In just over a week cooks everywhere will be cooking the one turkey they cook a year. There are dozens of different methods out there for cooking turkey. You can cook a turkey low and slow filled with stuffing that will take you hours, you can spatchcock your turkey and roast it hot and fast in about 2 hours, smoke it, deep fry it, and so on. None of these options is necessarily wrong (OK, the bird filled with stuffing that cooks all day is wrong) but they all have potential for disaster.
If you overcook your turkey you will end up with a dry, inedible bird that no amount of gravy will rescue. And under cooked turkey will be rubbery, and unappetizing and could send you and your guests running for the toilet or even the hospital. So how do we prevent an overcooked or under cooked turkey?
My number 1 most important tip for cooking a delicious turkey is this: Know the internal temperature of your turkey!!!
Turkey can be tough to cook since it is is just a big, misshapen hunk of meat with parts and pieces sticking out everywhere. The meat in the legs and thighs is much different than the meat in the breasts.
Turkey breast meat is done at right around 165 degrees. If you go much more than this you could have some bone dry meat. Dark meat is done closer to 175 degrees. Any less than that and the meat will be fairly rubbery. Luckily dark meat can handle some higher temperatures so it is a bit harder to overcook. You can take out some insurance by following my 3 Tips for a Perfect Turkey (if you are too lazy to click that link: dry brine, spatchcock, and avoid the stuffing) but no matter what you do you will still need to know your internal temperatures. Even if you end up with an ugly looking turkey and the skin isn’t what you are hoping for you can still be assured of edible meat if you know your internal temperatures.
Disclosure: This post is monetized with affiliate links. If you buy something through them I earn a commission which helps support this site and lets me buy more meat so I can write about it.
Don’t trust those little popup thermometers. They are horribly inaccurate. Thanksgiving dinner is the time to invest a few bucks in a good internal probe thermometer so you can accurately measure the internal temperature of your turkey. And when it comes to thermometers it is hard to beat the Thermoworks line. I currently have 3 different Thermoworks thermometers that I would highly recommend and a 4th on my wish list. Here are some ideas on how you can use the different models and why you need at least one of them.
Thermoworks ThermoPop
I rarely cook any sort of meat without my ThermoPop handy. At only $34 the ThermoPop won’t break the bank but you will still get a very accurate, very fast probe thermometer. Generally speaking I use the ThermoPop to spot check the meat while it is getting towards the end of a cook. In just a few seconds you can take the temperatures in a variety of different spots on your turkey to make sure the entire bird is cooked properly. One of my favorite things about the ThermoPop is you don’t need to insert the probe all the way in to properly measure temperatures like you would with those old, clunky dial meat thermometers. You only need the very end of the tip in to read the temps so on a small bird you can easily take the temps of the thighs or legs where the meat isn’t as thick as the breasts.
The ThermoPop comes in 9 different colors and there are quantity discounts. Buy a bunch and keep them around for last minute wedding presents or birthday presents. Order your ThermoPop today.
Thermoworks DOT
The next step beyond the Thermopop is the Thermoworks DOT. The DOT is a leave in probe thermometer. Put your turkey in the oven, insert the probe into the thickest part of the breast, and keep track of everything without ever opening the oven. The controls on the DOT are super simple with buttons to raise or lower the target temperature. If you set it for 160 degrees the alarm will go off and then you can take your ThermoPop and spot check other parts of the bird.
I really love how simple the DOT is. No crazy controls, no attached timers or anything. Just a couple buttons and a nice, large display so you can see your temps from across the kitchen. I have mine in the drawer right next to the stove and use it all the time while I am cooking indoors. My wife loves it for checking the temps of breads, casseroles, and the like so it gets a lot of use beyond meat.
The Thermoworks DOT is only $43 and also comes in 9 different colors. There are few leave in probe thermometers that are this simple at this price. Order your DOT for only $43.
Thermoworks Smoke
If you really want to keep track of your temps check out the Thermoworks Smoke. With two probes you can easily keep track of multiple parts of the bird while it cooks. I use my Smoke anytime I fire up my smoker to keep track of the air temp in the cooker as well as the meat. You can set high and low alarms and the Smoke comes with a remote unit so you can have your bird cooking in the oven and you can safely go watch the football game without any danger of the turkey overcooking.
For cooking a turkey I would put one probe in the breast and another in the thigh so you can safely keep track of the white and dark meat. Shoot for 165 degrees for the white meat and 175 for the dark. If you spatchcocked your bird you should have no problems hitting these temps at the same time. Order your Thermoworks Smoke for just $99.
Thermoworks Signals
And the fourth option? Are you one of those cooks who revels in excessive gadgets? The Thermoworks Signals is for you. With 4 probes you can measure just about everywhere on your turkey. The Signals is also Wifi and Bluetooth compatible so you can keep track of everything on your phone with the Thermoworks App. Stick a probe in each breast, one in a thigh, and one in a leg and you will have the most accurate picture of what is going on in your oven. If you are stuffing your bird shove one of the probes in there to make sure you stuffing gets to the right temperature as well.
The Thermoworks Signals runs $229 so it isn’t cheap but if you do a lot of smoking or cooking multiple cuts of meat at once you will quickly see the need for something like this. I have one on my Christmas list this year. Order your Thermoworks Signals for $229.
Brine your turkey, inject it with whatever you want, season it how you like, cook it however you are comfortable with but if you want a great turkey make sure you know the internal temperature of your bird! Even if it doesn’t end up looking like a Norman Rockwell painting you can be assured that if you have you effectively monitor your temperatures you are pretty much assured of some nice, juicy meat. And if you want to avoid the turkey all together check out my 4 Alternatives for the Thanksgiving Turkey.
