Step 6

Your turkey CAN look like this on Thanksgiving...just follow the steps

Step 6: Rest The Turkey

Shopping List:

• Heavy-duty aluminum foil
• Turkey Platter or Tray large enough to hold the turkey
• (preferably with a lip to catch any juice)

Resting the turkey simply means allowing the turkey to sit on a platter or tray, before carving it.  This allows the juices in the meat, which have been pushed out towards the skin by cooking, to flow back into the meat, resulting in a juicy turkey (which is why we brined the turkey in step 3).  If you were to start carving the turkey as soon as it was out of the oven, the juices would run out all over your platter, and the turkey meat would be dry. 

Remove the turkey from the pan, and place it on the platter.  Create a foil tent: tear off a length of heavy-duty aluminum foil as long as the turkey.  Fold it half along the longest side. Open the foil to about a 45 degree angle, and place it on the top of the turkey.  You made a tent!  On to Step 7: Carving the Turkey.