooking oil
Instructions
- You will have to get some paper towels and use them to pat the turkey dry on the inside and out.
- Then season the body cavities with salt if you desire. Proceed to fill the neck and body cavities with stuffing (if using). Make sure you skewer the turkey’s neck skin to the rear.
- You can now tuck the drumstick ends under the band of skin that runs across the tail. If there isn’t a skin band, bind the drumsticks to the tail. Then you can simply twist the tips of the wing under the back.
- Proceed to get a shallow roasting pan, then place the turkey breast side up on a rack.
- Apply some oil to the brush. Then insert a meat thermometer into the center of one of the inside thigh muscles if desired. You must make sure the thermometer does not come into contact with bone.
- You can now cover the turkey with foil – but only loosely.
- Proceed to roast for 2½ hours at 325°F.
- Remove the foil and cut a band of skin or string between the drumsticks to ensure consistent cooking.
- Proceed to continue roasting for another 30 to 45 minutes (1 to 1¼ hours if stuffed), or until the thermometer reads 180°F and the stuffing center reaches 165°F. You will see that the drumsticks should move freely in their sockets and the juices should run clear.)
- You can now proceed to take the turkey out of the oven.
- Before cutting, cover with foil and set aside for 15 to 20 minutes.
- After that, you can then place the turkey on a chopping board. Proceed to carve the turkey.
This recipe yields really delicious results and you should definitely try it. You may also be interested in watching this video recipe to learn more ideas on how to cook a 10 lb turkey.
The post How Long Does It Take To Cook A 10 Lb Turkey appeared first on BlogChef.