Cooking Thanksgiving Turkey? Try this Fanstastic Roast Turkey Recipe
Cooking Thanksgiving Turkey I've been cooking Thanksgiving turkey for the last fifteen years, and for many years, I tried a different roast turkey recipe every time. My goal has always been cooking a great tasting, moist turkey without a lot of stress. A couple of years ago I finally figured out the easiest roast turkey recipe for the best results. The year before that, I tried Alton Brown's recipe... which tasted good but was a lot of work. I decided dealing with a brine wasn't my thing, so the next year I did an herb butter instead, and cooked it according to Alton's advice re: oven temp. It was easy and got rave reviews. I'm sure your family will also love it. They say that fresh (not frozen), organic turkeys taste the best, but I know everyone who is cooking Thanksgiving turkey is buying the one they can afford. This roast turkey recipe will work well no matter where you get your turkey. Just make sure you have allowed plenty of time for defrosting, if you are buying a frozen one. For cooking Thanksgiving turkey, you will need: 1. A digital meat thermometer (the kind with the probe that you insert into the turkey when you put it in the oven, and set the alarm to go off when the meat reaches a certain temperature). If you can't get one, you will have to check for doneness... but try not to open the oven door anymore than absolutely necessary, or poke more than one hole in the bird for juices to escape from! 2. Any size turkey. 3. One stick of salted butter, softened. 4. One package of fresh herbs for poultry, or your own mix of fresh sage, thyme, and rosemary. 5. One small onion, and one small apple. (Optional) 6. Foil Method: Set your oven rack to the lowest position and preheat the oven to 500 F. Set aside a few sprigs of fresh herbs, and mince the rest. You should have a few tablespoons. Mix the herbs with the butter, and add a sprinkle of salt. You can also add a little pepper, if you like. If you have a very large turkey, you will be using all of the herb butter. If you have a small bird, you can set aside 2-3 T. of herb butter for the gravy roux, or another use. Rinse the turkey inside and out (make sure you remove the neck and giblets!) and pat the outside dry. Now... and I know this feels gross, but the results are worth it... carefully slide your hand between the skin and the meat to loosen the skin. Please don't rush; you do not want to tear the skin. Loosen it over the breast and the meatiest part of the thighs. You won't be able to get under the skin over all of the drumsticks without tearing, so don't push your luck. Now spread the herb butter under the skin all over the meat, as well as the outside of the turkey. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over the bird, and inside the cavity. Place the reserved herb sprigs inside the cavity, along with a quartered onion and quartered, seeded apple (optional). Place the turkey in a roasting pan along with a few cups of broth, the neck and the giblets (if you want); cook in the 500 degree oven for 30 minutes. The high temp helps sear the outside and lock in juices. After 30 minutes, take the bird out and turn the oven down to 350 F. Cover the breast with foil, and insert the probe of the thermometer into the thickest part of the breast meat. Be sure that you don't have it next to bone, or the reading will be inaccurate. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 165 degrees F. Some say that when you are cooking Thanksgiving turkey, you should set the alarm to go off at 160 or 161 degrees, because the bird will finish cooking while it rests. I had trouble with that one year... it never did finish rising to the right temperature while it rested for whatever reason. Maybe because it wasn't as completely thawed as I thought. So use your own judgment here. When you are cooking Thanksgiving turkey, depending on the size of the bird, it should take 2- 3 1/2 hours total roasting time. For example, a 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Don't open the oven door anymore than necessary; you don't need to baste the bird with this method, and fluctuating oven temps increase the chances of drying out your turkey. When you have to correct reading on the thermometer, take the turkey out of the oven, tent foil over it and allow it to rest 30 minutes. (You can let it rest up to an hour if you are delayed finishing the rest of the meal. More than that, and it will start to cool.) Do not poke, prod, or cut into it while it is resting! The juices need time to settle back into the meat. Strain the broth and juices out of the pan to use for gravy. Enjoy the rave reviews!
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