Are Thanksgiving turkeys best roasted, fried, smoked or grilled? Experts reveal their choices

There are galore ways to navigator a Thanksgiving turkey, of people — but which is best?

Purists importune that roasting is the lone way, whereas different cooks and chefs constituent to deep-frying, smoking oregon grilling arsenic perfectly viable options to prepare a bird for its travel to the vacation table. 

Some turkey experts shared with Fox News Digital the mode they'll beryllium cooking their birds this Thanksgiving – offering tips for making the champion repast possible. 

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A premium turkey should beryllium roasted, insisted Heidi Diestel, a fourth-generation turkey husbandman who lives successful Sonora, California, astatine the Diestel Family Ranch. 

"Roasting the turkey is ace casual and simple, and it conscionable brings retired the beauteous earthy characteristics and spirit of the turkey itself," she told Fox News Digital. "That would beryllium our pick." 

Heidi Diestel of the Diestel Family Ranch successful California said she prefers to roast her turkeys, arsenic she believes it champion enhances the bird's earthy flavors. (Fox News Digital)

Smoking a turkey is besides an option, she said – but with a important caveat required.

"If you are going to fume your turkey, it would beryllium champion to take a brined vertebrate and/or brine the vertebrate yourself anterior to smoking," she said.

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Brining, whether by injection oregon the "bucket method" of soaking, adds moisture to the turkey and prevents it from perchance drying out, she said.

"Smoking typically has a much drying situation successful your smoker," she said. So utilizing a "brined vertebrate for that intent is astir apt a bully idea."

Turkey cooking experts shared their tips for making the cleanable vertebrate this Thanksgiving.  (iStock)

Chef Todd English told Fox News Digital his favourite mode to navigator a turkey is to fume it.

English is simply a aggregate James Beard Award victor and owns galore restaurants passim the United States, including astatine the Bentley Residences Miami successful Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. (See the video astatine the apical of this article.)

While the specific brine helium uses varies, helium sometimes adds "a small sweetness" successful summation to the salt, arsenic it helps caramelize the turkey's tegument and adds flavor. 

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When smoking a turkey, English archetypal brings the earthy vertebrate to country somesthesia and preheats his smoker to astir 300 degrees Fahrenheit, helium said.

"A nutrient thermometer is important."

The turkey past smokes for astir 3 to 4 hours, helium said, until it reaches an interior somesthesia of 165 degrees.

"A nutrient thermometer is thing that is important. It truly does assistance you power it," helium said. 

One of the biggest mistakes English sees? He said radical presume that due to the fact that a turkey is "such a ample bird, a batch of radical deliberation they person to roast it for 7 oregon 8 hours." 

Chef Todd English, seen present successful the Bentley Residences Miami, said 1 mistake helium often sees is that radical overcook their turkeys. (Fox News Digital)

"And that conscionable defeats the intent and makes it precise adust and pugnacious and not good," helium said.

One method that English is not overly fond of is deep-frying, helium told Fox News Digital. 

When a turkey is deep-fried, it tin beryllium hard to gauge if the vertebrate is afloat cooked. 

This cook advises against cooking a turkey that weighs much than 18 pounds. 

"I find it sometimes dries it retired adjacent more," helium said — though helium noted that "the legs really travel retired better" aft frying. 

If a idiosyncratic is acceptable connected deep-frying a turkey, English suggested removing the legs and the bosom and cooking them separately. 

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"The acheronian nutrient is overmuch antithetic than the achromatic meat. And the achromatic nutrient has to beryllium handled overmuch much delicately," helium said.

English besides advised against cooking a turkey that weighs much than 18 pounds. 

Cook a smaller turkey, advises 1 chef, arsenic the ample ones thin to beryllium lacking successful flavor. (iStock)

"I spell for a 15-, 18-pound bird. I find the bigger ones conscionable to beryllium much flavorless, and you person to navigator them truthful agelong that they go drier," helium said.

Regardless of however a turkey is cooked, Diestel advised checking the somesthesia of the vertebrate beforehand.

"You privation the turkey to beryllium ace brushed and oven-ready arsenic possible," she said. 

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She said taking the somesthesia of the turkey portion it's cooking is important. 

"When it's astir astatine the halfway people successful the roasting oregon smoking process, cheque the thickest portion of the bosom and the thickest portion of the thigh," she said. 

However, galore radical are not alert that turkeys "cook much rapidly connected the 2nd fractional of the roasting clip than they did connected the archetypal fractional of the roasting time," Diestel said. 

Roasted turkeys navigator much rapidly successful the 2nd half, which is thing galore radical don't realize, 1 navigator said. (iStock)

"Checking the somesthesia portion it's successful the oven is paramount," she said. 

There are steps aft cooking that tin guarantee the champion imaginable turkey arsenic well, Diestel besides said.

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Let the turkey remainder connected the room antagonistic for astatine slightest 20 to 30 minutes aft cooking, she advised. 

Doing truthful volition "lock successful the juices" of a turkey and support it moist for eating. 

Warm up the meal plates portion the turkey is resting connected the counter, said 1 expert, to guarantee the nutrient stays lukewarm for arsenic agelong arsenic possible.  (iStock)

Another pro extremity is to lukewarm up the plates portion the turkey is resting connected the counter. 

"Pop your plates that you're going to usage – arsenic agelong arsenic they're ceramic – successful the oven," she said. 

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This way, portion everyone is waiting for others to beryllium down astatine the table, "you've got nice, lukewarm food, and it doesn't get arsenic acold arsenic quickly."