First, let me tell you something
briefly about Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day,
is a traditional North American holiday to give thanks at the
conclusion of the harvest season. Thanksgiving is celebrated on
the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and on the
second Monday of October in Canada. The day is also called as
the Turkey day as turkey is traditionally eaten all over the
United States of America. In the United States of America,
Thanksgiving holidays are a four day weekend which usually marks
a break in school and college calendars. Families and friends
gather for a reunion, a day of thanks, and a festive meal.
Families eat Thanksgiving dinner together with turkey being
the main dish. Mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes,
cranberry sauce, corn, turnips, yams and pumpkin pie are very
commonly associated with the traditional Thanksgiving dinner.
Very often guests bring food stuff or help the hosts with
cooking in the kitchen as part of a happy, communal meal.
Families re-unite with old-timers, kids and relatives for this
holiday.
A ten pound turkey will feed about seven people and take
about eight cups of stuffing. A fifteen pound turkey will feed
about ten people and require about twelve cups of stuffing. A
twenty pound turkey will feed about thirteen adults and require
fifteen cups of stuffing to fill the cavities.
To thaw a turkey in the refrigerator, it will take about
twenty four hours for every five pounds. For the water bath
method of thawing, make sure the turkey is in a sealed bag and
place it in cold water. Change the cold water every thirty
minutes. It will take about thirty minutes for every pound of
turkey to thaw.
For safety, be sure to wash carefully with soap and hot water
everything that touches the raw turkey, and wash anything that
has touched anything that touched the raw turkey. Do not, for
instance, touch other areas or items when you have just touched
the raw turkey.
At 325 degrees Fahrenheit of temperature you will need to
cook a 10-15 pound turkey from 3 3/4 to 4 ½ hours, and a twenty
pound turkey from 4 ½ to 5 hours. Your supper should be served a
half hour after that to give the turkey a chance to rest and you
a chance to make gravy and put the food on the table. If you
like, you can count backwards from the time you wish to serve to
get an idea when you should begin. If you wish to serve at 3
p.m., for example, the turkey should be out of the oven by 2:30.
If it is a fifteen pound turkey, it should go into the oven at
ten am, and you will probably need an hour to prepare the
stuffing and stuff the bird, so you should begin at nine am.
If you are able to use a meat thermometer, insert it to the
thickest part of the thigh near the breast, but avoid touching
the bone. The thermometer should be 180 degrees when the turkey
is done.
