By Staff Writer (media@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Nov 28, 2014 04:45 AM EST

It's never too early or late to learn the best way to cook turkey. And who said you can only eat the bird on Thanksgiving Day?

With that, here are the essential tips to whipping up the best-tasting turkey ever.

Picking the Bird

There's no single perfect answer for this - it's what you do with the kind you purchase that makes the difference.

It's de rigeur to purchase whole turkey, but do know that pre-basted ones, or those already injected with a solution or have already been brined, tend to be salty or have a wet texture, according to Fox 13. With these types, you should avoid brining it as the meat is already salty.

You may also consider skipping these as the pre-injected solution may cover up the real flavor of the bird. Consider going for kosher turkeys, instead. "Koshering works to season the meat, improve its texture, and help it retain moisture-if you buy a kosher turkey there's no need to brine or salt it," the news source said. "These turkeys have been fed a vegetarian diet and are free to roam."

Remember the 4 Ts

WTNH says that you should remember the 4 Ts of cooking turkey: "thaw, temperature, two-hours, and three days."

"First of all, you need to thaw your frozen turkey 24 hours for every 4 pounds. So an 8 pound turkey would take two days to properly thaw out," the news outlet said. "Then, make sure you actually cook it through, use a meat thermometer to check different parts of the turkey. A thigh should be 180 degrees, the breast 170, and stuffing should read 165 degrees."

After the bird is done, you are to refrigerate the turkey for 2 hours.

Some Notes on Brining

If you're going to brine your turkey, don't forget to "pat the skin as dry as possible prior to cooking," Fox 13 said. This is so that you get that crisp skin effect, which is difficult when the poultry meat is soaked up to the gills with the saline solution. However, if the skin doesn't crisp, better remove it before serving the turkey.

By the way, Bloomberg had shared Speaker John Boehner's special turkey brine recipe, which the politician reportedly "tinkered with it" for over 5 years. You may want to give his cooking "secret" a whirl.

Post-Cooking Tip

Allow the cooked bird to rest after taking it out of the heat "to allow those juices time to redistribute evenly throughout." A big specimen would take about half an hour to rest.

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