I don’t make dry turkey. Crock Pot bird is just much moister.
BTW, put the breast in upside down, it works better
hainanese turkey? crock the parts on a bed of sliced ginger and 2-inch lengths of sliced leeks. crumble a cube of chicken buillon for every kilo of meat.
oh, i prefer thighs.
I’ve roasted turkeys in a roasting bag for years. (No, wait. I’ve been using roasting bags to cook turkeys, one turkey per bag, per year. Roasting a turkey for years in a cooking bag would not be good.) I went to my mom’s for Thanksgiving one year, and she decided to try a roasting bag because my turkeys always came out nice and moist. Somehow she got the bird into the bag breast side down. That was the moistest turkey breast ever! But no nice, crispy breast skin.
If ham is your thing, slow cookers are great for them. Just the two of us this year so we’re doing slow cooked ham with a bit of glaze.
Another idea might be to cook the turkey ahead of time and warm it on the big day. I’ve done this several times for family gatherings where I agreed to do the bird. I bring it all sliced up and we warm it at the hosting sibling’s house. Then the oven’s totally free for cooking or warming all the other components.
For more ideas, dig up one of Fifty-six’s threads on hosting a big dinner.
Came in to say what Ellen Cherry said. My mom’s been doing it this way for the past few years.
She cooks the turkey the weekend before, slices it up, and stores it in freezer bags with extra chicken broth thrown in. The chicken broth crystalizes and tenderizes the turkey while it freezes. It then gets heated up in the oven on Thanksgiving alongside everything else.
I’m guessing you could probably heat it up in a crock pot or 4, too.
If anyone has one of those turkey roaster thingummys, they work OK for roasting a turkey. I had to borrow one for a Thanksgiving once, and it worked as well as could be expected.
Diosa, they’re also pretty cheap. I mean, don’t go out and buy one just for this, especially if you’re not all that big on turkey, but they’re not hugely spendy. Some have additional inserts too to try to make them more useful - you can use them later as a big chafing dish sort of thing. Anyway, thought it worth a mention if someone was really sold on traditional roast turkey. You’ll note that I don’t have one of these myself.
The last two years I’ve done my turkey in one of these Countertop Ovens There are several brands available, and the price has come down to about $75.00 if you shop carefully.
I bought mine because the oven died the weekend before Thanksgiving. The turkey came out so good I would never do it any other way. And what a centerpiece for conversation as it roasted away looking beautiful on the countertop!
My landlord still hasn’t gotten around to replacing the oven, and I don’t particularly miss it. Christmas cookies are the only thing that hasn’t worked well in it.
Another option to consider is a charcoal grill. You can start the turkey in the oven or microwave and then move it to the grill when it’s time to start the other dishes.
As a non-lover, the taste of grilled turkey might just change your mind!
I like your idea, Sattua. I have one slow cooker; I’m considering making a sweet potato side dish in it. Got any suggestions?
ABWOP: There’s lots of listings in Google for putting a turkey breast in a slow cooker. And after what I read recently about water-bath cooking, I’m thinking the slow cooker would be more thorough.
So turkey breast, onion rings, and sliced sweet potatoes in the cooker. I like this plan.
I have a countertop roaster that works very well for turkey. It was not expensive, something like $20 to $25, and can hold an 18-20lb bird no problems. It’s mostly a set it and forget it deal as well, I’ve done two thanksgiving dinners with it, and several other birds throughout the year. This is the one I have.
I’ve got one of those, and last year we slow-cooked the turkey in it. Though none of the skin was crispy, all the meat was moist and tender enough to just fall off the bones. I got tons of compliments on it.
This year, we’re doing duck or something else not turkey, but may still employ the slow cooker. We’ll see what I end up deciding.