Step away from the turkey baster.
Into the preheated oven it goes!
Time to find your trusty turkey baster, which inevitably hasn’t been used since last Thanksgiving.
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After so muchcareful planning and cooking, this is where you go wrong.
Before they even servedpumpkin pie.
But I’m here to break the cycle.
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At best, basting is an unnecessary waste of time and energy.
At worst, it might slow down the cooking process, or burn your knuckles on the oven door.
Read on to learn why it’s a bad idea, and what you should be doing instead.
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There are plenty of other cooking tasks to keep your hands busy.
Go the extra mile and air-dry your turkey the day before Thanksgiving.
This little bit of forethought helps dry out the skin better than just patting it dry will.
Butter does an okay job, but contains water, which as noted above, impedes crisping.
Plus, oil is liquid at room temperature, making it easy to distribute all over the turkey.
It has the flavor you want from butter, but contains the oil needed to achieve ultra crispy skin.
Instead, very loosely tent the turkey leaving plenty of space for steam to escape.
