Turkey week is here, and with it comes the anticipatory stress of perfecting the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving meal. Achieving a moist, flavorful turkey plays such a pivotal role in the holiday that the planning and execution can be daunting.

To alleviate some of this Thanksgiving tension, advice from America's Best New Chefs offers various techniques for ensuring your turkey is perfectly cooked and tastefully seasoned. With their guidance, you should be able to bring a restaurant-quality turkey to your Thanksgiving table.

An essential part of making your turkey shine is taking adequate preparation time. Val Cantu, a 2017 Best New Chef honoree and owner of Californios in San Francisco, suggests beginning the brining process at least 24 hours before the turkey enters the oven. “Turkey's flavor is quite mild, and if not brined properly could turn out bland and dry,” notes Cantu.

Explaining the significance of the brining step, 2024 Best New Chef Aisha Ibrahim of Canlis in Seattle, adds, "A brine helps the turkey retain moisture while enhancing its texture and flavor."

However, the choice of dry or wet brine remains your culinary call. Katianna Hong of Yangban in LA suggests a dry brine of salt and baking powder. Donny Sirisavath, the 2020 Best New Chef from Sirisavath in L.A., prefers a wet brine of citrus juice, Asian herbs, and spices.

For those seeking extra crispy skin, the turkey must be fully dry before roasting. A solid dry brine will achieve this, but according to Aisha Ibrahim, even a turkey that has been wet brined can be dried effectively by resting it on a wire rack in the refrigerator uncovered for at least 12 hours after brining. Trigg Brown, owner of Win Son in Brooklyn, mentions that a turkey can be dried for up to three days before cooking.

Transforming tradition into a more gourmet experience, 2022 Best New Chef Damarr Brown of Chicago's Virtue Restaurant advocates for breaking down the turkey before cooking for a more controlled, even cook and a more flavorful stock and gravy. Brown explains, “It might be a departure from the usual presentation, but the result is guaranteed to excite your guests even more.”

For something a bit more avant-garde, Amanda Shulman of Her Place Supper Club in Philadelphia proposes confiting the legs in duck fat, garlic, and aromatic herbs and roasting the breast separately. Shulman notes the confit method is stress-free and can be done days in advance.

While it's in the oven, your turkey still needs attention. 2024 Best New Chef, LT Smith, a restaurant owner in Phoenix, Arizona, champions regular butter-basting during the cooking process. Leina Horii, also a 2024 Best New Chef and owner of Kisser in Nashville, suggests an aromatic mix of butter, chopped herbs, garlic, and a generous pour of fruity white wine.

Cooking a perfect turkey demands close monitoring. Val Cantu recommend periodic testing with a probe thermometer, particularly in the thigh area, until the internal temperature reaches around 155°F, foreseeing a continued rise in temperature after removing it from the oven.

Cantu also suggests resting the turkey for at least 20 minutes after it comes out of the oven. This allows the juices to redistribute resulting in a moist, tender bird.

Finally, according to Cantu, keep an extra, smaller turkey handy for the sole purpose of making stock, and to render down for a supply of turkey fat for basting. The leftover roast turkey and a pot of turkey stock will offer a delightful post-holiday comfort of turkey soup.