FOOD NEWS
Pouring Boiling Water Over An Entire Turkey Is A Holiday Game Changer
BY TOM MAXWELL
Sharing a turkey with friends and family is one of the joys of the holidays, but achieving crispy turkey skin can be quite difficult. Boiling water can help in an unexpected way.
Pour boiling water over the raw turkey before cooking it. The heat shrinks the skin and renders away some of the moisture and fat underneath that could impede crispness.
It's always good to pat your turkey dry before cooking it, which helps the top of the skin to crisp a bit, but doesn't do anything for the excess moisture and fat underneath.
Boiling water in combination with patting the turkey dry covers all the bases. The hot water breaks down some of the collagen in the skin into gelatin, helping it brown and crisp.
To try it, place a rack large enough to accommodate the bird over the sink and slowly pour boiling water over it until the skin has shrunk and turned translucent. Then, pat dry.