What is Thanksgiving without the turkey? Take the guesswork out of making your thanksgiving bird with this handy free printable Ultimate Turkey Cheat Sheet. These turkey cooking tips are simple and easy to do and will create a moist and tender turkey every time!
Cooking a turkey sounds a lot more complicated than it is in reality. In fact, it’s easy enough that anyone can do it. All you need are a few easy guidelines, and you and your guests will be fighting for leftovers of your juicy and flavorful turkey. If you have this cheat sheet handy, you’ll never over or undercook your turkey again!
From figuring out how much turkey you need to how to properly brine a turkey, there is a guide for everything you need all in one accessible page, so you don’t have to try and flip through pages with your turkey-soaked fingers while cooking! You’ll love all these top turkey cooking tips.
Why It Works
Flawless Holiday Meal – Whether you are cooking your turkey stuffed or unstuffed, the total time you’ll need to cook your turkey really depends on the weight. The larger the bird you’re cooking, the longer you’ll need to keep it in the oven. My printable Turkey Cheat Sheet teaches you how to brine and adequately cook your turkey, whether you leave the stuffing in or out of the bird.
Everything You Need on One Page – With your hand’s arm’s length in a turkey is about when you don’t want to flip through pages of a cookbook! This one-page printable makes it easy to glance over and figure out what you need to do, even if your hands are full. Never guess on turkey cooking times again!
Learn How to Brine a Turkey – Brining a turkey is much easier than you think! I can’t wait to show you how to do it using this simple guide for the juiciest turkey and the moistest meat you’ll ever taste.
How it Works
Step 1: Figure out how many guests are coming. Once you know how many people you’re serving, you can use my guide to help you figure out how large of a turkey you’ll need to feed everyone. If you have a few maybes on your list, leave some wiggle room and extra if you want leftovers.
Step 2: Make a brine using my homemade brine recipe or your own favorite herbs and spices. Let the bird marinate for between 6-12 hours.
Turkey Cheat Sheet
Using this cheat sheet, you can ensure you get the right size turkey for your group. There is even an option to make sure you do or don’t have leftovers, depending on how much you want to serve!
Once you know how big your bird will be, you can make the brine. This is what will make your turkey flavorful and tender. It’s simple to learn how to cook a turkey in the oven to be moist!
My basic turkey brine recipe is
1 gallon water + 1 cup salt + 1/2 cup sugar + 1 cup aromatics/flavorings
You can easily customize the brine to be your favorite spices or herbs and try out different combinations.
Lastly, use the turkey cooking time guide to cook your turkey based on the size and whether or not you choose to stuff or leave it unstuffed.
FAQs
Adding oil to the outside of the turkey while it’s cooking will be the best way to make it golden brown and have a crispy outer skin.
No, you don’t need to rinse a turkey, and it’s not really advisable to do. When you rinse raw meat, you’re risking the spread of those germs to other parts of your kitchen and sink area.
You’ll get the best results having your turkey at room temperature prior to your cooking method. If you can put a whole turkey outside the fridge at least 60 minutes prior to cooking it, this would be great!
Snag the Printable
Get ready for Thanksgiving with my free printable Turkey Cheat Sheet. All you have to do is click HERE to open it up in a new tab and hit the download button! It’s really that simple. Keep this printable handy whenever you go to cook and buy your turkey.
Looking for more help with holiday meals?
Check out these printables if you’re looking for even more holiday inspiration and help!
- 10 Tips For The Best Pie Crust
- 4th of July Party Planner Printable
- Free Meal Planner Printable
- See all our printables!
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