For many of us, Thanksgiving is the only time we’ll take on the tireless task of serving a turkey—basting a 20-pound bird hour after hour in hopes of achieving the elusively moist breast meat. With all the passing trends in turkey preparation, what’s the best way to serve a delectable, healthful meal?

We went to the expert: Aricka Westbrooks, the owner of Jive Turkey, a leader in retailing specialty foods, in fact Jive Turkey is the only one in the United States engaged in the branding and marketing of deep fried turkey.  Jive Turkey sells delicious, moist and juicy deep fried turkeys in 15 different flavors to customers all over the United States since 2003. She received her BS from Howard in 1992.  Here’s what she had to say:

Q: Consumers might be overwhelmed by all the options for cooking turkeys.  What is the best way to achieve delicious results?

Westbrooks: The best, most delicious way to prepare a turkey is to deep fry it.  It sounds incongruous, but the result is a juicy moist bird and a crispy golden skin.  Fried at a much higher temperature, the turkey does not absorb the oil the way fried chicken or french fries does because it is not cut up.  It I also not breaded or battered so the flash frying effect absorbs very little oil while the high temperature produces a very tender turkey.

Q: Some attempt to fry a turkey at home. Is that really safe?

Westbrooks: It is an extremely dangerous proposition to fry a turkey because of the hazards and risk of fire.  With traditional equipment it’s not a good idea to fry at home outdoors and with table top fryers for indoor use it is just as hazardous.  You must your wits about you at all times so you don’t burn down your house,  which is why I created a business that does it for you.

Q: What about gravy or stuffing?

Westbrooks: You can’t stuff a fried turkey, but we simply suggest that you bake the stuffing separately, we call it dressing.  At Jive Turkey we make a delicious gravy using a turkey stock as a base for flavor instead of pan drippings and thicken it with a roux.

Q: What about brining or marinating a turkey overnight in a salted water solution? Wouldn’t that seal in seasonings and lock in moisture?

Westbrooks: When you take it out, you’ve seasoned the bird inside out, but you’ve also incorporated a lot of salt and flavor that you just really don’t need. We impart the 15 different flavors, yes 15! into our turkeys with some wet marinades, dry rubs and herbed or seasoned butters under and over the skin everything from peach bourbon, to lemon pepper to honey pecan.  One of our bestsellers is the Fresh Herb made with fresh rosemary, thyme and sage.  When you pay for a turkey you want to taste the turkey and not be overpowered by the seasonings.

Q: Do you recommend a frozen or fresh bird?

Westbrooks:  [If you’re hosting] a lot of kids or other people who aren’t gourmet diners, then you’ll do well with both flavor and price using a frozen bird from the supermarket.  Heritage birds and fresh birds are about $10 per pound, so a 20lb turkey is $200, for many that is not realistic price if they still have the cooking to do.  We ship the turkeys nationwide but they have not been frozen, all of our turkeys are shipped refrigerated so that the flavor and moisture are consistent when the turkey is served.

Q: How about a turducken? Deboned duck inside of deboned chicken inside of deboned turkey—that sounds like an interesting mix of flavors.

Westbrooks: To me, you have a turkey, you have a chicken, you have a duck. When you make turducken, all of them are overcooked.  For our family Thanksgiving meal I do a basic deep fried turkey seasoned with salt, garlic powder and pepper, we call it the Jive Turkey on the menu. If I’m serving a top-notch turkey, I want to taste the turkey.

ABOUT JIVE TURKEY

Jive Turkey was founded in 2001 by Aricka Westbrooks when she began frying turkey in her Brooklyn, New York backyard. In 2003, Jive Turkey opened a retail store in Brooklyn, New York offering customers a menu of sandwiches, entrees and salads featuring the delicious and juicy meat of a whole fried turkey.  In 2005 Jive Turkey began to manufacture and ship turkeys nationwide.  In 2012 the company relocated from New York to Chicago.

Jive Turkey has been featured on the Food Network and Travel Channel and national television, news programs, national magazines and local newspapers.  Visit their website to learn how you can purchase a turkey at www.jiveturkey.com or visit their Facebook page and like the business of a Howard Alumna  www.facebook.com Jive-Turkey.

Howard will be playing in the Cancun Invitational, starting with road games at the University of Iowa and at Wichita State University on Thursday, Nov. 15 and Saturday, Nov. 17 before going to Cancun for two games Tuesday, Nov.  20 and Thursday, Nov. 22.

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