Turkey

Even though we can now buy turkey parts—breasts, thighs, and wings—at the supermarket, most of us still associate turkey with the whole roast bird served on holidays. And for many cooks, roasting a turkey is the only time they desperately reach for a cookbook for guidance on temperature and timing or to their grandmother’s foolproof recipe for stuffing.

Turkey worries cooks for three reasons: they want to know when it is done, how long it is going to take to cook, and how to make good stuffing and gravy.