If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

As I mentioned in the Hit/Miss post, my turkey was a total failure! Im so disappointed. I did what i did last year and last years was great! This was gross. Raw after almost 5 hours of cooking! Tasted gamey to me, just gross. please share what you did for a great bird.

If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

Sorry your turkey didn't turn out well. I use a frozen bird. I only get a fresh bird if it's from a turkey farm. The fresh turkeys in the supermarket are actually not as fresh as everyone thinks. Sometimes they sit around for weeks!
Anyway. I always use softened butter under the skin, on top of the skin and inside the cavity. I also use salt, pepper and garlic powder to season inside and out. I never brine the turkey because I feel like it gets way too salty. I roast for about 20 minutes per pound at 375.
I have been making turkey's for about 20 years and they always come out great. I think the key is keep it simple.
I also always stuff. I just make sure to check the temp of the stuffing to make sure it's safe.
What kind of turkey did you use?

Re: If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

I usually make several turkey breasts, because no one but me really cares for dark meat, and it's easier to time (and no worried about making sure dark meat is cooked while overcooking the breast). But I think this method could work well with a whole turkey. Mine always comes out flavorful and never dry.

This is very simple -- no brining, no crazy cooking techniques... just roasting.

I chunk up a couple of apples, a couple of onions, and throw them in the bottom of a roasting pan with a few celery stalks. Put the turkey on top of the fruits/veggies in the pan. Pat it dry, then brush all over with olive oil.

Then I make a dry rub with 1 TB lemon pepper seasoning, 1.5 tsp garlic powder, 1.5 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp rubbed sage, and 1 tsp paprika. Rub mixture all over the turkey.

Pour some chicken broth and white wine into the roasting pan and put pan in preheated 325 degree oven. Roast in oven until temp reaches 165 degrees (with my typical size bone-in breast, it usually takes about 2.5 hours).

Then let the turkey rest before carving.

I make a gravy by using the strained liquid in the roasting pan, which is very flavorful. I make a roux using butter and flour (1 TB butter and 1 TB flour per cup of liquid). Melt the butter in a pan, then whisk in flour, cooking for about a minute. Then, whisk in strained pan juices (and some additional wine and stock if desired). Let it come to a boil and simmer until thickened.

Re: If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

I use an herb butter I make from a stick of softened butter, fresh thyme, sage, rosemary. I add about a tablespoon of kosher salt and a pinch of red pepper flake. I put it under the skin and all over the top. Then inside the bird I put a cut up onion, garlic, some sprigs of those same herbs and this year I did a lemon cut in half. I also sprinkled some garlic powder, onion powder and paprika on top.

Then my secret is using a Reynolds Cooking Bag. I had a browned, juicy turkey. 22 lb in 3.5 hours at 350.

Re: If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

How big was your turkey?

Was it stuffed?

What temp was the oven?

Did you have the turkey covered at times?

Maybe we can help you figure out what went awry.

Re: If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

Re: If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

Re: If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

325 until the timer pops up, usually about 5 hours.

Re: If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

Message edited 11/30/2013 8:32:48 AM.

If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

I made only breasts too, no one likes dark meat, so it works. It cooks evenly and is very moist. I lay the breasts atop rough chopped celery, carrots and onion with a cup or so of dry white wine, lil broth. I season everything with s&p, spices, garlic, lil EVOO. I put lemon slices under the skin. I cover it with foil for the first hour at 325. The last hour or so I uncover it, let it get color. Add more wine or smidge as it roasts.
It was delicious and very moist.

Re: If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

Thanks everyone!! I'm so pissed about this damn turkey! I may be hosting Xmas and I want a chance to redeem myself so I may attempt another smaller turkey (along with a ham or something else just in case lol). I'll def refer back to this post.

BTW anyone ever try frying the turkey in one of those outdoor fryers?

Re: If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

Re: If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

Posted by GoodThoughts

Posted by cj7305

Thanks everyone!! I'm so pissed about this damn turkey! I may be hosting Xmas and I want a chance to redeem myself so I may attempt another smaller turkey (along with a ham or something else just in case lol). I'll def refer back to this post.

BTW anyone ever try frying the turkey in one of those outdoor fryers?

Buy a spiral ham from Costco and call it a day They're delicious and ready to go.

If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

Buy an electric roaster oven. It is a never fail.

Re: If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

Re: If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

I have been making turkey the same way for 10 plus years. I have used both frozen and fresh from a poultry farm.
I season the outside of the skin with poultry seasoning and salt and pepper. I place chucks of butter and onion under the wings, near the legs and inside the cavities.
Make sure your oven is preheated. Cover loosely with foil. I only baste 4 or 5 times and I add a small amount of cooked, cooled stuffing after about 2 hours.
I start checking it with a meat thermometer an hour or two before I think it will be ready. Sometimes it's ready early, sometimes it takes longer.

Re: If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

We had a 22lb Shady Brook frozen turkey. I followed the directions from the packaging and from butterball.
I stuffed with celery and onions. Sprayed the outside with olive oil and cooked at 325. After about 3 hours I covered with aluminum foil for the last 2 hours (even though the timer had already popped up). Let the turkey sit for about an hour, while we cooked/heated up the rest of the food.
The outside was crispy and the meat was juicy. This was the first time I ever cooked a turkey.

Re: If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

when I hosted thanksgiving I used one of those renyolds oven bags for the turkey, came out perfect

Re: If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

We fry our turkey. Been doing this for years, long before it became popular. It's the only way we eat turkey.

Re: If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

I got my turkey fresh from fairway. I picked it up the day before, the turkey is already seasoned with herbs, its cleaned out already too. These birds were never frozen either.
They give you a stick of butter and the stock to put in the pan. I melted the stick of butter and put it all over the turkey.

I have a convection oven, which means my turkey cooks 30% faster than a regular oven. I put the temp to 475 and let the turkey brown for 30 minutes.

Then I melted another stick of butter and put it all over the skin. I put the stock in the bottom of the pan as well. I tented the top with foil and put it on 325 degrees for about 3 hours. I basted it every hour. It was a 20 pound turkey

I also had a lot of probes telling me the temperature of the turkey in different areas. I think we had 3 wires plugged into the turkey.

It came out amazing, everyone raved about how it was seasoned and how juicy it was, the gravy came out amazing as well because of all the butter I used. I have never cooked a frozen turkey, I have always gotten a fresh one from fairway, its so easy and there is no work involved. Fairway put a lemon and an orange cut up inside the turkey

Message edited 12/4/2013 10:49:36 AM.

Re: If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

I made Clinton Kelly's (The Chew) Lemon Sage Turkey twice and it was to die for both times. The flavor was incredible and it made the most amazing tasting gravy too.

Lemon Sage Turkey Recipe

Message edited 12/4/2013 11:50:03 AM.

Re: If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method

My mom buys her turkey frozen and thaws it out before thanksgiving. She then puts it in a brine for a few days in a huge pot in the fridge. Her turkey is always amazing. Seriously. Moist everywhere. Gravely not even necessary. Brine is a must.

Re: If your turkey came out great, please share recipe/method