November Means Turkeys And Deep Frying, For Some

As soon as the calendar turns from October to November, I start thinking about one of my favorite holidays: Thanksgiving.  What can I say… I love to eat turkey with all of the usual sides –mashed potatoes, string bean casserole, gravy, sweet potato casserole (with marshmallows), cranberry sauce, etc.  This year’s tradition is a milestone, because I am hosting the feast for the first time.  As I have started to mull my turkey prep methods, it has been interesting to read how popular it is these days to deep fry the bird.   Moreover, there are a ton of videos out there showing idiots creating infernos due to their cooking “techniques.”

Let it be known that I would never go down the deep frying path.  I don’t want to deal with the looming disaster, the cleanup of gallons of cooking oil, or the fact that deep frying can actually dry out the meat.  According to Serious Eats, which debunks the fried hype, “fried turkey sucks” – in part, due to the loss of moisture.  But as we all know from numerous So Good posts, anything deep fried becomes instantly sexier when it comes to comfort foods.  But not in my house. 

That said, do any So Good readers have time-tested recipes/thoughts on how to produce the best turkey via a traditional oven?  Share away!  I need all the help I can get, and likely some other folks do as well.

Stop #1 for me will likely be the 24 turkey recipes that The Bitten Word has collected, among their “Round-Up of 175 Recipes from 10 Leading Food Magazines.”  Great resource, guys!