Poultry

Serve poultry often—it’s versatile, flavorful, and economical. You can buy chicken and turkey in convenient sizes—chilled or frozen—any day of the year. And for variety, try duck and goose.

Preparing poultry

Ready-to-cook poultry needs little preparation before cooking. Inspect for pinfeathers. Wash and drain poultry.

Keep frozen poultry frozen until time to thaw or cook. Frozen poultry usually is thawed before cooking, but poultry parts or whole poultry frozen without giblets can be cooked without thawing. Cooking time will be longer than for unfrozen poultry. Do not thaw commercially frozen stuffed poultry before cooking.

To thaw poultry in the refrigerator, place frozen poultry on a tray or shallow pan to catch the thawing drip; if unwrapped, cover lightly. Remove giblets from cavity when bird is pliable.

If it is not practical to thaw poultry in the refrigerator, immerse poultry in a watertight wrapper in cold water. Change water often to hasten thawing. Or you can partially thaw poultry in the refrigerator and partially in cold water. It takes 1 to 8 hours to thaw poultry in cold water, or 1 to 3 days in a refrigerator.

Cook poultry promptly after thawing. Stuff poultry just before roasting.

Cooking guides

Most poultry sold whole can be roasted. Stewing chickens and mature turkeys, however, are more tender if braised or stewed. They are good for stews, or to provide cooked meat for casseroles, sandwiches, and salads.

Broiler or fryer chickens can be roasted, ovenbaked, barbecued, or cooked on a rotisserie as well as broiled or fried. Fryer-roaster turkeys weighing 4 or 5 pounds can be roasted whole, or can be cut into parts and fried or broiled.

Rock Cornish game hens can be cooked like broiler or fryer chickens. Small ducks are suitable for broiling or frying; larger ones, for roasting or rotisserie cooking. Geese roast very well.

Roast poultry uncovered for best color and to reduce splitting and shrinkage. Poultry can be roasted with or without stuffing; unstuffed birds take slightly less time to cook. Cook poultry until tender and juicy; do not overcook.

Roasting

Prepare the poultry as directed above. Stuff the body and neck cavities lightly; allow about ½ cup of stuffing per pound of ready-to-cook poultry. See stuffing recipe (p. [28]). Or if desired, leave poultry unstuffed.

Fold loose neck skin toward back; fasten with a skewer. Turn wingtips back of heavy wingbone to rest against neck skin. Tuck ends of legs under band of skin at tail or fasten legs together close to body.

To roast poultry, place breast side up on a rack in a shallow pan. Do not cover pan and do not add water.

See roasting guide (p. [28]) for approximate times for roasting poultry.

A meat thermometer is the best guide to doneness of turkeys. Insert the thermometer into the center of the inner thigh muscle. Make sure it does not touch the bone.

Salt the giblets and neck, seal them in aluminum foil, and roast along with the poultry. Or simmer them in salted water until tender.

You can baste poultry with pan drippings or a little fat if you like.

If poultry browns early in the roasting period, cover the breast and drumsticks lightly with aluminum foil or with a thin cloth moistened with fat. After poultry is partly roasted, cut band of skin that holds legs together.

Use any one or more of the following ways to tell if poultry is done:

• A meat thermometer inserted in the center of the inner thigh muscle of a turkey reaches 180° to 185° F. If turkey is stuffed, also check stuffing temperature by inserting a thermometer into the body cavity for 5 minutes. Temperature should reach 165° F.

• Drumstick feels soft when you press meaty part with protected fingers.

• Drumstick moves up and down easily and leg joint gives readily.

Caution: Do not partly roast poultry on one day and complete roasting the following day.

ROASTING GUIDE

Kind of poultryReady-to-cook weight[10]Approximate roasting time at 325° F. for stuffed poultry[11]Internal temperature of poultry when done
PoundsHours°F.
Chickens1½ to 2½1 to 2
(Broilers, fryers, or roasters)2½ to 4½2 to 3½
Ducks4 to 62 to 3
Geese6 to 83 to 3½
8 to 123½ to 4½
Turkeys6 to 83 to 3½180 to 185 in center of inner thigh muscle.
8 to 123½ to 4½
12 to 164½ to 5½
16 to 205½ to 6½
20 to 246½ to 7