Turkey Is NOT The Issue With Thanksgiving. You Are
We're just a couple weeks away now from Thanksgiving, and it's right around this time of the year where everybody decides to fire off their "turkey is the worst part about Thanksgiving" takes.
Every year we get to the 4th Thursday in November, and every year turkey continues to get completely disrespected left and right. Most people will say that they could "take it or leave it" when it comes to turkey. Other folks like to go over the top and claim they actually hate turkey. Power rankings come out for the best foods on the table at Thanksgiving, and turkey is damn near always at the bottom.
It's a disgrace. It drives me up the wall to see how turkey is treated in today's day and age. Because it wasn't always this way. Turkey used to be the crown jewel of Thanksgiving. It was the entire plot of Thanksgiving. But once the sides started to get some of the spotlight, it's almost as if properly cooking turkey has become a lost art. It's as if people have spent so much time trying to perfect the sides, that knowing how to cook a turkey without it turning into saw dust has fallen by the wayside.
Turkey is not the issue. The issue is that so many people don't know how to cook a turkey. And the issue is that so many people aren't willing to put in the effort it takes to perfectly cook a turkey.
You can go spatchcock. You can cook the turkey whole. It really doesn't matter. All that matters is that A) you start with a good, quality bird. I'm not saying you can't get a good turkey from your grocery store. But if you have a poultry market to hit up near you, getting a fresh turkey is always going to be better. B) you brine the turkey the whole day before. Throw as much moisture and flavor into that bird as possible before you start cooking. And C) you are going to keep the temperatures nice and low. It could be on the smoker, it could be in an oven, you could cook this turkey with 73 hair dryers for all I care. Just keep the temperatures low and consistent. Baste the skin with butter to get it deliciously crispy, make sure to pull it once the deepest part of the breast hits 165, and you are going to have an incredible bird.
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Quality turkey. Brine/inject. Low, consistent temperatures. It's really not that difficult at all, it just takes some attention to detail.
Once you have some ridiculously good turkey, you quickly remember why it's such a critical component to Thanksgiving dinner. Don't get me wrong, I love the sides. I personally believe the best way to eat Thanksgiving dinner is by combining everything together. But a great turkey is the perfect foundation to build upon. It's a great base for those creamy mashed potatoes. It goes perfect with some hearty stuffing. The smokiness of the turkey goes perfect with a bite of crispy Brussels sprouts, especially if there's some bacon thrown in there. Thanksgiving sides are incredible on their own, but a great turkey is going to elevate all of them. And that's what people have forgotten over the years. Turkey isn't the weak link of Thanksgiving dinner. It is the cornerstone.
Sidenote: The most important thing on Thanksgiving is that everybody knows their role. If you're someone who doesn't really cook at all during the rest of the year, Thanksgiving is not your time to try out some new green bean casserole recipe you saw on Pintrest. People need to know their role when it comes to Thanksgiving like who is doing the cooking, who is in charge of the booze, who is controlling the remote to make sure you can flip from game to game without missing any action. As long as everybody focuses on their role and nothing more than that, every Thanksgiving is a hit.