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How do you cook a turkey?

After I have the wonderful job of cleaning out the cavities of the bird and removing any left over feathers on the outside, I pat the thing dry inside and out. Usually takes a half a roll of paper towels.

Then it is time for a rub down in salt. I salt the cavities well and lift the skin and rub salt underneath.

Next, I stuff the cavities with celery tops with their leaves, small onion quartered, half an orange cut in half ,half an apple cut in half and fresh herbs. (whatever is still alive in the herb garden sage, rosemary, marjoram, thyme. We have had such a mild November, looks like I will have plenty to choose from this year. The reason for placing all this stuff in the cavities is because it not only adds flavor but keeps the bird moist while it roasts.

Truss the bird.

Rub the outside down with vegetable oil. Set bird on a roasting rack inside a roasting pan.

Slide into a 350 degree oven.

I do use a meat thermometer and baste a couple of times each hour. And if the turkey starts to get brown before the internal temperature has been reached, I cover the bird in a foil tent.

My dressing is a very simple using seasoned croutons, celery, herbs, onion, and turkey broth. I sauté the celery and onion in olive oil and a few pats of butter. Add the broth and let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Add the chopped herbs, taste for needed salt and remove from heat. I ladle the mixture over the croutons until they are all moistened.
Place in a buttered backing dish and into the oven at 350 for about 25-30 minutes.

The last 30 minutes getting everything to the table hot is sheer stress even after all these years. It takes a full day of prep the day before to pull it off. It's the same menu every year because my family all have their favorites.
 
vesper said:
After I have the wonderful job of cleaning out the cavities of the bird and removing any left over feathers on the outside, I pat the thing dry inside and out. Usually takes a half a roll of paper towels.

Then it is time for a rub down in salt. I salt the cavities well and lift the skin and rub salt underneath.

Next, I stuff the cavities with celery tops with their leaves, small onion quartered, half an orange cut in half ,half an apple cut in half and fresh herbs. (whatever is still alive in the herb garden sage, rosemary, marjoram, thyme. We have had such a mild November, looks like I will have plenty to choose from this year. The reason for placing all this stuff in the cavities is because it not only adds flavor but keeps the bird moist while it roasts.

Truss the bird.

Rub the outside down with vegetable oil. Set bird on a roasting rack inside a roasting pan.

Slide into a 350 degree oven.

I do use a meat thermometer and baste a couple of times each hour. And if the turkey starts to get brown before the internal temperature has been reached, I cover the bird in a foil tent.

My dressing is a very simple using seasoned croutons, celery, herbs, onion, and turkey broth. I sauté the celery and onion in olive oil and a few pats of butter. Add the broth and let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Add the chopped herbs, taste for needed salt and remove from heat. I ladle the mixture over the croutons until they are all moistened.
Place in a buttered backing dish and into the oven at 350 for about 25-30 minutes.

The last 30 minutes getting everything to the table hot is sheer stress even after all these years. It takes a full day of prep the day before to pull it off. It's the same menu every year because my family all have their favorites.
Click to expand...

Yummy!!!
 
MaggieD said:
I use mom"s recipe.

I don't stuff it. I make the stuffing separately later using the broth from the turkey roasting pan along with a doctored Stove Top.


Put the turkey in the roasting pan...add a stick of butter, two inches of chicken broth, coarse chopped celery, carrots and onions. Cook it at 300 degrees, breast covered with foil a while. That's it.

When done, you will have sooo much juice with which to doctr the stuffing mix, make gravy AND, this is the most important, a delicious broth in which to store leftovers and reheat. The moistest, juiciest turkey you've ever had.
Click to expand...

When I bake any big bird like a turkey or goose, I do about the same thing. I don't stuff it because I want it to cook thoroughly throughout. Whoever the bimbo was that invented stuffing a bird with stuffing mix was stupid because that would be a dangerous way to cook it.

Stuffing can be baked in a separate baking pan if you absolutely need stuffing with your meal. Mashed potatoes, giblet gravy, yams and cranberries are plenty for sides. Stuffing is not necessary.

After rinsing off the fully defrosted bird, I will cut slits into the breasts and the thighs so that these cook better. Then I will coat the whole bird with either butter or bacon fat and then salt and pepper it.

While it is baking I will ladle the juices from the pan over the bird every hour. It takes several hours the for whole bird to cook thoroughly. This allows for lots of ladling.

Then when it is done I will decant the juices let them separate to skim off the fats and make the gravy from the remaining juices, which are mostly water from the bird itself.

A turkey makes a lot of meat. You need a really big family to eat all that or you will be eating turkey leftovers for weeks.

A goose is about half the size of a turkey.

A duck is about half the size of a goose.

A chicken is about half the size of a duck.

That way you can plan accordingly depending on the size of your group.

If I am eating alone then I will either go out to eat at the local southern diner or else bake a chicken or duck.

I can only eat leftovers for so long before I end up throwing everything away, and my father taught me never to waste meat like that.
 
vesper said:
After I have the wonderful job of cleaning out the cavities of the bird and removing any left over feathers on the outside, I pat the thing dry inside and out. Usually takes a half a roll of paper towels.

Then it is time for a rub down in salt. I salt the cavities well and lift the skin and rub salt underneath.

Next, I stuff the cavities with celery tops with their leaves, small onion quartered, half an orange cut in half ,half an apple cut in half and fresh herbs. (whatever is still alive in the herb garden sage, rosemary, marjoram, thyme. We have had such a mild November, looks like I will have plenty to choose from this year. The reason for placing all this stuff in the cavities is because it not only adds flavor but keeps the bird moist while it roasts.

Truss the bird.

Rub the outside down with vegetable oil. Set bird on a roasting rack inside a roasting pan.

Slide into a 350 degree oven.

I do use a meat thermometer and baste a couple of times each hour. And if the turkey starts to get brown before the internal temperature has been reached, I cover the bird in a foil tent.

My dressing is a very simple using seasoned croutons, celery, herbs, onion, and turkey broth. I sauté the celery and onion in olive oil and a few pats of butter. Add the broth and let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Add the chopped herbs, taste for needed salt and remove from heat. I ladle the mixture over the croutons until they are all moistened.
Place in a buttered backing dish and into the oven at 350 for about 25-30 minutes.

The last 30 minutes getting everything to the table hot is sheer stress even after all these years. It takes a full day of prep the day before to pull it off. It's the same menu every year because my family all have their favorites.
Click to expand...

That's similar to what I do, but I use butter or bacon fat.
 
nota bene said:
It's the "everything else" that's so challenging. This will be my 13th Thanksgiving without my mother, and it wasn't until she was gone that I appreciated just how much "everything else" entails.

For example, relish trays plural--carrot strips pickled in advance, celery sticks whose ends were "fringed," pickled beets, fancy cucumbers (run a fork the length of a cucumber on all sides, slice, and be surprised at how pretty they are), three kinds of olives, sausage-stuffed mushrooms, and deviled eggs. I'm sure I'm forgetting something.
Click to expand...

Anytime I'm cooking, I think of my mom too. She taught me the basics before I went off to college. I can still pretty much remember her lessons and how she explained everything. "Never cut towards yourself with a knife because you might cut yourself if you do."
 
CanadaJohn said:
For those asking about cooking times for turkey, the following template has always worked perfectly for me to get fall off the bone, moist and delicious turkey every time.

Cook at 325


Pounds Open pan Covered pan

5-8 / 3.5 to 4 hours / 2.5 to 3 hours

8-11 / 4 to 4.25 / 3 to 3.5

11-14 / 4 to 4.5 / 3.5 to 4

14-16 / 4.5 to 5 / 4 to 4.25

16-20 / 5 to 5.25 / 4.25 to 4.5

19-24 / 5.25 to 6.5 / 4.5 to 5


Remember to baste your turkey frequently - at least once ever 45 minutes or so to ensure it stays moist on the top and you get a nice, glowing, crispy skin.

Edit - my apologies, the formatting didn't come out the way it was supposed to.
Click to expand...

My point exactly -- it takes several hours to bake a big bird like a turkey or goose.
 
VanceMack said:
I dont love turkey meat...especially light meat. So I work to infuse it. I dont know how much brining helps. I inject with a maple butter, then glaze it, then wrap it with bacon, put plenty of butter and bacon grease in the bottom of an aluminum pan, seal that bad boy in an aluminum tent, and grill it for about 7 hours on medium heat.
Click to expand...

Wow! That's interesting! I've never tried that, although I am also not wild about the white meat. I like the dark meat portions like thigh, leg and back instead.
 
Riveroaks said:
That's similar to what I do, but I use butter or bacon fat.
Click to expand...
I imagine a lot of what we do is really similar. Well except maybe this..... after cleaning out the bird and to give it some time to drain on its own, I will straddle the thing over the kitchen faucet with both legs dangling to let the water run out of the cavity. The first thing that comes to mind is a headless, featherless bird riding a bicycle.
 
vesper said:
I imagine a lot of what we do is really similar. Well except maybe this..... after cleaning out the bird and to give it some time to drain on its own, I will straddle the thing over the kitchen faucet with both legs dangling to let the water run out of the cavity. The first thing that comes to mind is a headless, featherless bird riding a bicycle.
Click to expand...

image.jpg
 
vesper said:
I imagine a lot of what we do is really similar. Well except maybe this..... after cleaning out the bird and to give it some time to drain on its own, I will straddle the thing over the kitchen faucet with both legs dangling to let the water run out of the cavity. The first thing that comes to mind is a headless, featherless bird riding a bicycle.
Click to expand...

Great culinary minds think alike.

I first learned how to cook meats over a campfire with my dad and friends. This taught me that fire makes heat and heat cooks meats.

My father taught me never to play with fire except for cooking over a campfire.

My second learning was from my mom on the kitchen stove. My father never touched a stove in his life but he was good at campfires.

My mom taught me a basic list of meals for different days --

- meat stew (goulash & stroganoff)

- meat and potatoes stew

- chili with beans

- meat chili (sloppy joes -- my parents used to live in Florida and this is a Florida Keys dish)

- rice meatballs (called porcupines)

- corned beef with cabbage and carrots

- baked chicken

- fried chicken

This way when it was my turn to cook at the frat house, I could choose from whatever kind of meal we had not had in a while.

My mom also emphasized the 4 food groups -- meat, carbs, vegies, and fruits. She said the fruits should be the dessert.

My third learning took place in college at the local Italian restaurant where I got a part time evening job after classes.

These cooks there who trained me to make everything that is Italian -- pizza, spaghetti, veal scallopini and marsala and parmesan -- they were all men. This was the chef world.

Most of the ladies (means SWF) I have dated just let me do the cooking. My best buddy from high school who is Italian also does the cooking in their house too.

Most females (means girls, ladies, and women) don't learn how to cook like that anymore.

It's good to see some of the expert culinary women here on this web site !!!
 
Last edited:
CanadaJohn said:
Good morning Maggie,

I roast a turkey at least 5 times a year - not on holidays particularly - because I love turkey and the leftovers are great for sandwiches and casseroles and even stir fries. I'm pretty simple though - just a little water in the bottom of the roasting pan, a little pepper, cover it and roast it at 325. Always turns out great.

Turkeys are terrific and a relatively cheap form of meat. You can even get great deals on frozen ones once a holiday passes and they keep well in the freezer. I often buy three or four small ones after a holiday and freeze them and roast one a month or so until the next holiday passes.
Click to expand...
I roast the turkey at the top of the oven and place a pan of water at the bottom. I cover the turkey with strips of bacon for the first hour then remove the bacon and get basting. The family fight for the last strip of bacon!
 
nota bene said:
It's the "everything else" that's so challenging. This will be my 13th Thanksgiving without my mother, and it wasn't until she was gone that I appreciated just how much "everything else" entails.

For example, relish trays plural--carrot strips pickled in advance, celery sticks whose ends were "fringed," pickled beets, fancy cucumbers (run a fork the length of a cucumber on all sides, slice, and be surprised at how pretty they are), three kinds of olives, sausage-stuffed mushrooms, and deviled eggs. I'm sure I'm forgetting something.
Click to expand...
isn't that the truth...two kinds of potatoes, four kinds of veggies, a salad, gravy, the whole thing

way beyond anything I would attempt...
 
Riveroaks said:
When I bake any big bird like a turkey or goose, I do about the same thing. I don't stuff it because I want it to cook thoroughly throughout. Whoever the bimbo was that invented stuffing a bird with stuffing mix was stupid because that would be a dangerous way to cook it.

Stuffing can be baked in a separate baking pan if you absolutely need stuffing with your meal. Mashed potatoes, giblet gravy, yams and cranberries are plenty for sides. Stuffing is not necessary.

After rinsing off the fully defrosted bird, I will cut slits into the breasts and the thighs so that these cook better. Then I will coat the whole bird with either butter or bacon fat and then salt and pepper it.

While it is baking I will ladle the juices from the pan over the bird every hour. It takes several hours the for whole bird to cook thoroughly. This allows for lots of ladling.

Then when it is done I will decant the juices let them separate to skim off the fats and make the gravy from the remaining juices, which are mostly water from the bird itself.

A turkey makes a lot of meat. You need a really big family to eat all that or you will be eating turkey leftovers for weeks.

A goose is about half the size of a turkey.

A duck is about half the size of a goose.

A chicken is about half the size of a duck.

That way you can plan accordingly depending on the size of your group.

If I am eating alone then I will either go out to eat at the local southern diner or else bake a chicken or duck.

I can only eat leftovers for so long before I end up throwing everything away, and my father taught me never to waste meat like that.
Click to expand...

The "Bimbo" who invented stuffing the bird with dressing is one who understood that the best seasoning for dressing is the turkey juices that would otherwise be lost without being absorbed by the stuffing.
 
jimbo said:
The "Bimbo" who invented stuffing the bird with dressing is one who understood that the best seasoning for dressing is the turkey juices that would otherwise be lost without being absorbed by the stuffing.
Click to expand...

The bimbo was not thinking about bacteria then.
 
Bought my frozen duck at the food store today.

I'll let it thaw in the fridge and bake it first chance I get.

All this talk of turkey has made me hungry.
 
Riveroaks said:
The bimbo was not thinking about bacteria then.
Click to expand...

The Bimbo part has nothing to do with the issue and unnecessary, and I'm not a politically correct person.

Very few cases of food poisoning are directly attributable to Thanksgiving dressing, and far less are due to stuffing the bird. Basically two no no's. Leaving the uncooked moist dressing to gain room temperature, and not thoroughly cooking the dressing. That means 165 degrees or better. Either cook the stuffing in the bird to 165, or remove it and cook separately after the bird is done and microwave or finish cooking separately. The bacteria will die either way and the flavor is far superior.
 
enough of this talk about stove top dressing in a damn box
the dressing (and gravy) comprise the best part of the thanksgiving meal

cornbread dressing recipe

Ingredients
Cornbread (one pone should be enough. one pone is what comes out of one cast iron skillet; see corn bread recipe below)
7 slices oven-dried white bread (equivalent amount of focaccia bread is even better)
1 sleeve saltine crackers
8 tablespoons butter
2 cups celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
7 cups chicken stock (turkey stock if you have already cooked your bird)
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sage
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
5 eggs, beaten

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine crumbled cornbread, dried white bread slices, and saltines; set aside.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the celery and onion and cook until transparent, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Pour the vegetable mixture over cornbread mixture. Add the stock, mix well, taste, and add salt, pepper to taste, sage, and poultry seasoning. Add beaten eggs and mix well. Reserve 2 heaping tablespoons of this mixture for the giblet gravy. Pour mixture into a greased pan and bake until dressing is cooked through, about 45 minutes.


and hell no, dont even think about using cornbread made from a box. try this instead:

Ingredients

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 cup creamed corn
2 tablespoons bacon grease

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place a 10-inch cast iron skillet into the oven such that it becomes oven temperature.

In a bowl, combine the cornmeal, salt, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk together to combine well.

In a large bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs, and creamed corn, whisking together to combine thoroughly. Add the dry ingredients to the buttermilk mixture and stir to combine.

Swirl the bacon grease in the hot cast iron skillet to coat the area where the cornbread will bake. Pour the batter into the skillet. Bake until the cornbread is golden brown and springs back upon the touch, about 20 minutes.

final unsolicited cooking tip: ALWAYS brine poultry. how hard is it to stick a bird in a pot of cold water to which you have added a scoop of salt. let it sit for 5 minutes. ensures juicy, moist meat


Canada John, wish i had your turkey cooking times 30 years ago - my first attempt at cooking t-day dinner. what a disaster that was
 
Depends on the bird. If it died of a case of high speed lead or heavy shot poisoning? It is fried in strips. Then crystals is dripped on. Only real way to eat it. Anything is a crime against God.

Now a butterball? Fried in the fryer is the preferred method.
 
MaggieD said:
I've had three deep fried turkeys. Two were sooo dry! The last one was brined and injected. That one was delicious.
Click to expand...

I've never deep fried nor have tried deep fried turkey. If it's a smaller bird (12-15lbs) I will cook it in my cast iron convection thingy on the BBQ. Turns out IMO good and also frees up the oven for other things.
 
Inside a paper grocery bag. We have used this method for over 30 years. the hard part may be to get your hands on a paper bag. You may stuff the bird or not. I usually do both. The turkey needs to be coated with Crisco before being put in the bag. you fold the wings back seal the bag with a stapler and place in roasting pan on a rack. when the turkey is done you tear a hole in the bottom of the bag with a meat fork then use the drippings to make your gravy. The bird browns nicely but is very tender from being steamed in the bag.
 
justabubba said:
Canada John, wish i had your turkey cooking times 30 years ago - my first attempt at cooking t-day dinner. what a disaster that was
Click to expand...

Mine too - I luckily spotted that template in the newspaper about 20 years ago and kept it. My first turkey, before that, looked great on the outside and I had lots of family and friends crowded around the kitchen when I started carving, everyone salivating, until I cut into it and the blood started to flow!! I use the template faithfully now and even use it for other meats as well.

BTW, your recipes look great and I'll have to try them next time I'm in charge of a family dinner.
 
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