Thanksgiving Turkey

A couple years ago, I wrote a post once titled More Effort Doesn't = A Better Bird. Even though I've tweaked a few things in the intervening years, I think the principle still holds true. See my basic roasting instructions below. Here's the thing: if worse comes to worse and your turkey is dry, you can smother it in gravy. If it's not quite done, crank up the heat on the oven and eat more appetizers. Keep things simple and enjoy the day! Julia Child said something to the effect that if your dish doesn't turn out like you hoped, act like it's just the way it's suppose to be. When you relax, everyone else will too. Take your focus off the food and on to the people you're with. Wishing you blessings and a happy day!

Thanksgiving Turkey

Turkey.

Seasoning of choice. We like RealTaste Hope and Nurture seasoning on Turkey

Butter, optional

• Remove the turkey from the fridge. Pat the outside dry with paper towels and remove the neck and giblets.

  
  

  • I like to place the neck, gizzard, and heart (not liver) in a small pot and cover them with water about an inch or so of water to simmer while the turkey cooks. This makes a flavorful broth that can be used for gravy or drizzled over warm turkey slices to keep them moist.

    
    

  • My best tip for moist and flavorful turkey is to drizzle hot drippings and hot broth over the turkey as soon as it comes out of the oven, and again over the slices while they are still warm. This is also a great time to adjust seasoning. It often works best to season the hot broth or drippings rather than the slices themselves, since the seasoned liquid distributes the flavor evenly and keeps the meat moist.

    
    

• Season the turkey under the breast skin with salt or seasoned salt, if using. Tuck pats of butter, or seasoned butter under the breast skin, if using (see notes).

  
  

• Tuck the wings behind the body, to protect the tips from burning.

  
  

• Let the turkey rest for 1 hour at room temperature. This allows for more even roasting.

  
  

• Heat oven to 325 while turkey is resting.

  
  

• Add about 1/2 to 1 cup of water or broth to the bottom of the pan to keep the drippings from burning. *See notes.

  
  

• Place turkey on an oven rack that positions it for even heat and air distribution on all sides.

  
  

• Roast uncovered until temperature in thickest part of breast is 160. If breast starts to get too brown, loosely cover with foil.

• At 325°F, unstuffed:

  
  

  10–16 lb turkeys: 13–15 minutes per pound

  
  

  16–22 lb turkeys: 12–13 minutes per pound

  
  

  22+ lb turkeys: 11–12 minutes per pound

  
  

• Larger birds (16 lbs and up) may need an extra 15–30 minutes.

• Always check on the turkey about 1 hour before the earliest expected finish time. If it is getting very brown, pull it out and check the temperature, otherwise, leave it in and check temperature 30 minutes before the earliest expected finish time.

  • Temperature Expectations:

    • 120–140°F → slow climb

    • 140–150°F → speeds up

    • 150–160°F → very fast

      
      

• I like to spoon drippings over the hot turkey when I remove it from the oven. Don't forget the thighs.

  
  

• Cover and let rest 20-30 minutes before carving. This allows the juices time to re-distribute throughout the turkey, ensuring more moist meat.

  
  

• Spoon drippings or hot broth over warm sliced turkey to ensure extra moistness.

  • The natural gelatin in the drippings coats the slices and helps lock in moisture, keeping the turkey tender even after chilling and reheating. Seasoned liquid also distributes flavor evenly without pulling juices out of the meat.

Tips

• See this post for more Turkey information and tips.

  
  

• For more Thanksgiving recipes see Cranberry Sauce, Pumpkin Custard and Gravy.

  
  

• Fresh or dried herbs on the outside of the turkey may dry out or become bitter during the long roasting time, so placing herbs or herbed seasoning salt under the skin works best. Plain kosher salt can also be used under the skin.

  • For the outside, skipping the salt gives the most moist meat and richer drippings, especially if you will be slicing and reheating the turkey.

  • If you prefer crispy, browned skin and are serving the turkey immediately, lightly salting the outside helps the skin brown and develop better flavor. Kosher salt is recommended because it sprinkles more evenly and is easier to control, but table salt works fine if used lightly.

    
    

• Skip putting oil or butter on the outside of the turkey. It melts off during roasting and makes the drippings less flavorful and greasy. Instead, tuck butter (if using) under the skin where it can actually keep the meat moist and flavorful.

  
  

  • Butter:

    10–12 lb turkey → 3–4 tablespoons

    
    

    14–16 lb turkey → 4–6 tablespoons

    
    

    18–20 lb turkey → 6–8 tablespoons

• I like this thermometer. I program it and never have to open the oven door.

  
  

• I prefer roasting the turkey 2 days in advance. Then carve it, place in a dish and drizzle drippings/warm broth over all of the warm slices it to keep it moist (be generous with the liquid as the meat will absorb it). There should be some pooled up at the bottom, but it doesn't need to be swimming in it. Cover tightly and refrigerate.

  • I then make broth with the carcass, for making gravy in advance. Both are then warmed up on Thanksgiving. I think marinating the turkey in the juices for a day or two, makes for extra moist meat and definately less stress!

    
    

• Roast uncovered. Covering traps steam and keeps the surface moist, but it actually pushes more moisture out of the meat as it cooks faster. Uncovered roasting cooks more gently, letting fat and juices stay inside the meat, resulting in juicier turkey—especially when reheating.

• Add water to the roasting pan to protect the drippings from burning.

  Start with about ½ cup for a smaller 9×13 pan, 1 cup for a 13×16 pan, and up to 1½ cups for very large or extra-wide pans. If the bottom starts looking dry or very dark during roasting, add another ½ cup of hot water.

• Avoid opening the oven as much as possible as it reduces the heat and increases roasting time.

  
  

• If the turkey isn't as brown as you would like, raise the temperature to 425°F for the last 5 minutes. Watch closely so it doesn't burn.

  
  

• Store-bought broth can add moisture, but it doesn’t have the natural gelatin and fat that turkey drippings and a quality homemade broth do, so it won’t coat the meat or keep it as quite as tender on its own. That said if that is all you have, it will work well enough.

• For Make Ahead Turkey: Follow directions above and place sliced turkey in a container that can be used to re-heat the turkey.

  • Reheat in a tighly covered pan: steam, low & slow at 275°.

  • About 25–35 minutes for a medium-size pan of sliced turkey.

  • For a 9×13, plan on about 35–45 minutes.

  • For a larger pan ~16x13x 3.5 plan 35-60 minutes, depending on how deep it is layered.

  • For a larger roasting pan ~18–20 x 4–6 inches deep, plan on 45–90 minutes, depending on how deeply it is layered.

    • You’re aiming for an internal temperature in the middle around 140–150°. (You don’t need to hit 165°F again since it was already fully cooked.)

    • Have warm broth on hand as the turkey will have absorbed some/all of the juices.

    • Add more broth as needed. (I am always generous with the broth as I would rather it be setting in a bit of juice than to be dry.)

    • If you need to keep it warm, place the turkey slices in a slow cooker on warm. (Low will over-cook it).

You can reheat it entirely in the slow cooker, if the oven is being used, but it is less ideal as it takes longer, heat is less even, and it is harder to control. If you are going to use a slow cooker, put cold turkey slices in and add plenty of hot broth. Set to Low for 45 minutes, then switch to warm