Page 36 - Turkey Book from Meathead

here are several variables to consider when deciding
how much meat to buy. How many young children will there be? How many big eaters will there be? Are adult beverages in play? How many appetizers and snacks? What are the side dishes and how many? When does the football game start? Are your guests white meaters or dark meaters? And most important, do you want leftovers?
As a rule of thumb, one pound of raw turkey weight per person will usually be more than enough. When you subtract bones, giblets, and shrinkage, you will lose about 20%. That leaves about 3/4 pound of cooked turkey meat per person on average. We usually plan on 2 raw pounds per person so those who want leftovers (us!) can take some home (make sure you have plenty of aluminum foil or zipper bags on hand or tell guests to bring Tupperware. They love it!)
If you need a lot of turkey, and space permits, it is better to cook two small birds than one giant bird. Each will cook faster and be more tender and juicy. Here's why: The bigger the bird, the thicker the breasts and it takes longer to cook
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