Luckily, excellent information exists on the www from many reliable sources to guide you through safe preparation of any frozen and then thawed, or fresh poultry product so that you can have an entree you are proud of to serve this Thanksgiving.
Roasted Chicken or Roasted Turkey Breast w/ pan drippings gravy
For food safety and related information, you might want to check out the following for starters: Holiday Food Safety Success Kit as well as: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension (Food, Nutrition and Health) Cook-It-Quick Newsletter for November 2011 that also has ideas for handling leftovers from the holiday meal and using them as planned overs for the shopping days on that holiday weekend.
Just remember that it is considered a wise choice to cook any stuffing OUTSIDE of a poultry cavity, rather than inside of it.
When it comes to roasting any poultry that has a cavity area, I am fond of the vertical metal roasting racks that allow you to stand the poultry upright in your oven, assuming you have a large enough oven cavity to accomplish this and still clear any exposed upper broiling rack, or possibly any exposed lower heating element, etc. You can use any web browser to search for information on these vertical roasting racks–let me be perfectly clear here–I am not promoting any brand per se.
If you don’t roast your bird in the vertical position, then you will be roasting it in the horizontal position.
Make clean up easier by lining any metal roasting pan you use with a disposable, recyclable heavy duty aluminum foil you shape to fit inside that roasting pan to hold all the liquids involved in basting the roasted poultry. Sometimes cooking spray can come in handy for holiday cooking and this is definitely one of those times. I find it really does help with later cleanup if I spray any metal roasting racks with cooking spray before putting any kind of poultry on them.
My family enjoys it when I use apple cider as the basting liquid, so that is a tradition in my home. I happen to prefer fresh poultry for this holiday and go with a product that has not been brine injected (or injected with any seasoning solution, for that matter, prior to my purchasing the product if possible)–just my preference. I like to handle the seasoning /flavoring matters myself!
I do recommend using a fat separator when it comes to making the gravy if any members of your family need you to watch the fat content of the pan drippings gravy. Since I use an apple cider basting liquid, this is never an issue as very little fat drips off the poultry (and I don’t add any fat during the roasting process) and I can easily separate some of it out when making the pan drippings gravy. The natural thickening power of the pectin content of the apple cider means the pan drippings liquid is thick enough without requiring any additional thickener to serve as a pan drippings gravy and it already has a nice, rich color to it as well by the time the poultry has cooked through.
Don’t forget to use a proper thermometer to check the temperature of the poultry at the thickest part as you don’t want to serve an undercooked entree item. When it comes to leftovers, don’t forget to refrigerate them promptly as well for food safety’s sake.
Enjoy any Thanksgiving Day Carving!