The best turkey recipe?

[KimKelly]

My husband worked this Thanksgiving so I did't cook. Now he wants Thanksgiving dinner for Christmas. I'm happy to oblige, but along with the bacon I mentioned in a prior post, I'm not a good turkey cooker! I've got a 20 lb free range bird on order. Anyone have any tips on how to season it? Keep it moist? I read about salting it the day before? I'm not stuffing it, the stuffing will be made in a different pan and cooked in the oven. How long do you think it will take to cook??? What temps do you recommend???

Any tips greatly appreciated!!!!! Thank you!
Kim

[SusanL]

Try this website from Food TV, they say about 4 hours for a 20 lb. unstuffed fresh turkey. http://www.foodtv.com/holidays/thanksgivingturkeylatorresults/1,3180,time,00.html

They have a lot of great suggestions on their holiday/thanksgiving site that is available year round to make a turkey!
I made two free range turkeys for Thanksgiving, one burned-long story- the other was delicious, we did not even baste it. Somehow, I think it was the free range thing, a no stressed bird is a tastier bird http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[gobluem82]

Kim,
I have brined the turkey the night before roasting it (about 1 cup of salt, then enough water to cover). It keeps the turkey moist and seasons it really well. The gravy is also great! The only problem is finding enough room in the fridge for the pot.

Alicia

[TheresaM]

My brother-in-law use this method at Thanksgiving and it was great. I highly suggest you try this method.

[Gail]

Prior to Thanksgiving I posted a recipe for sage roasted turkey with caramelized onions which was fabulous and really didn't take any kind of special preparation. The meat was juicy and flavorful and the gravy excellent. Next time I have to make turkey, that'll be the one again!

In case you're interested in having a peek, the recipe is at www.cookinglight.com/bbs/Forum1/HTML/002412.html (http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/Forum1/HTML/002412.html)

[lindrusso]

KimKelly,

Here's another thread on this topic. If you want the cheesecloth-method recipe, just email me and I'll post it or email it. If you search the board for "turkey" you will also find ideas on how to use the leftovers and the carcass for stock!
http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/Forum1/HTML/002628.html

[almiter]

I posted this message right after thanksgiving on a different thread. I think it turned out to be the best turkey I ever made/had:

I made the Herb Roasted Turkey from the Nov issue also and everyone loved it. But to add to this delicious recipe- I first brined the turkey two days before T-day (soak in salt water with herbs and garlic) for 24 hours. Then the day before T-day I let the turkey sit uncovered in the fridge for another 24 hours. The brining creates a very tender flavorful turkey and letting it sit uncovered in the fridge overnight evaporates moisture out of the skin to make the skin very crispy. It was excellent! I got the techniques out of Cooks Illustrated and will use them every year.

Note: Keep in mind the herb roasted tukey has a fair amount of garlic, which does give the turkey a different taste than the traditional method.

[misstapioca]

i roasted the orange-sage turkey from Dec 00. the citrus flavor was wonderful. i did need to cook the 15 lb turkey a bit longer because i stuffed that cavity pretty full of quatered oranges. Makes such tasty leftovers!

[KimKelly]

Thanks to all who responded! (Sorry... I'm a bit late...)

Anyway, I followed the Cooks Illustrated recipe to brine the turkey. I added a few "aromatics" to the cavity, onions, thyme, carrots, etc. We brined it for 1 1/2 days in a solution that was a bit less than what the reicpe called for. The turkey was great, but a bit salty for my taste. I'm a really low salt person though, so the rest of the family didn't have the same opinion. gobluem82, to solve the referigerator problem we put the turkey in a garbage bag in a cooler and then surrounded it with ice water.
As for the gravy.... my mother did it, and it was indeed wonderful, but I don't have a clue what she did!

Thanks again everyone, as usual the help around here is incredible!

Kim