There are a number of excellent ways to cook your turkey (or any poultry, really)—classic trussed and roasted, spatchcocked, or even smoked. There are numerous ways to ensure the bird is flavorful throughout, like brining or stuffing the cavity with herbs and other aromatics. But there is one strangely pervasive practice that ruins crispy turkey skin: tenting the turkey with foil after cooking.
Every Thanksgiving, I’d witness my mom stuff, roast, and carve a turkey. The bird would exit the oven, bronzed and shiny with visibly crisp skin. She’d caution me to be careful, the turkey was hot, and then she’d build an entire foil shell around it to keep it warm. Well, it was hot alright—hot and steaming. And so, it was a good long while before I ever knew the magic of crisp turkey skin. Please don’t think I’m needlessly roasting my mom on the internet—this is a cautionary tale.
Why shouldn’t you tent your turkey?
If you or your parents have been tenting turkeys in an effort to keep them warm, I’m begging you to stop. Sure, foil can trap a bit of heat, but it’s way more effective at capturing steam and creating a surface for condensation to build up and drip off of. Drip where? You guess it, back on ol’ Birdy. More specifically, all that humidity and liquid is trapped right up against the turkey’s skin, quickly transforming it from crackling, crisp joy to floppy, rather unappetizing sog.
As it turns out, only Reynolds Wrap wants you to tent your turkey after cooking it (can’t imagine why, or who spread this advice in the first place). Your turkey actually doesn’t need any covering at all to keep it warm. Large cuts of meat, not to mention entire Thanksgiving birds, hold onto heat very well unassisted. So well, it’s actually recommended to have large birds to sit for at least 30 to 45 minutes before carving. This gives the juices ample time to redistribute into the muscle tissue so you don’t lose it to the cutting board, and allows the turkey to actually cool down so you can carve it without hurting yourself. I’ve let my turkey rest for 45 minutes before carving and still had to stop and shake out my fingertips from the residual heat.
What you should do instead of tenting
When you remove the turkey from the oven, fryer, grill, or combi oven, simply set it out on the counter on a wire cooling rack or elevated roasting rack uncovered. This will allow air to circulate around the entire roast, cooling it and letting moisture drift away from the precious skin. In the meantime, busy yourself plating the sides and pouring a glass of wine. When you’re ready to carve and serve, your turkey will still be piping hot inside with irresistibly crispy skin outside.
