How best to heat and serve a turkey breast the day after roasting it?

November 17, 2015 12:18 PM

Roasting a turkey breast to serve to my child's class and their families for a potluck lunch next week. I won't have time to roast it that morning, so I have to roast it the day before, refrigerate it overnight, and then bring it hot. What's the best way to do that?

I have a six-quart crock pot, so my first thought would be to roast it, let it cool, refrigerate it whole overnight, slice it the next morning, and warm it in the crock pot (with stock? or gravy? gravy seems potentially goopy) for an hour or so before it's time to take it in to school. But I don't know if that would just leave us with dry, horrible twice-cooked turkey, or a goopy weird crockpot situation.

Personal experiences doing this or something like it?

posted by palliser to Food & Drink (11 answers total)

I would go with reheating it at a low heat wrapped in foil, in the oven, with as little air space as possible inside the foil to reduce the moisture escaping as steam. I would be very careful not to overheat it, and I would transport it un-opened in the foil, wrapped in towels for insulation so it stays hot.

You can slice it before putting it into the foil to make serving easier, and you can bring a platter to serve it from.

I'd also be very careful not to overcook it at all when you initially roast it. If you are doing a whole bird, roast the turkey upside down so the juices trickle down into the breast rather than out of it.
posted by Jane the Brown at 12:25 PM on November 17, 2015

Quite honestly, I would bring the turkey up to room temperature and serve gravy and sides piping hot, if I could. Not-freezing-cold turkey with hot gravy on it is delightful, but I've never had reheated turkey that didn't taste 100% dry.
posted by xingcat at 12:28 PM on November 17, 2015 [3 favorites]

Please make your life easy!

Follow whatever Crock Pot Turkey Breast (bone in?) recipe makes you happy. Crisp the skin before serving, if you like.

Time it so you never have to cool the turkey!
posted by jbenben at 12:34 PM on November 17, 2015

Kenji Lopez-Alt's dry-brining trick makes breast meat that remains very juicy and, if I recall correctly, stands up to re-heating the next day. If you are doing a whole bird, spatchcocking is another good tool for making sure you haven't overcooked the breast.
posted by gauche at 12:38 PM on November 17, 2015

America's Test Kitchen recommends reheating halved, foiled-wrapped turkey breasts in a 275 degree oven for 35-40 minutes*. Its advisable to place the turkey ontop a wire rack, for even heat distribution.

Keeping the breasts halved and foiled-wrapped will prevent the meat from drying out. I am not sure if foil can be used in a crock pot; in place, I would brush the meat generously with stock.

*My turkey took longer 10-15 minutes longer than estimated.
posted by kiki_s at 1:07 PM on November 17, 2015 [1 favorite]

I've heard that dipping the breast slices in hot chicken/turkey stock is the best way to warm them. Admittedly, I haven't personally tried it.
posted by sarajane at 1:07 PM on November 17, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I always cook my bird the day before. I slice it after it's rested, and then I put it in a foil pan with about a quarter inch of chicken stock in the bottom of the pan. Seal tight with foil, and then the next day, I warm it in the oven that I'm using to cook other things in-- so about 350 degrees for about 30 - 40 minutes or so. I usually open the foil to loosen the layers of meat, just so they're not a big block, but that's it. Pop it in the oven; I shake the pan often so that the meat gets distributed around, and that's it.
posted by headspace at 1:11 PM on November 17, 2015 [5 favorites]

Best answer: My family has been pre-roasting the bird the day before Thanksgiving/Christmas and heating it in the crockpot the day of for the last few years or so and it works great. Cool, slice, refridgerate the day before. In the morning, we add all the slices to the crock with enough stock to meet the top of the turkey. I am not sure how long exactly this takes because we start it in the morning & eat around 1-2, but it is absolutely NOT goopy or dry.
I would totally recommend this for everyone's thanksgiving. Frees up the oven for all the sides!
posted by rubster at 2:12 PM on November 17, 2015 [3 favorites]

I think it is also more forgiving to over-cooking this way.
posted by rubster at 2:13 PM on November 17, 2015

Roast the night before. Rest, cool. Slice. Reheat quickly in stock or thinnish gravy.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 2:19 PM on November 17, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I ended up taking headspace's foil-pan route because using a disposable pan meant not having to bring anything home. I am sorry to report that I have no idea how this came out because by the time I'd visited Other Child's classroom (where I'd brought pies) and come back to Turkey Child's classroom, the turkey was gone. Then I went back to Other Child's classroom and my pies were all gone, too. So this method has the endorsement of a couple dozen second-graders, at least!
posted by palliser at 5:31 PM on November 26, 2015 [2 favorites]