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Thanksgiving Dinner
Ban the Frantic Woman from the Kitchen!
By Donna Smith
When ready to cook, preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the plastic wrap from the turkey, then remove the neck and giblet package from inside the turkey. Place the turkey in a large plastic cooking bag made to hold a turkey, then into a roasting pan. (If you do not wish to use a plastic cooking bag, place turkey directly in the roasting pan.) The cooking bag instructions will tell you to place one tablespoon of flour inside the bag. After you do this, toss in your cut up celery and onion, if desired, and add some salt and pepper to the outside of the turkey. Rub some oil or butter all over the skin of the turkey to prevent it from drying out, and to add a wonderful flavor and rich color to the turkey. If your turkey comes with a thermometer already in the turkey, you can now seal the bag and put it in the oven to cook. If your turkey did not come with a thermometer, simply insert an oven-safe thermometer into the lower part of the thigh, making sure not to touch the bone.
A 10- to 18-pound turkey generally takes anywhere from 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours to cook. You should check for doneness about half an hour before you think the turkey will be fully cooked. For turkeys that come with their own thermometers, knowing when it is done is simple. When the button pops up, it's ready. If you inserted your own internal thermometer, it should read about 180 degrees Fahrenheit when done. Take the turkey out of the oven and let it rest about 20 minutes before carving.