The Quest for the perfect Turkey

San Diego Home Cooking is a small chain of locally owned restaurants that has been around since 1997. There are five restaurants including: Café 56, Lake Murray Café, Centre City Café, Lakeside Café and Mission Valley Café.  Freshness, high-quality ingredients and home style cooking makes San Diego Home Cooking an upscale affordable café experience.  

Mel Makaric, one of the owners, has years of experience roasting the perfect turkey. At San Diego Home Cooking, they carve fresh roasted turkey every hour! Here are a few of Mel’s personal turkey tips on how to cook a perfect turkey for the holidays.

Take out giblets and innards: First things first, you’ll want to remove your turkey giblets and neck before you do anything. It will be nicely packaged in a small bag for your convenience to discard or cook separately.  Next, rinse the inside cavity with cool water and commence brining process.

Brine your turkey – The trick to a moist, tender turkey is brining. Soak the turkey in water with salt for at least 24 hours. The key to brining your turkey is finding a container big enough to fully submerge the turkey. Brining bags are available at most grocery stores and can fit up to a 20-pound turkey. Don’t forget to refrigerate while brining!

If you want to get creative, create your own brine recipe. Try things such as herbs and spices to add more complex flavors. Replace some of the water with liquids including apple juice, orange juice, cider or even beer or wine.

Stuff your turkey- Remember that hollow cavity you cleared our earlier? Yes, it’s time to fill it up! Stuff your turkey with fresh vegetables for savory flavoring. Onions, Celery and carrots work great! Don’t ever fill the cavity completely, as things tend to expand as they cook.

Butter it up – Butter up that bird! Whip butter and add herbs for flavoring, gently separate the skin from the meat and spread butter all over! This will help keep everything moist.

Baste, baste, and baste! – Basting every thirty minutes or so will prevent overcooking and a dry bird. By adding juices, you will ensure even cooking and a moist turkey.

The Perfect Temperature – Temperature is paramount to time. Stick a meat thermometer in the thickest part of your turkey breast. 165 degrees is the perfect temperature you’ll want for an impeccably cooked turkey.

Lastly, after all of your hard work, enjoy your perfectly roasted turkey.

Is all of this too much to take in at once? Have no fear; San Diego Home Cooking is serving up fresh oven roasted turkey and all the trimmings every hour and all day on Thanksgiving, all for only $9.99!