Cooks no longer must dress their own turkeys -- cleaned, dressed and flash-frozen birds fill cases for the holidays. Whole birds and their parts are also available year-round. The most recent turkey-processing innovation is the self-basting bird, injected with fluids that do away with the chore of manual basting. In addition to being a messy task, basting lengthens oven time -- every time the oven door opens for basting, the temperature drops. Finding a self-basting turkey is easy if you know what to look for.
Step 1
Read the label. Most will display the words "self-basting" or "basted."
Step 2
Look at the ingredients. If additional ingredients, such as butter, vegetable oil, broth, stock, water, spices or other food substances are added, turkeys must be labeled as basted or self-basting.
Step 3
Check the percentage of added weight -- 3 percent or more added weight constitutes basting.
Step 4
Examine the bird's skin if it is packaged in a transparent or translucent wrap. Frozen basting ingredients may show up as lighter patches under the turkey's skin.
References
- "Good Housekeeping Cook Book"; Turkey; Dorothy B. Marsh, editor; 1942
- USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service: Turkey From Farm to Table
- University of Illinois Extension: Turkey for the Holidays
- University of Missouri Extension; Purchasing, Thawing and Cooking Your Turkey; Jessica Kovarik; 2010
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