Nope slam it in the oven and don’t peek until it is done.
Awesome. That’s so brilliant, and what I was hoping for. That’s about what I do with my chickens.
Now all I have to do is figure out roasting temp, and time for my little 9.5lb turkey.
Thank you so much for your help! I’ll report back.
here is what Alton Brown suggests
“Roast on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover breast with double layer of aluminum foil, insert probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and return to oven, reducing temperature to 350 degrees F. Set thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let turkey rest, loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving.”
I do mine on the Weber BBQ which is about a steady 350F I calculate about 10 minutes per lb. Due to the airflow, yours in the oven will probably take a little longer.
in your case I would follow Alton’s recipe only you should be all done in 90-120 minutes. (Total time including the time at 500F)
Don’t forget to cover the bird in foil and let it rest for 20-30 minutes before you carve
Well, that’s similar to what I do for chickens, adapted to a turkey. However, I’ve found that at 500F, my smoke alarm goes off. Without fail. So I brown at 450F with my chickens. This is from Bittman’s cookbook.
I don’t have a thermometer that I can put in and leave in. So I’ll have to open the oven from time to time. But I usually wait until I’m pretty sure it’s close to done with the chickens. Alas, sometimes that’s not soon enough.
Bittman, interestingly, does the browning at the end with the tent at the beginning. And my impression from your OP was no tent. So, we’ll see.
My sweet potatoes might have to make up for it.
I don’t tent when I do it on the bbq, you are in an oven, and AB suggests it. Your call.
I think AB suggests the roast at the beginning to sear the skin and hold the juice inside.
No 500 huh? So dinner really is ready when the smoke alarm goes off at your house?
It’s occasionally true, though I try to avoid it. 
I will end up tenting somehow. I’m not sure what I’m going to do exactly. The turkey is warming now.
Thanks!
Flour and butter? Look, I’m sure a bit of mascara and lipstick would work just fine…
Good luck! And don’t forget–it’s all useless unless you have a great time. Get the work out of the way, then sit back, grab a drink, and enjoy. Happy holidays!
Blue, Delores How did they come out?
The world waits.
My goodness, that was wonderful. I’ve never seen so dark and crispy a turkey in my life.
I did end up covering the turkey with a little foil tent after the initial 30 minutes at 450F. It took a total of 90 minutes to cook, which was a little less than I’d anticipated, so the potatoes weren’t even close to ready. It was no biggie, we just wrapped the turkey in foil as we made the potatoes. I think it might have been just this side of underdone when we pulled it out, but the last half hour to hour out without heat let it cook slowly in the retained heat in the foil.
The pies were a total winner, though I need to tweak the pumpkin. The sweet potatoes were great, but a little too rich. I don’t know if that was a melding of the flavors thing, since I made it yesterday or if they just are a bit rich for us. Good, but small portions.
I had green bean casserole for the first time in my life. I’m not a fan.
It was a great Thanksgiving. Truly one of the better ones, though I may feel differently when I’m trying to use up those leftovers and finish cleaning the place up!
Sounds like a good time was had by all.
Congrats on a successful dinner.
You are now a seasoned pro.
You’re not kidding. I brined my right hip when putting the turkey in the bag!
I really want to thank you and everyone else who contributed to this thread. My guests started arriving at about 2:30pm and left at 11pm, and no one realized how late it was getting!
It was fabulous.
Mine was wonderful! Everybody gave me compliments. I forgot to ice down the breast, though. I covered the breast with foil after 30 minutes at 500°, but it wasn’t quite brown enough for me. So at around 150° I pulled off the foil. It was golden brown perfection!
I had to rewarm a couple of casseroles, and make the crescent rolls, so I left the turkey tented with foil for about 45 minutes while doing the sides.
It was a rousing success! I can’t believe the juiciness and the smell of the apples and cinnamon and sage and rosemary. Even the cold leftovers have a wonderful aroma!
Thanks so much! And congrats to you on your first Thanksgiving, BlueKangaroo!