Turkey!

[fidgiegirl]

How do you do YOUR turkey? We're having one for Christmas.

Rosemary, I did end up with the Fleet Farm enameled pan that has a lid. I do not, however, have a special rack. I read a few solutions for that online so not too worried about it, though I'd love additional suggestions for how to handle that part.

Thanks all!

http://www.blacksnowcomic.com/blog1/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/funny-thanksgiving-turkey-cartoon2.jpg

[Mrs-M]

Fidgiegirl. If you plan on cooking turkeys, I'd invest in a simple rack. Racks, are uber cheap, and they also allow one to easily lift and remove the bird from the roaster (when done).

As far as cooking a turkey goes, I rinse the inside out (thoroughly) under clean flowing tap-water, then I stuff (traditional family recipe), apply a light seasoning of salt/pepper, then into the preheated over it goes. 3-4 hours (on average), 4-5 hours for bigger birds, like I cook.

You'll want to check up on it occasionally over the course of it's cooking time. If you don't have a fancy thermometer, stick it with a fork to check that juices run clear.

Carving, comes with experience and repetition.

[Mrs-M]

Adding, if you've ever cooked a whole chicken before, then cooking a turkey will be a walk in the park. Only difference being, you're dealing with a larger bird, which requires longer cooking times.

[leslieann]

My stepmother brines her Thanksgiving bird. I don't know anything about it except the excellent results! I am having a turkey and guests for Boxing Day (yeah, a cool Canadian holiday) so I probably ought to be doing my research.

[Mrs-M]

Oh, Leslieann, the brine idea sounds good.

[SteveinMN]

We brine ours. Owing to time constraints this year, we have a wet-brined bird. I would like to try dry-brining sometime. This one will go into the oven at the appointed time. We are providing the turkey, gravy, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. The rest of the meal is pot-luck.

My family is wide open about the format of the Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. Turkey is a tradition for both, but it may be roasted, braised, prepared on the kettle grill, etc., and the stuffing and flavorings vary from year to year. Ditto with the sides. I don't think I've made the same stuffing but once. We're just up for something different all the time. I know many families (DW's among them) are not.

[fidgiegirl]

Thanks, all! I think we didn't really get the turkey early enough. We're still trying to thaw it. From what I read about brining it needs quite a bit of time in the brine. We might just rub with salt and pepper and call it good. I am going to use our new roaster with lid. Perhaps I'll remove in the last portion of cooking to brown the skin. No one in my family is much of a skin person anyway so it doesn't much matter.

Not sure where to find a round rack. Will take a look online, but for tomorrow, will have to improvise.

[Dhiana]

Making large quantities of meat such as turkey, I try to keep it as simple as possible. It makes it much easier to use the meat to create a wider variety of leftover dishes from Indian to Mexican to simple turkey sandwich.

Cover the turkey with olive oil to keep it moist and then just sprinkle with the salt & pepper, that's all I do.

[Rosemary]

No need to brine.
No need for rack.
The lidded pan takes care of everything.

Preheat the oven to 400.
Season the turkey (I use salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme).
Put some chopped veggies in the pan (onion, carrot, celery).
Put the turkey in the pan, breast down if you remember - if not, no crisis.
Cover and put in the oven, reduce temp to 350 after 15 minutes.
Cook it until it reaches the appropriate temp.

That's it. I cook free-range turkeys this way (the kind that isn't "brined" by the manufacturer - e.g. no "salt solution" added) and they come out perfectly tender and moist.

You can of course add butter, olive oil, or other enrichments - but they're not needed when cooking this way. Even the breast meat will stay moist.

[fidgiegirl]

Thanks, Rosemary! I was hoping you'd weigh in since you recommended the pan, but wasn't sure if you would be around the forums or busy with holiday prep. I am looking forward to using it very much. I didn't realize there was so much to the design of it, like the "bumps" on the lid that basically baste the bird with moisture that drips back onto it off of those bumps. I found this link (http://www.clovegarden.com/ingred/turkeyroast2.html) really informative.

[fidgiegirl]

I will add that I am pretty pumped for using this pan for whole chickens, too. We have gotten away from using them but perhaps we will have a renaissance of chicken roasting at our house how. Costco has the organic whole ones at such a good price - I bet I could do two at a time in this pan (which is how they come packaged from Costco) and not freeze them whole, which then dissuades us from actually cooking them - such a pain to thaw.

[Rosemary]

I cooked a 15.5# turkey on Thanksgiving this way and I think the total cooking time was about 2.5 hours. They cook pretty quickly inside the steamy pan. Hope it turns out well for you!

[fidgiegirl]

Oh very good to know this part. I was planning on trying to have the bird in the oven by 9:00 for a 1:00 lunch - that would be waaaaay too early. We only have a 12 pounder. So definitely later, then it can rest and if needed, we can keep it in the warm oven just to stay warm until the meal. I'll report back! We're having it tomorrow (early Christmas celebration for my side).

[Rosemary]

How did it turn out?

[treehugger]

We don't do a turkey for Christmas, but we do cook one for Thanksgiving, and we always grill it. My dad starting doing that when I was a kid, and he taught my husband. Always flavorful, moist, and delicious. No brining needed. And yes, IME, turkeys only take about 3 hours, start to finish. The needing to get up at the crack of dawn to put it in the oven so it could cook for 5 hours idea of yesteryear = dry, overcooked turkey. I also think that a meat thermometer (the digital probe kind is handy) is a sanity-saving device, not a fancy luxury. Takes the guesswork out of roasting anything and eliminates the temptation to overcook.

Kara

[Mrs-M]

That sounds delish, Rosemary!

[fidgiegirl]

Funny, guys, I thought I came back and posted a report but it must not have "stuck." The bird was delicious. I used Rosemary's procedure along with some advice from the link I posted and we all enjoyed the meal plus sandwiches later in the day. Now the bones and giblets are boiling up for stock which I am going to drain as soon as I'm done catching up on the forums. Thanks all for your advice! I see a lot more roasted fowl in our future. :)