The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 740

be on the roster year-round (Turkey Association of America, you can mail that check to my home address.) It’s got more flavor than chicken, and everyone knows that nothing beats leftover turkey for making soups, sandwiches, and all manner of treats for the rest of the week In theory, roasting a turkey is not all that different from roasting a chicken—the same basic problems and solutions apply—it’s just a matter of adjusting scale and timing IF YOU follow food media, you may notice that every single year, every magazine, blog, and television show comes out with a brand-new recipe for roast turkey, claiming it as the be-all-end-all-world’s-best-you’ll-neverneed-another recipe Until the next year rolls around Now, one could give them all the benefit of the doubt and assume that every year they’re telling the truth If so, what a happy world we live in, for, year after year, the quality of our roast turkeys is progressing on a never-ending, sure-and-steady upward path toward perfection Or you could go for the real answer: we food writers are all liars OK, so it’s not so bad as all that The truth is, there’s no one best way to cook a turkey, and anybody who tells you different is selling something, most likely a magazine or book (*wink wink*) There is a near-endless list of goals and restrictions, based on the tastes, skills, and time constraints of different home cooks, and thus a near-endless supply of recipes for turkey Some people want that perfect golden brown centerpiece in the middle of the table Some want their share of stuffing, moist with drippings Others care only for the meat, pushing even the crispest, crackliest, saltiest bits of skin off to the side of their plates (we shall speak no more of these heathens) Here are four different turkey recipes for four different scenarios  ... centerpiece in the middle of the table Some want their share of stuffing, moist with drippings Others care only for the meat, pushing even the crispest, crackliest, saltiest bits of skin off to the side... even the crispest, crackliest, saltiest bits of skin off to the side of their plates (we shall speak no more of these heathens) Here are four different turkey recipes for four different scenarios