Craving a Thanksgiving turkey with juicy, tender meat and crisp, perfectly bronzed skin? Science can help.

That’s because there’s more to cooking the bird than simply tossing it in the oven: What you buy, how it’s prepared, the roasting method and temperature, and the resting process all factor into the final (delicious) result. Read on to learn the principles behind roasting a turkey right.

购物

Avoid frozen birds.冰冻会产生冰晶，从而扩展和刺穿肉类的细胞。然后，肉类可以泄漏鸟类的水分的10％。煮熟时，新鲜的火鸡肉保持多汁。

Go for pasture-raised.Much of a turkey’s flavor develops when its muscles are exercised. Muscles in the wings, thighs, and drumsticks are fueled by fat, and as these muscles exercise, their dark-meat flavor develops from aromatic compounds in the fat and from two proteins, myoglobin and cytochromes. (Less exercised breast meat tastes milder primarily because these muscles are fueled by glycogen instead of fat and contain fewer flavorful compounds.) Pasture-raised turkeys tend to get more exercise than those raised in the crowded pens of concentrated animal-feeding operations, so they develop more flavor.

考虑遗产繁殖。Most turkeys sold in the U.S. are Broad Breasted White turkeys, which have been bred to produce about 70% mild-tasting white breast meat. These top-heavy turkeys are too ungainly o fly or reproduce naturally. On the other hand, heritage breeds, like Bourbon Red and Royal Palm, are closer to wild turkeys and have richer, gamier-tasting meat.

Skip self-basting birds.宽阔的白色火鸡经常被“增强”或注射盐水（根据USDA，“其他认可的物质”），以减轻肉的干燥和缺乏风味。尽管这些“自bast”鸟多汁，但它们的味道仍然很温和。为了获得更多的味道和多汁，请从美味的“无效”火鸡开始，然后自己盐水(see below).

准备

If you do buy a frozen bird, thaw it safely.A refrigerator set no higher than 40°F is the safest place, because foods that spoil easily should be kept out of the “danger zone” of 40°F to 140°F, where harmful bacteria tend to thrive. This refrigerator method can take up to six hours per pound, so a 16-lb. turkey could take four days to thaw. If you’re pressed for time, you can safely thaw a frozen turkey in cold water, which transfers heat more efficiently than the cold air of a refrigerator. This method cuts thawing time to about ½ hour per pound, or eight to ten hours for a 16-lb. turkey. Completely submerge the wrapped turkey in cold tap water and replace the cold water every 30 to 45 minutes to maintain a safe temperature.

Brine for juiciness.土耳其肉只有68％的水分，很容易干燥。奶油（在盐水中浸泡）可以将煮熟的火鸡肉的水分含量增加多达10％。盐水中的盐会分解并松开肉中的蛋白质，因此，当火鸡煮熟并坚固时，它会挤出较少的水分，从而使煮熟的肉味更加汁。盐水的典型比率为2汤匙。每磅火鸡的2½杯水中的犹太盐。完全将火鸡浸入盐水中，冷藏16至18小时。

Don’t brine all birds.土耳其标有“犹太洁食”，“增强”或“自我抨击”，已经燃烧了，不需要进一步的爆发。

烤

Cook the stuffing safely.Stuffing inside the bird has to reach 160°F to be safe to eat, but by that point, the bird’s breast meat will be overcooked and dry. So cook the stuffing in a separate pan, and spoon some turkey drippings over it for flavor. If you must serve a stuffed bird, cook the stuffing and then spoon it loosely into the turkey toward the end of roasting.

Roast the turkey upside down.Typically, turkey breast meat finishes cooking before the leg meat. To solve this doneness discrepancy, start roasting your turkey breast side down at 450°F to transfer maximum heat directly to the legs and thighs while protecting the breast. After 45 minutes, lower the heat to 300°F. For the last hour of roasting (estimating that your turkey needs about 20 minutes per pound), flip the turkey breast side up. Thirty minutes before the turkey’s done, raise the heat to 375°F and brush the exposed skin with oil to crisp it.

不要掩盖。用箔纸覆盖火鸡，在烤箱墙和鸟类辐射的热量之间放下了盾牌，从而减慢了从烤箱的热传输。它还将水分捕获在皮肤周围，使表面干燥减少，从而减少褐变和酥脆。尽管有些人认为覆盖物使肉保持湿润，但实际上却相反。将水分捕获在盖子下的水分会蒸而不是烤肉。潮湿的热量比干热更彻底地贬低蛋白质，从而导致其收紧和浸出汁。如果皮肤在火鸡完成之前变得太黑了，最好通过降低烤箱温度而不是覆盖鸟来减慢热量转移。

使用架子。Roasting on a rack set in a rimmed baking sheet or shallow roasting pan lifts the turkey off the pan, encouraging air circulation around the bird and speeding up cooking. A rack also keeps the bottom skin crisper by raising it above the juice in the pan.

颜色的薄饼。土耳其皮肤棕色是由于糖和蛋白质之间的一系列反应，称为Maillard反应。当游离糖与肉类或皮肤蛋白的氨基酸连接时，这些开始。它们形成不稳定的结构，在暴露于高温时会产生数百种美味和彩色的副产品。加入一点糖量，将锅汁与深色龙舌兰或红糖凝聚混合在一起，使皮肤涂抹。与大众见解相反，basting不会阻止火鸡肉干燥（这完全是煮熟的功能），也不会防止皮肤燃烧。

Use high heat for crisp skin.Turkey skin is loaded with collagen, a protein that turns gelatinous when wet. Eliminating moisture dehydrates the collagen, turning it crackling crisp. For super-crisp skin, crank the heat up for the last 30 minutes of roasting and brush with oil, which also promotes crispness by speeding the heat transfer from the oven to the turkey skin.

FINISHING

休息以享用多汁和更容易的雕刻。热使肉的蛋白质合同迫使其水分朝向火鸡中心。如果立即切成薄片，果汁很容易从中心运行。休息使中心的果汁可以在整个肉中更均匀地重新分配。另外，随着土耳其烤的胶原蛋白结缔组织融化，使肉变软。让火鸡冷却至少15分钟，然后才能使胶原蛋白有机会冷却和牢固，从而使您可以切割固定其形状的更薄的切片。

通过冷却锅滴来脱脂。几个冰块搅拌成肉汁th冷却em down and increase the amount of liquid. Because fat and water molecules are incompatible, and because fats have less surface tension than water, the fatty parts of the drippings will float on top of the watery meat juices. The ice cools the turkey fat, solidifying it, so that you can simply lift it off the liquid. Freezing the drippings for about 30 minutes will achieve the same effect.

用纯淀粉加浓肉汁。Wheat flour is a combination of about 75% starch and 10% protein by weight (the remainder is a mixture of moisture and plant fiber). When making gravy, only the starch in the flour acts as a thickener. To get more thickening power with less added thickener, use a pure starch like cornstarch, potato starch, tapioca, or rice starch instead of flour. One teaspoon of pure starch will thicken the same amount of liquid as 1 Tbs. of flour. Starch-thickened gravy is clearer and has deeper color than flour-thickened gravy; the protein in flour is what makes gravy opaque and pale.

大卫·约阿希姆（David Joachim）和安德鲁·施洛斯（Andrew Schloss）是屡获殊荣参考书的作者The Science of Good Food.