Turkey - Did Yours Turn Out?

Ours turned out perfect! It was a team effort. I prepared it the day before, and my husband cooked it because I had to work. He was so diligent! He even sat in front of the oven to make sure it would not burn! LOL This is what we did:

1. Wash turkey.
2. Melt about 1/2 cup of butter and brush it all over the turkey (cavities as well).
3. Add pepper and salt all over. We also added rosemary and thyme. About 1 tsp of each. Just sprinkle it all over.
4. I made a Mexican stuffing and stuffed cavities (both rib cavity and neck cavity).
5. Tie legs and wings so that it looks pretty. Line roasting pan with aluminum foil. Set turkey on rack.
6. We covered the turkey with foil and put it in the refrigerator overnight (maybe that added to the flavor, we just did because I had to have it ready for him to just put it in the oven).
7. Oven should be at 325 for slow cooking. Keep it covered with the foil the entire time!
8. A 13 lb turkey can take up to 4 hours. We choose the slow process so that the meat is juicy.
9. Baste constantly. I would say every 15 minutes if you can. We use the big dropper looking thing. The secret is to baste, baste, baste!!! Also, melt about a 1/2 cup of butter and brush it all over the bird as you baste.
10. Remove foil for the last half hour of the cooking process. This will ensure your turkey gets that golden, crispy look and awesome presentation and taste. Keep basting just like you were doing before.
11. Your turkey should be ready when the meat thermometer reaches 170 degrees.
12. Carve 20 minutes after you remove it from the oven.

I hope it makes sense and enjoy. :)

I have to say that the two turkeys I cooked yesterday were the best I've ever had. I bought an "off" brand at the supermarket since they were cheap so I was a little worried. Boy was I thrilled at the turnout and so was everyone else. Definitely will use this recipe every time.
Rinsed the turkey and patted dry
rubbed the outside with lots of butter, seasoned with salt and pepper
put in stuffing
put it on a rack in a roasting pan and cooked at 325 deg for about 20min/lb
baste every 30-60 min
Sounds pretty basic right? But boy oh boy was the meat tender, juicy and full of flavor. Having it stuffed requires a longer cook time (make sure you check the temp in stuffing before taking the bird out of the oven) but it definitely helps to flavor the turkey and keep it moist.
I cooked one in my oven and one in my Nesco roaster and they both turned out perfectly.

1. Buy cheap frozen turkey.
2. Drop frozen bird into a a big bucket filled with cold water mixed with 1cup sugar, 1 cup salt.
3. Let thaw for 18 or so hours.
4. Take brined bird, remove giblets, rub with olive oil, place it into a Reynolds cooking bag.
5. Put bagged turkey in a roasting or other pan with more than 1" tall sides.
6. Put bird into 350 degree oven for 4 hours for a 20lb bird. Use auto-shut off so bird can rest in the oven
7. Go skiing while the bird cooks and work up an appetite.
8. Take bird out of oven and enjoy!

We've made turkeys this way for Christmas/Thanksgiving or just for fun for over ten years now. The skin is crispy, the breast is OMG tender, and the meat is nicely seasoned. And it's devilishly easy :) GL!!!

What's the recipe he uses?

Yes, and we even technically 'messed up' because as I was cleaning I swiped the temperature gauge and turned the oven to over 500 degrees for about an hour.

All we did was to wash the turkey's inside with orange juice, rubbed butter and spices all over it, covered it with aluminin foil, turned the oven onto 325 (for the most part :) ) and watched the temperture very closely. The breast was 165 and the thigh was 180 degrees.

We then let it sit for a half an hour before serving. It was juicy and tasted just like my mother's!

http://www.simplebites.net/how-to-roast-a-turkey/?utm_sou...

I've never had any trouble with mine. This year I roasted a 13 lb and I usually roast 20-25 lbs turkeys. It was great, moist and meaty.

I wash the bird, I use the aluminum foil pan and place it on a cookie sheet to give it more strength.

I do stuff the bird with stuffing, extra butter, onions and garlic. I put about 2 cups of water in the pan. I smear butter all over the bird, tent with foil and begin roasting. I roast at 275-300 for about 3 hrs then I baste, raise temps to about 375 to finish. About 1/2 hr before we want to eat, I remove the foil tent and blast at 400 or so to get the outside nice and browned.

We were actually surprised at the amount of meat on a 13 lb bird!

Good luck.

My turkey yesterday was AMAZING! I was so happy with how it turned out. I put some chicken stock in the bottom of the pan and put some onion and sliced garlic in the bottom of the pan as well. Clean the turkey and remove the giblets, neck, etc., then pat the turkey dry. I then rubbed margarine all over the turkey (you could also just use oil), put some salt, pepper and poultry seasoning on it, then "tented" it (cover loosly) with tin foil and cooked it at 325, basting every hour and removing the foil for the last 45 min to an hour so that it will brown nicely. How long you cook it depends on the size of the turkey. Mine was right at 10 lbs (there were just 3 adults) and we cooked it for 3 hours. That was the MINIMUM time and I checked it at that point to be sure that it was done and took it out before it overcooked so that it didn't dry out. When it was done in the oven, I left it sit for about 30-40 minutes (covered) before slicing it so that the juices could settle and wouldn't just run out when cut.

This is the recipe I used yesterday and this was the most juicy, flavorful turkey I have ever tasted. I was SO impressed! I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but it tasted like a little bit of heaven! :-)

I think the biggest key is to not overcook it because then it will be dry. Using some broth or water in the bottom of the pan allows the turkey to keep it's moisture while it's cooking and the seasonings, garlic and onion help to add flavor. Sorry yours didn't turn out. Here's hoping it's better next year!

7am fire the grill up, adding either pecan or mesquite wood. Rinse the turkey and place in a roasting pan. Put the pan open on the grill and let the turkey smoke until its "colored pretty" then seal it up in foil and let cook the rest of the day. Should be ready around 5pm.

You could put it on the grill the night before and monitor throughout the night, adding wood as needed.

Or, start the turkey on the grill the night before and transfer to the oven and simmer on low throughout the night.

I like grilling The turkey because it frees up my oven and TASTES great too! juicy! No seasoning needed. Amazingly easy and pain free.

Go buy the cooking bags...I think Reynolds makes them. Follow the directions and you will have a 'perfect' turkey EVERY time. I've used them for years. You put it in the bag, in the oven and forget about it!!! Easy, simply and very good!!

I order a turkey from Greenburg Smoked Turkey in Tyler, TX. You place the order, tell them how big, and they mail it to you! You tell them what day you want it there by and it gets there within 2 days of that date. WONDERFUL taste! No hassle! When it comes, slice it up, put it in a dish and cover with foil. On Thanksgiving, add a little water to it, close the foil again, and put it in the oven on like 350 for 15 minutes or so to heat it up. Wonderful, doesn't take long to heat, and doesn't take up all of your fridge space either!

Hi, Pam!
Yes, ours turned out beautifully. Bless his heart. Your husband is a champ. My husband also makes a wonderful effort in the kitchen. I do get in there but I am not the designated cook in our family. If I see something that looks interesting, I usually will pass it on for him to take a look. I had seen Jessica Seinfeld on Rachael Ray last week and told him about her cookbooks. Anyway, the night before my husband did a search for them and found a cooking demo of hers on the internet and followed it. Here is the website address: http://www.doitdelicious.com. When it pops up, you will see the heading, "Videos From Our Kitchen" on the right-hand side of the page. The first selection is JUICY & TENDER roast turkey and gravy. I hope this helps. Best wishes from our family to yours:)

Ok, girls! Get ready for my PERFECT and EASY turkey recipe, I've made well over 50 turkeys in my lifetime.

Invest in a good old turkey roaster with a lid. It will last for generations.
23# to 25# turkey. We all love leftovers right?
Lawry's Season Salt
Crisco shortening.
Recipe for your favorite dressing (I'm a Yankee so I use white bread). and make it on TUESDAY and refrigerate it.

I thaw the bird for a few days in the fridge, then set in the sink naked in cold water on WEDNESDAY

Toss into roaster and let dry (Crisco won't stick to a wet bird)
Stuff it with your COLD dressing (seriously, I've never killed anyone or made them sick) and set a little bit aside to place after seasoned.

Coat the bird with Crisco (I put my hands inside of gallon zip locs so the grease stays off my hands.)
Sprinkle the bird liberally with the Lawry's. Forget the recipes that say "one tablespoon". Coat that bird with that seasoned salt!
Put some of the dressing on the outside on top of the leg joints, in the "other end" etc. it will season the drippings
Dump some onions and celery into the pan, even the onion skins, it all gets strained out for when you make your gravy.
COVER and put IN the refrigerator OVERNIGHT.

On Turkey Day, set temp. at 325 and cook covered for 3 1/2 hours.
Let sit for at least 30+ minutes before slicing!
It won't look like a brown Norman Rockwell turkey but it will be moist.

What went wrong? Was it dry? Here are a few of my other tips consider:

1. What kind of roasting pan are you using? We have a Calephon pan and when we first bought it, the insert information cautioned that the pan gets really hot and retains heat, causing the meet to cook faster. So we haveto adjust the time to be lower.

2. Are you stuffing it? I don't like the idea of eating stuffing out of the carcass, however leaving the cavity unstuffed will dry it out quicker. So I stuff it with apple, citrus, celery, herbs, to help keep it moist. It's not a dense stuffing, so I still follow the suggested time for an unstuffed turkey.

3. Use a meat thermometer instead of just relying on the time.

4. Your oven may heat up unevenly; one side might get hotter than the other. Or it might heat up a few degrees hotter than the temperature it says.

The best turkey I've ever had and it was the first year I had made one, is the Kidd Kraddick in the Morning Brown Bag Turkey. It was really easy too! You can find it here: http://www.kiddnation.com/