Recipes for cooking turkey in the oven

The turkey, baked in the oven, fragrant and with a ruddy crust, is naturally associated with us on big holidays, for example, with the New Year or Christmas. It is at such times that cooking a turkey in the oven is a very important occupation, and it's impossible to spoil the meat in any case, and it's easy to spoil the turkey, especially to dry it up. In this case, the meat will become dry and tough, and it will be very difficult and unpleasant, therefore in this article we will consider not only some recipes for cooking turkey in the oven, but also the subtleties of its preparation.

Virtually all recipes for cooking turkey in the oven involve stuffing it with various mixtures. We will discuss their recipes later, and now let's talk about how to cook a turkey in the oven in such a way that it remains juicy and soft. To do this, it is desirable to bake a turkey not just on a baking sheet, but in foil or in a sleeve for baking. You can also use thick-walled utensils - such a suitable size dish today is extremely rare, but before it was found it was not so difficult. If you have preserved large old cast iron - this is it. On the bottom you need to put small wooden sticks, so that the meat does not burn, and pour a little water. Water can be added to the baking tray, if there is no opportunity to bake a bird in a bowl or foil, so that the oven always has sufficient moisture. Also a good way - immediately heat the oven to the maximum temperature and hold the bird there for about 20 - 30 minutes, then reduce the fire to the prescribed 180 degrees. During this time, the bird will quickly be baked outside, and the juice will not flow or evaporate. It is important to ensure that it does not burn to the baking tray, pouring water in time. Also, you can also add a foil to the baking tray. The most common way in recent times to protect meat in the oven from drying out is baking in the sleeve. Also, almost all recipes for cooking turkey in the oven assume rubbing it with butter to form a crusty crust.

And now the recipes for cooking turkey in the oven. Let's consider a classical variant which our grandmothers used, and more modern, corresponding to the western traditions and trends.

For the first method, cooked rice is half cooked, mixed with fried onions and spices. Some mistresses add with this mixture also dried fruits, more often, raisins, but it is possible and others. Take one and a half glasses of rice, two onions, salt and black pepper. You can put a porridge with a couple of pieces of bay leaves and butter. The resulting mixture needs to be filled with turkey, but not very dense, because the rice will still grow in size and can break through the bird. The hole is tightened and sewn. By this method, not only the bird gets delicious, but also the side dish to it, because the rice is soaked with juice and it turns out simply extraordinary.

In the West, the following recipe is popular: a large onion, a bunch of celery stems, a large carrot, one sweet pepper, and in some cases a sweet and sour apple are taken for the filling. From spices you will need paprika, black pepper, salt. Also you will need a glass of any meat broth. Vegetables are crushed in cubes or simply cut into large pieces, the bird is rubbed with spices and salt both outside and inside. The turkey is stuffed with vegetables, the hole is tightly closed and sewn.

The turkey is baked at a temperature of 180 - 190 degrees. Baking time depends on its size. On average, this is 2.5 hours for a standard turkey, if the bird is large - then add an hour. All this time the bird, if it is not prepared in a sleeve or foil, gently moisten with juice from a pan or water.