The correctly roasted turkey

Everybody who cooks knows the problem with turkeys is that the dark meat of the drumsticks and lower wings (not the "hand" which is junk, anyway, and not the "upper arm" but the "forearm") finishes before the white meat of the breast.

So ending up with properly cooked and moist breast but over-cooked, hard, and inedible drumsticks and lower wings is not unusual.

Nor is ending up with properly cooked and moist dark meat but unacceptable, under-done breast.

Yesterday, I lucked out and the turkey, a 13 pounder stuffed front and back and roasted at 325 for just under 4 hours after starting it at 350, came out perfect.

I was amazed and, of course, took as much credit as possible.

Hope yours was as good.

J

Update 11252012 0923 hrs EST.

My barber cooked a 24 pound turkey to feed 17 people on Thanksgiving, his kids bringing all the sides including a stuffing that sounded wonderful along with his grandchildren.

He explained yesterday morning that as turkeys go to or above 14 pounds the ratio of breast weight to dark meat weight goes up, and that this is why on larger turkeys the latter will be done well before the former unless special precautions like tenting in aluminum foil are taken to prevent the drumsticks and upper wings from overcooking and turning hard as leather.

But birds of lesser weight have a sufficiently low ratio of breast meat to dark meat to result in their being done at about the same time.

Hence my easy success with my 13 pound bird.

Of which an amazing amount remains though the wife and I have had turkey every night since Thanksgiving.