I roast a turkey once a year for Thanksgiving. I’ve tried the bags which worked fine and different variations but here’s what I did this year that worked well and some thoughts on what I will try next time to improve. When I roast a turkey next I’ll rewrite this post with more pics.
Ok, here’s what I did this time.
I thawed the turkey in the refrigerator. This was a 21+ pound turkey so it took awhile.
I don’t have a big enough roasting pan so I use a disposable roasting pan on a cookie sheet. Just have to be careful to NOT puncture it. That would be a mess.
When ready to roast the turkey I removed it from the plastic, pulled out the giblets and neck and the turkey and giblets it in the disposable roasting pan on a cookie sheet. I patted it dry on the top and sides using paper towels and then liberally rubbed it with seasoned salt.
I inserted my remote thermometer probe into the breast. Without this thermometer I would almost certainly overcook the turkey.
Next I put the turkey in a preheated 425°F oven for 30 minutes.
When the 30 minutes were up I reduced the heat to 325°F.
NOTE!! I tried this with a smaller 14lb turkey and it got dried out and cooked too fast. I will probably skip this step in the future as I want my method to work regardless of the size of the turkey.
Roasted the turkey until 160°F according to my remote thermometer in the breast and let this carry over to 165°F as it rests.
I removed it from the oven and allowed it to rest for at least 20 to 30 minutes.
Came out good. Skin was nice and browned and the turkey was juicy and tender.
I put four ramekins under the turkey since I don’t have a rack and this so far seems to work well.
I’ll probably quarter a small onion and throw that in the turkey too which I’ve done before but didn’t have on hand this time. May try some thyme and sage too.
I may try a dry brine (salting) next time but not sure since it’s worth the effort to rub the turkey with seasoned salt or whatever I use the day before. I’ve read you can dry brine from 12 hrs to 3 days in advance. I do this with pork the night before smoking so maybe I’ll try it but the turkeys you buy are usually already brined.
