When cooking food, there are a lot of factors you have to keep in mind. You need to keep food safety in mind, how to properly prepare it, and how you should cook it. If you don’t do these things, then you could be at risk of ruining your food.
Meat is a type of food that you especially need to cook in a certain way, or you could be at risk of ruining it.
One meat that falls under this category is turkey breast, and in this article, you will learn whether or not to cook it with the breast facing up or down.
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Best Way To Cook Turkey Breast: Up or Down?
Depending on whom you ask, some people will say it’s better to cook the turkey breast facing up, while others will say it should be cooked with the turkey breast facing down.
The actual United States Department of Agriculture says that you should cook the turkey with the breast side facing up.
They also recommend that it’s a good idea to not turn over the turkey breast while you are cooking it because the skin could be ruined.
If you are someone who wants to cook the turkey with the breast side facing down, it’s suggested that you turn it over halfway through the cooking process.
Now try your best to practice safety when turning the turkey breast over because you want to make sure that you don’t end up burning yourself in the process.
You can use a kitchen towel, oven mitts, or wooden spoons to turn it over. Just make sure to go slowly so you don’t hurt yourself in the process.
How To Cook Turkey Breast
In general, there are several ways to cook turkey breast. We’ve narrowed down a few ways to cook it, and you can read about them below.
Oven
A classic way to cook turkey breast is in the oven. To begin, preheat the oven to 325 and then season/prepare the turkey.
After placing some foil loosely over the turkey, you can put it in the oven. The amount of time you cook the turkey depends on how large the turkey is.
For example, if you have a 4 to 6-pound turkey, you cook it for an hour and a half to 2 hours. The larger the turkey is, the longer you cook it.
Pressure Cooker
If you happen to have a pressure cooker on hand, you can use this to cook your turkey breast.
Using the instructions that come with the pressure cooker, turn it on and then put the turkey breast inside. Add some broth and whatever you want to season it with. Close the lid and cook it under high pressure.
It’s 25 minutes for a two-pound bone-in turkey breast, so just go with whatever you are cooking. Again, the larger it is, the longer it is going to need to be cooked.
Slow Cooker
Finally, the last way you can cook a turkey is in a slow cooker, should you happen to have one on hand.
Follow the instructions that come with your slow cooker and put the turkey inside. Season it the way you want, and then roast it on low for about 5 to 6 hours. Remember, if it’s on the large side, you are going to have to cook it longer.
These are the best ways to cook your turkey. In the next section, we are going to go into the benefits of eating turkey because there are quite a lot of them.
Hey, always good to have some information about what you are eating.
Benefits of Eating Turkey Breast
You will find that there are a lot of benefits to be gained from eating turkey. We’ve narrowed down the following benefits, which you can read about just below.
- Protein is a great thing to add to your body because it can help with a lot of things. This includes an increased healing process, building muscle, curbing hunger, and reducing muscle loss. Yes, all of these come with eating food that is high in protein, which includes turkey.
- B Vitamins benefit you in multiple ways, similar to how protein can help your body. Not only can it help your metabolism, but B vitamins can also assist in keeping your skin and hair healthy. Part of these benefits can seem a little vain, but there is no harm in wanting healthy skin and hair. In the long run, this is going to help protect your body from injury—especially in the case of having extremely healthy skin.
- Minerals like iron, magnesium, selenium, and zinc, to name a few. Iron helps your body make something in hemoglobin, which your red blood cells desperately need. If you have low iron, then you could be at risk of getting anemia that is caused by low amounts of iron. Also, zinc is important because it can help you not only with growing your cells and healing injured tissue but it can also keep your immune system healthy.
- Finally, turkey is very low-fat if you don’t eat the skin. For people who are trying to maintain their weight or want to lose weight, then this is a huge benefit. So, keep in this mind if you ever fall into one of these categories.
Here we have the biggest benefits of eating turkey… in moderation, of course! It always has to be in moderation.
Final Thoughts
And there you go, all you turkey lovers out there. Not only did we figure out if you can cook the turkey breast with the breast side up or down, but we also touched on the benefits of turkey and the top three ways to cook it.
While it is recommended that you cook the turkey with the breast facing up, this isn’t to say that you can’t cook it with the breast side facing down. It is up to you to decide how you can cook your food.
You might also be interested in the following:
- Do You Cook Pork Butt Fat up or Down?
- Do You Cook Salmon Skin up or Down?
- Pork Shoulder Fat up or Down?
- Corned Beef Fat Side up or Down?
- Brisket Fat Side up or Down?
- Do You Use Aluminum Foil Shiny Side up or Down?
I have been smoking and grilling meat from an early age and enjoy sharing my knowledge and expertise through the hundreds of articles I have written about BBQ. I hope to make everyone’s BBQ journey that little bit easier.