Cooking Turkey the day BEFORE serving?

[Tina]

I've never heard of this. A FB friend just posted that her turkey is done. Done meaning out of the oven, sliced and ready for serving - tomorrow. Won't this be dried out? Does anyone else do this? How do you keep it fresh and moist?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

There is always gravy, I guess.

Frankly, I would love to make the whole meal the day before and then eat leftovers on Thanksgiving. For some reason I enjoy it better the next day.

 

[Art 1]

I've never heard of this. A FB friend just posted that her turkey is done. Done meaning out of the oven, sliced and ready for serving - tomorrow. Won't this be dried out? Does anyone else do this? How do you keep it fresh and moist?

That's how my wife usually does it. She always cooks a turkey and a turkey breast, the breast is in the oven right now.

My wife is know to be a very good cook, spends a day, sometimes two making a meal, all from scratch, some of the ingredients are made from scratch. One of the things she does for large get togethers is cooks the food the day before, sometimes cooks some two days before as a test and then cooks another serving the day before.

You know people always say food taste better the next day. The people don't know that she does it this way.

 

[Christine]

My coworker does his turkey the day before. He is an excellent cook and always buys a turkey right off the farm. I think that makes a huge difference.

He has brought me in some of his turkey the day AFTER Thanksgiving so it's two days old at that point, and it is still incredibly moist.

Then there are those folks that have a dry bird right out of the oven.

I think it can be done. Key is to cook it perfectly, and not the least bit over done. It should probably be stored in a container with some of the juices over it.

 

[ilovejack02]

We had Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. Fried a turkey and I am now eating it for lunch. YUMMMMM oooooo , still juicy and possibly better than yesterday .

 

[lovetoscrap]

If you cover it with Chicken or Turkey Broth it will stay moist. I always make sure to put broth in with my leftovers. You won't have a nice crisp skin on Thanksgiving though!

 

[SpecialK]

I do this every year. As a matter of fact, I've got the turkey in the oven right now. When I carve it, I spoon some of the pan juices over it to keep it moist. Tomorrow I'll let it come to room temp., the warm it in a low oven for 20-30 minutes.

It frees up the oven, I can take my time making gravy and I don't have to carve with an audience. I really enjoy the day a lot more since I started cooking ahead - and clean-up is a breeze.

 

[Tina]

Wow. I've never heard of such a thing, but I'd definitely like to try it. It sounds like it really frees up the cook (and the oven) and probably relieves the pressure/stress as well!

 

[minkydog]

I have been cooking my turkey(and some of the sides) for years now. I've been a nurse for 34 years and I can't even count how many holidays I've been on duty. I started cooking early to accomodate my schedule and it just kinda stuck. I cook the turkey completely today, then after it rests for about 20 min I'll cut it off the bone into white meat and dark meat piles. Once it's cooled a bit I put the packages into the fridge.

WHile the turkey is roasting and thus, tying up the oven, I start cooking my sides. Giblets are simmering. Collards are slow-cooked--the are always better on the second day, after they've soaked up the broth(called "pot likker.") I put together a lovely Waldorf salad(apples, celery, pecans.) I've boiled the carrots for carrot souffle--it gets cooked tomorrow because, well, it's a souffle. Whole berry cranberry sauce is coolin' and jellin' as we speak. Eggs are boiled.The biggest thing is chopping all the celery and onions, tons of them, and wilting them ahead of time. My bread crumbs were done last week, so I'll put all that together tomorrow in a crock pot.

All I need to do tomorrow is put in a punkin pie, reheat the turkey with some of the pan drippings that I save today, make the gravy(from a jar), start the crockpot dressing,and make some quick succotash(limas & corn.) DD17 will make her famous carrot souffle, devilled eggs, stuffed celery, and olive tray.

See, my mother used to do all this stuff ON Thanksgiving day. In fact, she still does. Which isn't terrible,but she doesn't want anybody "bothering" her while she cooks. But it's too much for one person to pull off in one day, so she gets angry and pouty. And no appetizers to "ruin our appetite!" She always intends to have it ready by 1pm, but it never really gets done until about 4:30, by which time all th children are crying and whining, the adults are getting bored and next thing you know, someone's mouthing off a little too much. By the time we eat dinner at least one family is unhappy because they are now late for their meal with their in-laws. And mother does this year after year.

Now do you see why I cook mine ahead? I can get up at 9am, watch the parades while I put in my pie and start the dressing. DD is doing her thing and we're all ready to eat before 1:30. Important, too, because AFTER the dinner the kids drag out all the Christmas stuff and put up the tree!

 

[Claudia1]

We do it every year for DH's work. I cooked two big birds and took them in today for the staff tomorrow. They always say it is more moist than they have at home and everybody loves it.

Like everyone else, I add broth to the meat when it warms up. I take in a roaster for them to use in the break room. If you like the crispy skin, then this is not for you. If you want great flavor and moist meat, this could work for you.

Never microwave it..... always let it reheat slowly.

 

[bettymae1121]

My aunt used to do this, before her MS got worse and she couldn't handle hosting anymore. Honestly I didn't notice a difference in the meat, but then I'm not a huge turkey fan anyway, I'm there for all the sides!

One big advantage is that the oven is free on the Big Day for all the side dishes, so things are much easier to coordinate.

 

[Kae]

My BIL's sister does this and she puts it cut up in the crockpot with broth to reheat.

Kae

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Mine is in the oven as I type. As otheres have said, the key is to keeping broth on the turkey in the refrig. I have done this all of my adult life. It certainly helps with the stress factor ON Thanksgiving. I have my sides made, in the refrig, and ready for baking tomorrow.

 

[Pigeon]

My MIL did this one year, only she made it a couple of days before.

It was horrid. First of all, when you walk in the door on TG, you expect to smell turkey roasting. Instead, there was...nothing.

It was like getting served leftovers for TG dinner. The turkey did not taste like it was freshly cooked any more than leftovers do. Everybody was really quiet and nobody ate much. The family still jokes about it years later.

I went home and bought a turkey the next day so that we could have an actual TG dinner.

 

[LBIJim]

Sure. Just finished roasting and carving the turkey. We slice the breast; leave the legs and wings whole. Put all in an oblong pyrex dish with a can of broth or a dissolved buillion cube. Reheat tomorrow for about a half hour at low heat. It will stay moist.

Just getting ready to throw out the carcass. We don't save it for soup.

Pumpkin pie is almost done.

Less to do tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Jim

 

[scrapquitler]

I've never heard of this. A FB friend just posted that her turkey is done. Done meaning out of the oven, sliced and ready for serving - tomorrow. Won't this be dried out? Does anyone else do this? How do you keep it fresh and moist?

My MIL always does this. She cookes everything early in the morning and then microwaves it right before dinner. That's one of the main reasons I make dinner at my house now