Many folks are preparing for the Thanksgiving Holiday with family and friends and it’s a good idea to remember some important cooking tips when it comes to your turkey. USU Extension Office Emery County, Christine Jensen took time to share some turkey cooking tips with listeners.

The cost of food has gone up in recent months and unfortunately folks may see an increase on turkeys this year.  “Don’t be surprised if you pay a little more for the turkey this year. It doesn’t have to be a turkey that you buy, you don’t necessarily have to have full bone in turkey, you can have turkey breast, or other turkey, or other foods that you desire whatever your family would like to have. Traditionally we do eat turkey but it doesn’t have to be. In looking at some of the research that I’ve been doing on turkeys, a lot of the problems if there are turkeys, getting the turkeys from the market into the grocery stores but that does increase the cost of them,” stated Jensen. Consumers are urged to shop around for a reasonably priced turkey.

Trying to determine the size of turkey can be tricky, because sometimes you want to have leftovers. “So if you’re having one to four people, you want about a 10 or 11 pound turkey. It’s difficult to find those small turkeys but you can find them. Sometimes you want leftovers sometimes, sometimes you don’t want a whole turkey, sometimes you just want the turkey breast, but depending on the size of your family, that’s how big you want your turkey to be,” said Jensen. Again, consumers are urged to shop around for the appropriate size of turkey they need to feed their family and guests. Sometimes folks may need to cook several turkeys for their family gathering.

Now that you have your turkey its time to thaw it out in a timely manner so that you can cook it. “Generally, you want to start to thaw your turkey several days before that day you’re going to cook it. You want to thaw it properly in the refrigerator, do not thaw it out on the counter. Don’t do it or leave it in your sink, or leave it in your garage, don’t use a hairdryer to thaw it out. Those are not good ways because it increases the chance of having some bacterial growth,” stated Jensen. The rule of thumb for thawing a turkey is to do so in the refrigerator because the temperature is consistent. You want to have it out in your refrigerator one to three days prior to Thanksgiving. A 16-pound turkey three to four days and 20-pound four to five days.

Cooking times vary for the size of the turkey but the internal temperature is the same all the way around. “You want to cook it no lower temperature than 325 degrees. Because again you have to worry about bacteria growth if its too low. Many people right now are saying I’ll cook it all night, you just cooking it at such low temperatures. Your turkey has to reach 165 degrees and if you’re adding dressing inside of it, it also has to reach 165 degrees temperature,” said Jensen. If you have any questions about cooking your turkey, feel free to contact Christine Jensen at the USU Extension Office Emery County at (435) 381-3535.