The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 755

THEPERFECTIONIST:
THANKSGIVINGTURKEYTWO
WAYS
We’vealreadytalkedabouttheproblemsofcooking
poultry,themainonebeingthatlegsandbreastsneedto
cooktodifferenttemperatures.
If you’re not too worried about absolute perfection, the
recipeherewilldoyoujustfine.Thehotsteelorstonewill
helpthethighscookfastenoughtokeepabreastofthe,er,
breast.Iftrueperfectioniswhatyou’reafterthough,you’re
betteroffbreakingtheturkeydownintopartstobecooked
individually.Thatway,thebreastandlegscanbecookedto
precisely the right temperature. The divide and conquer
method mostly works for turkey, save for one small
problem:whileit’sfareasiertocookthebreastalonethana
wholebird,thenarrower,taperedendofthebreastcanstill
overcook and dry out, meaning that at least one family
member is going to get stuck with subpar turkey (sorry,
Granddad).
Lowering the oven temperature helps—roasting it at
250°F rather than cooking it at a normal 300° to 350°F
range promotes more even cooking between the edges and
center and between the thick and thin parts—but it’s not
quite enough. What I needed was a way to even out the
shapeofmyturkeybreast,andwhileI’mconfidentthereare
bioengineershardatworkdevelopingturkeyswithperfectly
cylindrical breasts, for the time being, I had to resort to


somekitchensurgery.
So, how do you take an unevenly shaped turkey breast

and turn it into a perfect cylinder? Simple. Remove the
breastsfromthebonesandputthemtogetherhead-to-heels,
thenwrapthewholethingupwiththeirbreastskinandtieit
uptoroastslowly.Then,afterthebreastiscooked,brownit
onthestovetoptocrispuptheskin.
Thismethodoffersafewdistinctadvantages:
• Even cooking. Because of its symmetrical shape, the
turkey breast cooks through along its entire length at the
samerate.Nobodygetsstuckwithadrypiece.
• Better seasoning. By removing the breasts from the
carcass, you expose more surface area and you can then
season the breasts on both sides before assembling the
turkeyroll.
• Easier carving. With no bones and an even shape,
carving the turkey breast is as simple as slicing a
tenderloin.
• Better gravy. With the bones from the breast at your
disposal, it’s easy to make a delicious very turkey-ey
gravy.
Itallsoundsgreat,right?Anditis,butafterallthework
I’ve done on improving those darn breasts, the legs are
beginningtofeelalittleleftout.Shouldtheybecontentwith
plain old roasting? Well, sure—if you feel like it you can
justaddthemtothebakingsheetwhilethebreastrollcooks
and make sure they reach at least 160° to 170°F degrees
before taking them out and following the same searing