How do you cook your turkey?

[Sunshine73]

I was reading the thread about the smoked turkey and, it got me to thinking that there are so many different ways to prepare turkey. So, how do you pepare your Thanksgiving turkey?

Personally, I always put it in the oven in a "turkey bag". I coat it with butter under the skin and on top of the skin and when it comes out of the oven, it's so golden brown and juicy that it looks like it should be on the cover of a magazine and it tastes even better than it looks! (If I do say so myself)

Last year we went to the in-laws for Thanksgiving and they cooked their turkey on the grill. My DH loved the smoky flavor but, to me, it just wasn't right. I can't say I didn't like it, but it definitely wasn't my favorite and I'm not sure if it was because of the way it tasted or if it was because it was so radically different from what I'd come to expect at Thanksgiving.

 

[Ali]

I've done chicken in a roasting bag, but not turkey. I'm not sure I can get the bags here regardless.

I like to cook the bird unstuffed, in a big roasting pan, tented with foil. I add a cup or so of chicken stock to the pan, along with the spices for basting. The stuffing I do in a separate casserole dish, popped into the oven with the bird for the last hour or so.

There's nothing like the smell of a perfectly roasted turkey! :carve:

 

[kgstyles]

I cook my turkey in the oven in a roasting pan swimming in butter . I inject a special recipe of juices in to different parts of the turkey every half hour and also baste at that time too. After about 8 hours a very nice and brown turkey comes out. I got the recipe from a Navy master chef I met who used it to make President Clinton's Thanksgiving dinner at the White House when he was the honorary Chef when was in office.

 

[dominick]

Soaked six hours in a brine solution of vegetable broth, sugar, salt, and pepper with whatever else I feel like tossing in there. Makes for a very juicy and flavorful bird.

 

[Pam]

I cook mine in the oven, very slowly, and baste often! I also do my stuffing seperate (I mix 1/2 Stove Top and 1/2 bread cubes).

btw, dominick - I love your Beatles avatar...my dh is a HUGE Beatles fan!

 

[scooterbugs25]

I separate the skin on my turkey being careful not too rip it off or tear it. I put strips of bacon inside between the skin and the meat of the bird. cover the outside of bird with butter and olive oil. If any bacon left throw it in the inside of the bird. It is cooked in a roasting pan with a tent of foil over it. I baste every 30 Min's after the 3rd hour using an injector. the last hour of cooking I uncover the bird, to Brown.

I do not put stuffing in my bird. I cook it separate.

I do not like smoked turkey it just don't seem normal..lol I do like it deep fried

 

[MarthaK]

My stepdad is a born and bred Kentuckian, and so for years my family has used a recipe that utilizes his favorite bourbon. I don't have the recipe here at work but this one I found online at cdkitchen.com is very close. The alcohol all burns off, so no one gets a buzz, but the flavor is outstanding and the turkey is always very moist.

Orange Bourbon Turkey:
Ingredients:
1 fresh or frozen whole turkey (12-pound size) -- thawed
2 cups fresh orange juice
1 cup water
3/4 cup bourbon -- divided
1/3 cup molasses
3/4 teaspoon salt -- divided
4 oranges -- peeled
Cooking spray
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Orange slices (optional)
Flat-leaf parsley sprigs (optional)


Directions:

Remove giblets and neck from turkey; discard. Rinse turkey thoroughly with cold water; pat dry. Combine orange juice, water, 1/2 cup bourbon, and molasses in a 2-gallon heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag; add turkey. Seal and marinate in refrigerator 4 to 24 hours, turning bag occasionally. Remove turkey from bag, reserving marinade.

Preheat oven to 350º.

Tie ends of legs with cord. Lift wing tips up and over back, and tuck under bird. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon salt into body cavity. Stuff cavity with oranges. Place turkey on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray or on a rack set in a shallow roasting pan. Insert meat thermometer into meaty part of thigh, making sure not to touch bone.

Bake at 350º for 3 hours or until thermometer registers 180º. (Cover turkey loosely with foil if it gets too brown.) Remove turkey from oven. Cover turkey loosely with foil; let stand at least 10 minutes before carving. Discard oranges.

Pour reserved marinade into a saucepan; bring to a boil. Skim foam from mixture with a slotted spoon; discard. Reduce heat to medium; cook until reduced to 3 1/2 cups (about 15 minutes).

Combine 1/4 cup bourbon and flour in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add to reduced marinade; bring to a boil, and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt. Serve sauce with turkey. Garnish with orange slices and parsley sprigs, if desired.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 679 Calories; 29g Fat (41.6% calories from fat); 74g Protein; 17g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 244mg Cholesterol; 371mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 10 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

This recipe for Orange Bourbon Turkey serves/makes 12

 

[dominick]

I strongly suggest that those of you who baste try brining just one time. It does so much more for flavor and texture. Instead of just flavoring the outside, the entire bird is infused with the flavor of the solution. Plus, you don't have to keep opening the oven door which cuts down on cooking time. If you ever watch the Food Network, Alton Brown does a great Thanksgiving day episode that explains the process very well, and his recipe is pretty good.

btw, dominick - I love your Beatles avatar...my dh is a HUGE Beatles fan!

Thanks!

 

[scooterbugs25]

I strongly suggest that those of you who baste try brining just one time. It does so much more for flavor and texture. Instead of just flavoring the outside, the entire bird is infused with the flavor of the solution. Plus, you don't have to keep opening the oven door which cuts down on cooking time. If you ever watch the Food Network, Alton Brown does a great Thanksgiving day episode that explains the process very well, and his recipe is pretty good.




Thanks!

Can you share your recipe for the brine solution?? I may try it this year!


:family:

 

[dvdelf]

i found this from Alton:

1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey
For the brine:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1/2 tablespoon allspice berries
1/2 tablespoon candied ginger
1 gallon iced water
For the aromatics:
1 red apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
Canola oil

Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stockpot, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
Early on the day of cooking, (or late the night before) combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5-gallon bucket. Place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) for 6 hours. Turn turkey over once, half way through brining.

A few minutes before roasting, heat oven to 500 degrees. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes.

Remove bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard brine.

Place bird on roasting rack inside wide, low pan and pat dry with paper towels. Add steeped aromatics to cavity along with rosemary and sage. Tuck back wings and coat whole bird liberally with canola (or other neutral) oil.

Roast on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover breast with double layer of aluminum foil, insert probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and return to oven, reducing temperature to 350 degrees F. Set thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let turkey rest, loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving.

 

[dominick]

That Alton Brown recipe is the same basic one I use. I just change a few things here and there usually based one what I have on hand. I don't use the ginger, I upped the brown sugar to ¾ cup, and I throw in a little extra pepper. I've also made it without the allspice berries and couldn't really tell the difference. From there, sometimes I'll just go through the spice cabinet and toss in whatever catches my eye.

 

[joyful]

Another vote for the cooking bag. I always use the cooking bag. Keeps the bird very moist, no basting and it's worry free cooking. Best of all it is soooooooooo easy. Of course I season the bird and we like to stuff the bird, then hubby sews the bird up and into the oven it goes.

 

[Minta]

I cook our turkey in a roasting pan with a foil tent and baste often.

 

[Head Elf]

We tried a deep fried Turkey one year. It was pretty good, moist and very flavorful. But I still like the traditional way to cook turkey. You smell it all through the house and wishing it would hurry up. The dressing and the cranberries. Ohhhh! hurry up and get cool so I can bake.

 

[Annette]

I also bake mine in the oven. I have used reynold bags before and they work great too. Usually thou, I just use a roasting pan, and smother is with butter...I baste it about every half an hr...when the top starts browning and has reached golden in color I usually put some foil over the top...and again I always stuff my bird with my famous sage dressing....Mmmmmmm

 

[bigbearfla58]

Plan of Action for Thanksgiving 2011

I just wanted to take time out today to wish all of you a very Happy, meaningful and delicious Thanksgiving and holiday season yet to come.

Merry Christmas -- Sunday Octobear 9, 2011 8:13 a.m. This summer I have been road testing a new recipe for pumpkin crisp. I found two recipes and have combined them to make this pumpkin crisp. I read both recipes carefully, consulted with my two Olympic class bakers and nailed it on the fifth attempt. I have a feeling it will be the Super Star at next moth's "Side Dish Supper"

Merry Christmas -- Tuesday January 25, 2011 7:00 a.m. EST windy 70 degrees wish you all were here. Note to self: pick up cheap $2.00 Styrofoam ice chests from Wal Mart -- get two 10lb bags of ice from 7-11 fill water glasses with ice -- take picture of Thanksgiving table scape with filled water glasses (ice chests come in handy on 4th of July)

Decembear 9, 2010 3:08 p.m. Cold and rainy 48 degrees. Making some hot chocolate, going over pictures and notes from Thanksgiving 2010. My action plan worked so well I had time to take a one hour nap. Happy Thanksgiving and I'll see you all same time next year.

Thursday, Decembear 2, 2010 6:44 p.m. ET This year I come away from Thanksgiving 2010 with a deep sense of satisfaction and gratitude for this most wonderful Thanksgiving Day ever. I was able to gather all my family and friends gathered around me. The turkey was tender, juicy and mahogany brown. I spent the entire week cooking this dinner and it was all gone in just 10 minutes. I looked over pictures of this years table scape and two of the water glasses were on the left instead of the right. Note to self: all glasses should be place to the right of the dinner plate when setting a table.

Sunday, July 25, 2010 During this long and way to hot summer I have been gathering more tips, tricks and techniques and will be posting them later in the year. I have also been re-seasoning my cast iron skillet, have you? Happy Thanksgiving

Here is how I roast my Thanksgiving Turkey and more helpful roasting and baking tips for Thanksgiving 2010:

Every September I start to re-organize my pantry, cleaning out the ice box and freezer so I have enough room for this years Thanksgiving Feast.

When selecting your turkey allow one pound of turkey per person and at least two pounds of meat for leftovers and turkey soup the next day! Very important! Also make sure that your oven is clean and that it has been calibrated. You don't have any hot/cold spots on Thanksgiving Day. Check on that roasting pan. Do you have one? Is it clean and if like me you use an old cast iron skillet to bake your corn bread now is a great time to start re-seasoning that pan.

Make an herb butter by blending one stick of unsalted butter at room temperature with 1-2 tsp each of sage, rosemary and thyme. Then slather this mixture all over the skin of the turkey. Then I pour two cups of Kitchen Basics Vegetable stock into the bottom of the roasting pan and then cover the entire pan, turkey and all. with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Note: PLEASE DO NOT USE THAT CHEAP THIN STUFF IT REALLY DOESN’T WORK! Be sure to crinkle the foil all around the edges of the roasting pan to trap all that great steam coming from the vegetable stock! Then I roast my turkey at 325 and leave the foil on for 50% of the roasting time. Now remove the foil and reserve. While the turkey is roasting you do not need to baste it ever half hour! The bird will be pale and white as can be. Don’t worry! Just allow the turkey to finish roasting and check it about one hour before it reaches an internal temperature of 165d degrees on an instant read thermometer. Keep the foil on hand so that you can cover the drumsticks or the breast meat to prevent to much darkening. Note: No oven, not even restaurant ovens, cook evenly, give the turkey a turn every 1/2 hour to ensure even browning. When your turkey comes out of the oven you too will wish Food Network had sent over a camera crew to see this glorious Thanksgiving Turkey! I hope you can find Kitchen Basic's Cooking Stocks in your home town. This stock is just like home made (Use link to locate product at your local grocery store. Here in South FL one quart is $2.84) at my local Super Target. Make sure you use a rich delicious stock not one of those thin watery broths made by Swanson.

I've used this trick for the past 3 years and it never lets me down. When the turkey has two hours left to cook get out a small sauce pan and heat up 4 tbs of butter and 2 tsp honey. Heat until melted and bubbling. Using a pastry brush coat the skin of the turkey with this glaze. Put the turkey back into the oven. One hour later it will be mahogany brown.

It occurred to me that some of you out there may have never roasted a turkey. You may have been distracted on Thanksgiving Day watching football or the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Worse yet you did not follow my turkey roasting tips and you discovered two hours later that your turkey is dried out and ruined! Before you call out for Chinese let me share a few of my turkey fixing tips with you.

Let's say you have lost your mind and you did not follow my turkey roasting tips and your turkey comes out of the oven dryer than the Sahara Dessert. Relax. All you have to do to fix this is to carve the white meat off the turkey and place onto a cookie sheet and spoon on about 1 or 2 tablespoons of either chicken or vegetable stock. Cover slices with heavy duty alumni foil and put this back into your 325 oven for about 5-10 minutes. The meat will steam and your guests will never know that the turkey was all dried out.

To smooth out lumpy gravy: Use a 1-2 quart sauce pan and with a strainer over the pot. Pour that lumpy gravy through the strainer. You can also pour this lumpy mess into a blender and pour in just enough let's say 2 - 4 tablespoons of vegetable stock to smooth it out. Pour gravy back into your pot and warm it through.

After the turkey is all roasted cover the pan with foil and allow it to rest in a nice warm draft free spot in your kitchen for at least 40 minutes before carving. This allows the juices to settle into the meat and if you carve the turkey when it first comes out of the oven you'll notice a huge gush of juice. Note: Do please not put your turkey in the basement or outside on the garage. One of my friends did one year and wound up with a turkey popsicle that year.

I'm looking over my plan of action for Thanksgiving 2010 and have made a few more updates. Many years ago I decided to make my mashed potatoes ahead of time freeze them and warm them up in my steam table. I also typed up the oven roasting schedule for the turkey, rolls, stuffing and pies. I make two pans of rolls for dinner. I put one pan of rolls in a basket with a napkin to keep them warm. The other pan stays in the oven with the pies and extra stuffing. While my guests are having their after dinner coffee I'm in the kitchen preparing pie, ice cream and warming up my home made raspberry sauce.

The other tip is to set out your Thanksgiving feast on your buffet table and use steam tables to keep sides dishes warm during dinner. This way you set out all your dishes and you're guests can serve themselves. That and volunteering a few good friends to help clean up the kitchen after dinner. I also have this same group of friends over the next day to help me make turkey stock/soup. One of my favorite Thanksgiving Traditions that I started a few years ago was to have 8 good and close friends, who are all great cooks, come over to what I now call my "Side Dish Dinner Party." Every year on the 1st Sunday in November I have eight friends, who have all prepared their side dishes, print out their recipes and come ready to sample and critique and sample each dish.

Due to swine flu my annual Side Dish Dinner Party was rescheduled for this weekend. Everyone is well now and we're looking forward to tasting some new and all of our old Thanksgiving favorites. This years party went very well. Two new side dishes were made and served at my Thanksgiving dinner. Both were gone in less than 10 seconds.

My family and friends always tell me every year "You always make the best turkey we've ever eaten and never look worn out our exhausted afterwords" If this is your first time roasting a turkey? Give yourself the gift of time. Give yourself at least 1 hour of cooking wiggle room. This way you have one extra hour to work with just in case something goes wrong. Let's say you get done ahead of time just cover the roasting pan turkey with the heavy duty aluminum foil. The turkey will stay warm while you finish preparing your side dishes and are ready to carve the turkey and arrange the platter.

I was watching Food Network's Rescue Chef today and wanted to share two tips with you. The first tip concerns roasted garlic. Peel 5 or 6 cloves of garlic (10 or 20 if you're me) and place them on a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil. Sprinkled with pinches of salt and pepper and roast in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes. As I plan to make roasted garlic mashed potatoes this tip will make my potatoes taste even better.

Tip number two concerns how to thicken gravy (something all of you out there worry about right) and how to avoid getting any lumps. To avoid lumps and get nice thick gravy simply use 1 tbs soften butter and two tbs flour. Blend well with a fork in a small mixing bowl. This makes a nice smooth paste that you add to your pan drippings.

Pie Crust Tips: Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Put cookie sheet in oven to pre-heat for 30 minutes then place pie on parchment lined pre-heated cookie sheet. Place 3-4 strips of heavy duty aluminum foil around crust. Remove foil until the last 10 minutes of baking to get that golden brown crust your Thanksgiving dinner guests will always remember your pie for many years to come.

Bonus Tip: The way I avoid lumps in my gravy is to take one large jar (mason jar) and combine one cup of of room temperature turkey stock with 4 tablespoons of flour. Shake jar and pour into boiling mixture (if gravy is not boiling turn up heat and bring to a full rolling boil or this will not work) pour in flour and stock mixture and stir until gravy reaches desired thickness.

Extra Credit Baking Tip: For any cake, cookie or muffin recipe that calls for eggs make sure that they are either large or extra large eggs. I prefer extra large eggs. To warm eggs put them in bowl of hot tap water for 5 -- 8 minutes while you prepare the rest of your recipe. Hope you took notes. There will be a quiz next Tuesday and this is the extra credit question! I know what you're going to ask me "Does it really make a difference when you use room temperature egg/softened butter instead of ice cold eggs out of the refrigerator?"

Super Bonus Round Tip: Empty the dishwasher the night before Thanksgiving so all of your dishes are clean and ready for your Thanksgiving table. Clean up as you prepare your Thanksgiving dinner. This keeps the kitchen clean and cuts down on clean up time after dinner. Volunteer a few friends to help you clean up, do laundry and make turkey stock/soup with friends the next day.

Soup Making Tip: It has been my tradition for many years to make turkey stock/soup the day after Thanksgiving. In a large 6 - 8 quart stock pot add roughly chopped celery, onions, carrots, 1/2 tsp pepper and one turkey carcass and water to cover. Bring this to a full rolling boil and simmer for 2 hours. Cool it off completely. Pour into quart containers and put them into your freezer. When I make my soup I always cook the noodles/pasta separately.

Road Map Updates for 2009: The house is decorated for fall. I have my whipped potatoes, chopped up fresh herbs. Both are now in my freezer ready and waiting to be used on Thanksgiving Day. Come back every day and update this posting.

I'm looking at my grocery bills from last year and I spent $208.79 for turkey and all the trimmings last year. This year thanks to farmers markets, different sales at local grocery stores and on line coupons I'm going to save over $110.23 for turkey and all the trimmings this year.

Table Setting Tip: Take the chairs away from your dinner table. It's always easier to set a table with out the chairs around it. When you are completely satisfied with your table scape get your camera and take pictures. I put mine in word document titled "Thanksgiving Table Scapes 2010"

Thanksgiving prayer from "Miracle on 34th Street" 1994

We give thanks for the food before us, and the closeness of the people we love, and we pray that these gifts we so gratefully receive will be shared with those less fortunate than ourselves

One last big important tip: On Thanksgiving Eve make sure you get a good nights sleep so you will have energy for the big day! Happy Thanksgiving!

“I love this meal, I love it far too much to risk anything going wrong, so I have devised my plan of action, (road map) and I use it year in year out and I’m not just enthusiastic I am evangelical about it”

 

[SparkleNana]

Bigbearflash58 - Thank you for the hint about using Kitchen Basics vegetable stock. I will look for it!

 

[bigbearfla58]

You're welcome and let me know how your turkey turns out this Thanksgiving!

 

[Faith4always]

We LOVE turkey at our house!
We are turkey connosiures! (sp?) We're as BAD as the dad on "A Christmas Story" when it comes to loving turkey!
I roast my turkey. My stepmom gave me a lovely roaster last year for Christmas. And it makes the turkey turn out moist and tender.
I rub my turkey down with oil/butter, salt and pepper it. I rub poultry season on it too. Then cook for however long it says to on the directions.
I love turkey!! I also cook cornbread dressing on the side...YUMMO!!

 

[MerryChristmasLydio]

Thanks for making my mouth water mom! Now I think i need a paper towl! LOL JK! I love mom's turkey.iggyback::stuffed: