How can you make a good turkey?

Answer 1

Just made a Turkey Breast tonight!

I use oven bags to cook Turkey. It takes less time, much JUICER and FLAVORFUL!!!
http://www.alcoa.com/reynoldskitchens/en/product.asp?cat_id=1337&prod_id=1790

Herb Roasted Holiday Turkey
http://www.alcoa.com/reynoldskitchens/en/recipes/product_recipe_search.asp?Step=ShowRecipe&RecipeID=906&parent_info_page_id=744&info_page_id=745&prod_id=1790&cat_id=1337
Herb Roasted Turkey & Gravy
http://www.alcoa.com/reynoldskitchens/en/recipes/product_recipe_search.asp?Step=ShowRecipe&RecipeID=1072&parent_info_page_id=744&info_page_id=745&prod_id=1790&cat_id=1337
Thanksgiving Turkey
http://www.alcoa.com/reynoldskitchens/en/recipes/product_recipe_search.asp?Step=ShowRecipe&RecipeID=689&parent_info_page_id=744&info_page_id=745&prod_id=1790&cat_id=1337
Turkey with Sausage & Cornbread Stuffing
http://www.alcoa.com/reynoldskitchens/en/recipes/product_recipe_search.asp?Step=ShowRecipe&RecipeID=1004&parent_info_page_id=744&info_page_id=745&prod_id=1790&cat_id=1337

Answer 2

Personally, I like turkey that has been cooked sooo long that it is really tender. So for Thanksgiving, we prep it the night before. Fave is organic but natural is o.k. too. Wash the turkey off, get giblets out. Put in stainless steele turkey pan and add some water so it won't stick. Put the lid on. Cook on 350, start at about 8 am and ready by 1 or 2 pm. Add onions & celery at about the 1/2 way point. Flip turkey over if possible at about the 5 hour point. (about a 12 lb turkey) And at about noon, put giblets into water and boil so you can make cornbread dressing to go w/ it.

Answer 3

Try roasting it in the oven at 375 degrees for thirty five minutes per pound. Rub the skin well with butter and salt and garlic powder. When you roast it, roast the turkey upside down. with the breast pointing down. This allows all the juices to drain into the breast, therefore making it very juicy and tender. Make sure to baste it often. If you wish you can add vegetables such as celery, onions and carrots into the pan with the turkey for added flavour.
Hope this helps!

Answer 4

I prefer to brine a turkey for the 24 hours prior to cooking it. The brine plumps the turkey with liquid and pretty much ensures you have a nice moist bird. You can find lots of recipes for the brine solution by doing a web search- the formula I usually use calls for 1 cup of kosher salt dissolved in 1 gallon of water. To this you can add whatever spices you like, even orange or lemon slices, and 1/2 cup of dark brown sugar.
Clean the bird and remove the giblets or gravy bag. Place the turkey in a large container- ziplock bag if small enough, or a large non-reactive pot work fine. I did a 20 pounder two years ago, and brined it in a cooler box, since that's the only thing I had to fit- and added ice periodically to keep it cold.
Next day you take the bird out of the brine and dry it well. Don't stuff a brined bird, as the stuffing will just get soaked and end up way too salty. You can rub your spices under the skin and over the bird- just use a rub without salt. Poulty seasoning mix works fine, and they usually have a turkey rub out around the holidays that works well too. I roast my birds breast side down until it is almost done. This way the fat drains down over the breast meat and it is shielded some from the oven heat. That helps avoid it overcooking and getting dried out while you wait for the rest of the bird to get done. About an hour before I judge the bird will be done, I flip it over so skin gets crispy and browned. I don't try to be neat with this, I wear two oven mitts and just grab the stupid thing and flip it. The mitts wash, and I don't end up with flying turkey trying to use those strings or other implements.
I roast the turkey at 325F, turning up the heat to 350 right at the end to finish browning and crisping. Most turkeys have a chart on them that give rough gestimates as to the time needed to roast at this temperature, and how long will depend on how big your bird actually is. Use a thermometer inserted in the thigh to take the temperature, though- don't depend on those silly pop-up timers. They are never accurate and you usually end up either way over cooked or undercooked. I pull my birds at 160, and they actually will continue to cook during the resting time waiting to be carved. You can end up with lots of drippings depending on how much water the turkey actually soaked up and ended up holding, and it makes a good gravy base. I don't bother to baste the brined birds, as it isn't needed. They baste themselves.
Be sure to let the turkey sit for a good 30 minutes when you take it out of the oven. You can cover it with foil to keep warm, meantime. This will let the juices get back into the meat. If you cut into it too soon, all of it will just run out, and the turkey will be drier than if you waited.
Fresh birds tend to taste a little better than frozen, though they are usually more expensive. We had a "free range" bird two years ago that was really tasty- but hard to locate in some areas. The advantage in a fresh bird is that they haven't tried to do any kind of "improvements", adding flavor injections and such. I personally think Butterball should change their name to "Lardball". If frozen is your only option, or the best for you- get one that hasn't been "improved" upon. They are usually cheaper anyway. I also stay away from smoked turkeys, as I find them dry and having a funny chemical taste, rather than a smoked one.
Bon Apetite had a good selection of brine recipes and ideas on their website recipe files, if you would like to try the method and want other spice options. I've cooked a lot of turkeys in the past 20 or so years, and I have to say, brined birds are the best.

Answer 5

Fry it, Inject it with seasoning and then cook it in a Reynolds Turkey Bag so it stays really moist. make sure that if you don't put stuffing inside the cavaity of the bird then put your seasonings in there so it will infuse all throughout the turkey. Yummy

Answer 6

Last time I made turkey I cooked it in the rotisserie,
I stuffed with nuts and cranberries, then cooked it till it was just done, 160 degrees I think. I coated it with roasting spices, coarse salt, caraway and pepper.
Yummy

Answer 7

Here is an excellent Turkey cooking resource! :)

http://www.eatturkey.com/