Essential Tools for Turkey Roasting

Title: Essential Tools for Turkey Roasting
Yield: 1 Servings
Categories: Information, Holidays, Turkey 

Ingredients: 

           Holiday Feasts


  Make sure you have the following:
    * A LARGE ROASTING PAN.
    * VEGETABLE OIL AND BUTTER, SALT AND PEPPER.
    * A TOWEL. You will have greater luck with the drumstick clamp if you
  grasp it and the slippery turkey with a towel.
    * AN INSTANT-READ THERMOMETER. This is your most important tool. With
  this, you don't need a roasting chart or a clock. Read the facts on the
  dial. If you don't have one, get one.
    * Also Make Sure You've Got o A TURKEY LIFTER. Some recipes out there ask
  the cook to  flip a hot turkey from breast to back during cooking,
  supposedly to distribute juices. Try this once and you'll let nature's
  browning take its course. But you will have to lift the turkey out. I
  recommend a turkey lifter. The best turkey lifter looks like snow chains
  but acts as a sling. Two strands of metal chain-link lie on the bottom of
  your roasting pan with handles draped over the side of the pan. The turkey
  rests on top of the sling. You simply grasp both handles and heave. This
  device will put an end to burned hands, greasy potholders and lost
  drumsticks.
    * FOIL. For great-looking turkeys, lay a sheet of loose foil over the
  bird halfway through cooking time. Make it loose, or you'll steam the bird
  you're attempting to roast. Also, you may need to wrap foil booties around
  the drumsticks so they don't get dry and crunchy.
    * BULB BASTER, OPTIONAL. Makes basting easy, but begs the question about
  basting at all. New thinking discourages basting. Basting causes streaking
  through the skin's sheen. Turkey skin is so thick that basting really can't
  penetrate it. Basting only keeps the cook busy.
    * A STRAINER. For straining clear juices for gravy.
  
  From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini