Perfect Every Time Turkey Recipes

A SIMPLY PERFECT ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Place rack in the lowest position of the oven.
• Remove the turkey neck and giblets, rinse the turkey, and pat dry with paper towels. Place the turkey, breast side up, on a rack in the roasting pan. Loosely fill the body cavity with stuffing. Rub the skin with the softened butter, and season with salt and pepper. Position an aluminum foil tent over the turkey.
• Place turkey in the oven, and pour 2 cups turkey stock into the bottom of the roasting pan. Baste all over every 30 minutes with the juices on the bottom of the pan. Whenever the drippings evaporate, add stock to moisten them, about 1 to 2 cups at a time. Remove aluminum foil after 2 1/2 hours. Roast until a meat thermometer inserted in the meaty part of the thigh reads 165 degrees F (75 degrees C), about 4 hours.
• Transfer the turkey to a large serving platter, and let it stand for at least 20 to 30 minutes before carving.

PERFECT ROAST TURKEY 101

Steps:

• Rinse turkey with cool water, and dry with paper towels. Let stand for 2 hours at room temperature.
• Place rack on lowest level in oven. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine melted butter and white wine in a bowl. Fold a large piece of cheesecloth into quarters and cut it into a 17-inch, 4-layer square. Immerse cheesecloth in the butter and wine; let soak.
• Place turkey, breast side up, on a roasting rack in a heavy metal roasting pan. If the turkey comes with a pop-up timer, remove it; an instant-read thermometer is a much more accurate indication of doneness. Fold wing tips under turkey. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper inside turkey. Fill large cavity and neck cavity loosely with as much stuffing as they hold comfortably; do not pack tightly. (Cook remaining stuffing in a buttered baking dish for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.) Tie legs together loosely with kitchen string (a bow will be easy to untie later). Fold neck flap under, and secure with toothpicks. Rub turkey with the softened butter, and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and pepper.
• Lift cheesecloth out of liquid, and squeeze it slightly, leaving it very damp. Spread it evenly over the breast and about halfway down the sides of the turkey; it can cover some of the leg area. Place turkey, legs first, in oven. Cook for 30 minutes. Using a pastry brush, baste cheesecloth and exposed parts of turkey with butter and wine. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue to cook for 2 1/2 more hours, basting every 30 minutes and watching pan juices; if the pan gets too full, spoon out juices, reserving them for gravy.
• After this third hour of cooking, carefully remove and discard cheesecloth. Turn roasting pan so that the breast is facing the back of the oven. Baste turkey with pan juices. If there are not enough juices, continue to use butter and wine. The skin gets fragile as it browns, so baste carefully. Cook 1 more hour, basting after 30 minutes.
• After this fourth hour of cooking, insert an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh. Do not poke into a bone. The temperature should reach 180 degrees (stuffing should be between 140 degrees and 160 degrees) and the turkey should be golden brown. The breast does not need to be checked for temperature. If legs are not yet fully cooked, baste turkey, return to oven, and cook another 20 to 30 minutes.
• When fully cooked, transfer turkey to a serving platter, and let rest for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, make the gravy. Pour all the pan juices into a glass measuring cup. Let stand until grease rises to the surface, about 10 minutes, then skim it off. Meanwhile, place roasting pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 cup dry red or white wine, or water, to the pan. Using a wooden spoon, scrape the pan until liquid boils and all the crisp bits are unstuck from pan. Add giblet stock to pan. Stir well, and bring back to a boil. Cook until liquid has reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Add the defatted pan juices, and cook over medium-high heat 10 minutes more. You will have about 2 1/2 cups of gravy. Season to taste, strain into a warm gravy boat, and serve with turkey.

PERFECT TURKEY EVERY SINGLE TIME

Steps:

• 1. To Brine or Not To Brine - If you prefer to brine your turkey, do this the day before you plan to cook it. Brining helps season and draw moisture into the meat to keep it flavorful and juicy. A good rule of thumb is to use 1 cup of table salt and 1/2 cup sugar for every gallon of water. I allow at least 8-12 hours but no more that 24 hours. Add onions or herbs to the water and put into a container or brining bag so that the turkey is completely submerged. It must be kept cold, either in the refrigerator, or an ice chest with lots of ice around the brining bag or container. When finished discard the brine. If you don't want to brine the turkey then skip this step.
• 2. Remove giblets from inside of turkey and set aside. Thoroughly wash the turkey, removing any feathers or quills and clean out the inside of the cavity. Pat the inside and outside completely dry and set aside to continue air drying.
• 3. Peel onions and cut them into wedges or thick rings, do not separate the layers. Clean the carrots and celery and cut into 3-4 inch chunks. Cut the apple into wedges.
• 4. In a large roasting pan place most of the onions, carrots, celery, garlic and apple into the bottom of the pan. Add the stock or water and put the roasting rack into the pan. (Note) If you are not going to use the giblets and neck for anything else, put those pieces into the bottom of the roaster.
• 5. Put the dry turkey onto a large platter and liberally spread the butter all over the surface of the turkey, around the wings and legs, and inside the cavity. This works best when the butter is room temperature and soft, but if you prefer to work with melted butter that's fine. It will start to get solid on the cold turkey. Put butter inside the cavity and under the skin of the breast and thighs, being careful not to tear the skin. Secure large flaps of excess skin and fat with toothpicks to close up the neck cavity. Also leave on the big the tail piece. Put any remaining butter into the roasting pan. You need a lot of butter to create the fat for making turkey gravy later. If you like to inject your turkey, now is the time to do it. I don't.
• 6. Liberally sprinkle salt and pepper into the cavity and all over the outside of the turkey. Take the remaining onions, celery, carrot, garlic and apple and put that inside the cavity. If you like the flavor of rosemary, thyme, or sage then add a little fresh pieces to the cavity. These are strong herbs so a little goes a long way.
• 7. Set the turkey on the roasting rack BREAST SIDE DOWN. This allows the butter and fat from the skin and cavity work its way into the breast meat to keep it super moist. If you MUST, you can put the breast side up. Tie the legs together with string to hold all of the vegetables on the inside.
• 8. Put the oven rack on the lowest position inside your oven and put the turkey into a COLD oven. Close the door and set the temperature to 500 degrees. Once the oven has reached 500 degrees set your timer for 1 hour. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR! After 1 hour of baking turn the oven off and leave the door CLOSED. NO PEEKING! I do this right before going to be and in the morning the whole house will smell like roasted turkey and it will be completely cooked and juicy.
• 9. *THIS IS THE TRICK TO A BEAUTIFUL BIRD: Use heavy duty aluminum foil and double it. Use a piece long enough to tent the turkey over the top leaving an opening on both ends for the air to flow through. I just tuck the foil between the pan and rack to hold it in place and fix it so that the foil isn't actually touching the bird.
• 10. This is optional, but in the morning if you want to, carefully drain the liquid from the cavity into the baking pan and turn the turkey over. Put it back in the oven on 500 degrees and cook for about 15 minutes to brown the breast. The turkey will remain somewhat warm in the oven but it can be reheated briefly without getting dried out.
• 11. Use the fat and drippings in the pan to make your turkey gravy.

PERFECT EVERY TIME TURKEY

Steps:

• preheat oven to 325.
• (mix all ingredients in melted butter baste turkey put all remaining ingredients in cavity).
• put in doubled brown grocery bag fold the end and staple shut.
• place in large roasting pan no lid bake at 325 (20 minutes per lb).
• do nothing else I promise you will never cook your turkey any other way.
• moist and perfectly brown.
• (do not open oven).

PERFECT TURKEY

Steps:

• Rub the turkey inside and out with the kosher salt. Place the bird in a large stock pot, and cover with cold water. Place in the refrigerator, and allow the turkey to soak in the salt and water mixture 12 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Thoroughly rinse the turkey, and discard the brine mixture.
• Brush the turkey with 1/2 the melted butter. Place breast side down on a roasting rack in a shallow roasting pan. Stuff the turkey cavity with 1 onion, 1/2 the carrots, 1/2 the celery, 1 sprig of thyme, and the bay leaf. Scatter the remaining vegetables and thyme around the bottom of the roasting pan, and cover with the white wine.
• Roast uncovered 3 1/2 to 4 hours in the preheated oven, until the internal temperature of the thigh reaches 180 degrees F (85 degrees C). Carefully turn the turkey breast side up about 2/3 through the roasting time, and brush with the remaining butter. Allow the bird to stand about 30 minutes before carving.

PERFECT ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan.
• Add the zest and juice of the lemon and 1 teaspoon of thyme leaves to the butter mixture.
• Set aside.
• Take the giblets out of the turkey and wash the turkey inside and out.
• Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outside dry.
• Place the turkey in a large roasting pan.
• Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the turkey cavity.
• Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, halved lemon, quartered onion, and the garlic.
• Brush the outside of the turkey with the butter mixture and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Tie the legs together with string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the turkey.
• Roast the turkey at 350 F about 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh.
• Remove the turkey to a cutting board and cover with aluminum foil; let rest for 20 minutes.
• Slice the turkey and serve.

PERFECT TURKEY

Steps:

• 1. Remove neck, gizzards, and liver. Place them in a pan with water and cook them on the stove top. (Even if you don't use them it is like turkey potpourri.)
• 2. Rinse the bird inside and out. Pat dry with paper towel.
• 3. Stuff the bird in both the head and rear.
• 4. Tie the legs together if you want.
• 5. With a spatula, spread a very thin coating of the mayonnaise all over the bird. Don't glop it on; get the heavy glops out of the leg crevices and such.
• 6. Salt and pepper the turkey.
• 7. Place the turkey in a roasting pan, the bird should fit in comfortably in the pan it shouldn't be crowded.
• 8. Using a piece of aluminum foil make a tent over the turkey with the front and back of the tent open for air flow.
• 9. Place in the oven and bake at 275 degrees. The size of the turkey determines the length of time (25 minutes per pound at 275 degrees).
• 10. Remove the foil for the last 1/2 hour of cooking time. Until it is time to remove the foil the bird should not be disturbed. Don't baste it and keep the oven door closed. If you're tempted to peek, look thru the glass.
• 11. When bird is cooked remove from the oven and let it stand for a 1/2 an hour, at least, before carving. The pan drippings make a wonderful gravy and the liquid from boiling the bird parts works well in place of water.
• 12. Place on the table and watch your friends and family enjoy.