Todays Futon

It’s that time of year again. The leaves are changing color and falling off trees, the temperatures are dropping. Soon we will be gathering with family to cook and eat our Thanksgiving meals. Here are a few long standing Thanksgiving myths that need to be debunked once again this holiday season.1. Myth: To get the best turkey, soak it in brine before you cook it. Fact: Brining gives you a moist turkey, but the juices inthe pan are too salty to make a good gravy, and the bird itself can be too salty for most peoples taste buds. To get the best turkey without brine, take the bird out of the refrigerator a few hours ahead to warm up, but put ice packs on the breast to keep it cold. That way the delicate breast will heat up slower than the tougher legs. Then while roasting, check the tempera abbotsford florist ture early and often to avoid overcooking the bird.2. Myth: You can make a wonderful stuffed turkey by cooking it in a very low oven overnight Fact: Low cooking temperatures under 300 degrees combined with long cooking times are friendly to micro bacteria and can produce a toxic turkey. For the best and safest results, cook stuffing separately and roast the bird at temperatures above 300 degrees.3. Myth: To get a perfectly cooked turkey, follow a chart that gives you the cooking time according to the weight of your turkey Fact: A chart cannot predict exactly how long it will take to cook a large turkey, because there are many more variables than the weight. Use the chart as a guide in general, but there’s no substitute for checking the doneness yourself with a good digital thermometer.4.