Five Ways to Cook a Turkey

Whether you are cooking a turkey breast for a
Christmas dinner for two or cooking a large
bird for a crowd, there are a few options for
cooking the star of the Christmas meal.
If you’re cooking a turkey breast or very
small turkey for eight or fewer people, you
also have the option of cooking your turkey
in a slow cooker, Instant Pot or in an air
fryer.
For the slow cooker, spray the dish with
non-stick spray. Add the turkey and
seasoning. Cook on low for 8-9 hours,
until the turkey is tender and a meat
thermometer reads 165 F.
For the Instant Pot, drizzle olive oil all over
the turkey breast and rub in well. In the
bottom of the Instant Pot, place the trivet
handles up, and pour ½ cup of water into
the bottom of the Instant Pot. Put the lid on
and close properly.
Press the Manual or Pressure Cook button
and set the timer to 25 minutes. Once
the instant pot is fully pressurized, the 25
minutes will show on the digital screen and
will begin counting backwards. Open the
instant pot and pull the trivet out by the
handles; put the turkey breast on the cutting
board and cover with foil for 15 minutes
before slicing.
A convection oven cooks a turkey 25%
quicker because dry hot air is blowing
directly on the food. The circulating
convection heat prevents oven hot spots
making the entire oven space perfect for
cooking the turkey and side dishes all at
once. Set your oven to 350 F and put the
turkey in the centre of the lowest rack.
There’s no need to baste the turkey when
using a convection oven because the
blowing heat sears the turkey quickly, which
locks in the juices. A 12-15 pound turkey
will cook in 1 ½ to 2 hours, a 20-25 pound
turkey in 2 ½ to 3 hours.
A conventional oven is how most of us will
cook our turkeys. Place your thawed turkey,
breast-side up on a rack in a roasting pan.
Roast in a 325 F oven for about 20 minutes
per pound. Stuffed turkey should be cooked
to the same temperature and the stuffing
itself should reach 165 F. Remove tinfoil
tent for the last hour of roasting.