It is an American tradition to roast turkey to celebrate Thanksgiving! In each of the many different ways to make a nice roast turkey, physics always gets involved:) USDA recommends to cook the inner parts of a turkey to at least 165 °F to kill dangerous bacteria. To realize this inner temperature without overcooking the outer layer, people want to transfer the heat from the oven (electric or gas) to the turkey more efficiently/evenly in terms of the 3 ways of heat transfer:
Radiation, Conduction, Convection. The first way is non-contact using electromagnetic waves, the other 2 ways are contact using solids (like metal, meat) or fluids (like hot air). Based on the mechanisms, some tricks (perhaps, without awareness of physics) are applied in roasting turkey, for example, thawing turkey before roasting, using a metal roasting rack, rubbing the inside and the outside of turkey with oil or butter before roasting, wrapping some parts of turkey in aluminum foil, leaving the oven door closed in roasting.
Happy Thanksgiving!
