Are You Supposed To Cover Your Thanksgiving Turkey?
It's time to say goodbye to Halloween and greetings to the new holiday taking over the rest of fall, Thanksgiving. Food prep can start as early as November 1 when it comes to getting everything figured out for that giant Thanksgiving feast with all your friends and family. Whether it's your 10th time cooking the meal or you are a newbie Thanksgiving host, there are many Thanksgiving dinner hacks you'll wish you knew sooner. And many of them center squarely on cooking the turkey, the most stressful dish of the night.
There are many different techniques that you can use as the centerpiece of your Thanksgiving dinner. You can do the classic roast, go for something a little more over the top and deep fry it, or go way out of the box and brine the bird. However, the classic roasted turkey is the most popular option and, in our opinion, always the best way to go. However, if you're like us and you like to use a mixture of recipes to make one that's as perfect as possible, you may have recognized that you can sometimes get contradicting instructions, even in widely-accepted recipes.
The one step that is sometimes missing from recipes is whether or not to cover your turkey with foil. Some recipes recommend it, while others seem to skip over it entirely. Luckily, we found the answer for you so you never have to second guess the most important part of your Thanksgiving dinner again.
Cover the turkey ... for a time
There may be a lot of debate, but here's the right way to cook a turkey for your Thanksgiving dinner. According to Food Network, you have to give your bird some amount of time in the oven uncovered, but it also needs tinfoil or cheesecloth on it, in order to keep all the moisture in the turkey.
If you choose to do the half-and-half method of covering your turkey, you'll want to start with the turkey covered in the oven, and then it should be uncovered for the last 30-ish minutes. Covering the turkey creates a crispy skin on the outside but keeps the meat moist on the inside. If you leave the cover on the whole time, the turkey skin could become rubbery, and there's a chance you may overcook it because of all the heat radiating throughout the foil cover (via BBQHost).
There are a lot of ways to make sure your turkey gets the best textures and flavors possible for Thanksgiving. Don't let the process stress you out, and instead enjoy the journey of finding what may be best for you. While covering a turkey with tinfoil may be the most-recommended option, we won't judge if you deep fry the turkey or decide to leave it uncovered for the duration of the roast. Just try your best, be sure to make some popular Thanksgiving side dishes, and everyone should be happy.