Delicious results! Our local grocery chain (HEB) always offers a coupon for a free turkey if you buy a spiral sliced ham. It’s only up to 12 lb and pre-injected. So after thawing out, I spatchcock it, separate the skin from the breasts and thighs and give a very light salt brine before letting it sit overnight to dry out the skin. Since it’s already injected and I’m adding more salt later it’s important not to over salt. The morning of I rub a sage compound butter under the skin, then rub some oil on the outside and hit it with a citrus garlic compound salt. Smoke with apple wood until ready, maybe 2 - 2.5 hours. Even people that don’t like turkey love this turkey! Downside is few leftovers. On Saturday I use the smoky bones from the carcass to make stock in the Instant Pot, then use that stock with the hambone we’ve been snacking off of all week to make split pea soup.
This is how I’ve been doing it for years too. It’s easy, the turkey cooks quickly, and there’s no roaster or pan to clean (I put mine in a disposable foil roasting pan). I’ve tried many different rubs and injections, etc. but it always tastes like regular old turkey in the end.
Oh, the hoops people have jumped through, trying to make the beast edible! (And I think most people secretly don’t like Thanksgiving turkey but that’s what’s on the menu. If we must, we must.)
It’s so easy to make a really bad turkey. Buy a frozen turkey; leave it in the fridge for a week; the day of put it in a 350 oven; every 20 minutes open the door to squirt juice from the roasting pan on top of the turkey, which doesn’t keep things moist, it just drops the oven temperature so it never cooks right. Then everybody is hungry, but it’s been 5 hours and the turkey is still not done. When it’s finally done, it’s all dried out. Then carve it without letting it rest, so any moisture that might be remaining escapes.
Just like making decent coffee isn’t that hard (grind the beans no earlier than a few days before using, use enough grounds, use hot enough water), making a pretty good turkey isn’t that hard. Make sure it is completely thawed; use some salt; either use something like the ATK method to speed cook the dark meat, or just cut it up like a giant chicken; stop cooking when the meat is at the right temperature; and finally let it rest 30-60 minutes before carving. That is the time to use the fat, drippings, and (optionally) the giblets to make gravy.
That will create something that tastes like turkey, and is not dried out.
Not as easy as a microwave burrito, but also not nearly as complicated as many recipes.
Perfect! Here is my tip that I have been doing for years - pull it out when the breast is 158. Throw it directly into a cooler and leave it in there for 3+ hours. I keep my wireless thermometer in just to monitor. It coasted to 165 and 4 hours later it was still at 138. Moist as can be. Bonus is that then the oven is free to cook up and warm all of the sides.
This is what my mother did. In her defense, she liked overcooked, dry poultry. “The gravy makes it moist”.
I learned the importance of resting the bird by accident. The first time I made turkey for the family, my brother was several hours late. And it was the best turkey I’d ever had. I realized the secret sauce was letting the thing rest.
I still can’t figure out why it took at least 5 or 6 hours when my grandmother cooked a turkey when mine were always done in less than 4 . . . in the, literally, same oven.
Yup, that would be the reason!
For 2024-
I’d like to add a tip that should help many people-- remove the wishbone BEFORE cooking. It makes carving the turkey sooo much easier. I do this with chickens as well. It really makes a difference.
If you have folks that like to make a wish, you can roast it along the turkey or cook it in the stock you’re making (from neck & giblets, etc), or however you want.
Huh. I just cut off the chunk of meat around the wishbone separately from taking slices of breast meat. I think if it as a little bonus.
I’ve never had a problem carving the turkey with the wishbone in it. Removing the thighs and drumsticks is more of a challenge, but still not particularly difficult – it simply requires a bit of dexterity that I’m not used to.
I’m doing this again this year but might make the brine a bit simpler as I don’t have apple juice on hand and am not making another stop at the store. Salted vegetable stock will have to do. In the pan will go some Chicken stock and maybe half a bottle of the sauvignon blanc as I’ve found the whole bottle is too much.
Not going to get a premade bird and never did get the rotisserie attachment, but I do have a new countertop roasting pan which will hopefully (knock on wood, fingers crossed) hold up through the holidays. I did make a to-do list with an actual itinerary on it to help me stay on track and keep pace. So far it’s worked.
I have switched from roasting the bird “laying down” to placing it vertically over a wire “cone” . The fat drains out better and the bottom is not all gross and greasy. I sprinkle salt on it and tie the wings and drumsticks around the body with butchers string too. Yum!
I have a roasting rack which holds the bird (or any other roast) above the pan drippings.
I’ve considered the vertical thing for a chicken, but i think the turkey is too large, and anyway, i plan to stuff it.
That is a great way too cook poultry, but we like the bird stuffed while cooking. I know it leads to erratic timing results, dry white meat, etc. but that’s to be expected around here, and the gravy takes care of that.
If you start with hot stuffing and use a thermometer, you should get reasonably uniform cooking and it’s possible to avoid overly dry meat.
NYT recently had an article about cooking a turkey upright, using of all things a Bundt cake pan. They claim it’s like beer-can chicken, and the drippings conveniently get collected in the bottom of the pan. I was interested, but not brave enough to actually try it.
Gift article:
That’s a neat idea for a small turkey that won’t be stuffed. Somehow, my household has an assortment of roasting pans, the largest of which was a “free gift” when we bought an expensive set of pots for a cousin’s wedding.
Many roasting pans have sides that are too high, and end up steaming the bird instead of roasting it. That leads to soggy skin. Mine is just a large rectangular pan with sides that are perhaps am inch and a half tall. I drop a roasting rack in the middle, and it’s good for any roast too large for my smaller pans. I guess i use it for turkey (we’ve roasted birds to to 25 pounds), goose, and as the pan holding the water bath for custards and flourless chocolate cake.
My unintentional triple salted turkey ended up working out great. I started with a “self basting” turkey, so injected with a salt solution. Then I dry brined it, so rubbed it with salt, which was all I meant to do, but by Wednesday it hadn’t thawed enough, so I soaked it in a wet brine. The turkey itself was definitely very seasoned, but not too salty, with a good texture and flavor.
I did not add any salt at all to the gravy made from the drippings, and it was a touch too salty, so I thinned it with some water and white wine, which helped, but it probably could have used another cup of unsalted chicken broth or something.
We will be doing three turkey meals in 2025. Our local grocery store had “points” for gas & groceries that could get you a free turkey. My gf’s ad agency is doing work for the chain, and my gf used her loyalty card to demonstrate things at a meeting. She ended up with enough points for 3 freebies.
I did 4 breasts, 2 legs and 2 thighs. I did two of the breasts in cooking bags in the oven and did the other two in crockpots. I stuck the legs and thighs in both the bags and crockpots. I put cut up onions, apples and celery under the breasts. I melted a couple of sticks of butter and stirred in onion & garlic powder, paprika, pepper, turkey seasoning, etc. Then I brushed the concoction on the meat. They all came out excellent.
Yup, what started as me trying a ‘side turkey’ in the smoker quickly became the main/only turkey as everyone liked it better with the added bonus of freeing up both space in the oven & the ability to cook the various sides at different temps than the turkey.
It does get brined for at least overnight if not two overnights & that becomes the only seasoning that it gets. Had some newcomers state is was the best turkey they’ve ever had; always moist & full of flavor. I didn’t even use any gravy until one of the leftover lunches on the weekend, mainly because she put some on.