I am cooking a turkey any tips on making it?

Answer 1

Turkey tips....

A frozen turkey needs to be defrosted. The preferred method is to defrost it in the refrigerator. (Yes, the one filled with the rest of the holiday fare.) Allow one day per 5 pounds. A 15-pound turkey will require three days to defrost thoroughly. An alternate method is to defrost the bird in a cold water bath. Allow 30 minutes per pound. That 15-pound turkey will require only 7 1/2 hours to defrost using this approach. It is also possible to use a combination of these methods.

Now you are ready to prepare the turkey for roasting. First remove the giblets. This is a fundamental step not only because you might want to use them to make the gravy, but also because it is disconcerting to find these paper-wrapped lumps when carving. Next, rinse the bird inside and out. Pat dry with paper towels. If you are stuffing the bird, do so now with a freshly prepared dressing. Stuff loosely, allowing about 1/2 to 3/4 cup per pound of bird. Brush the skin with melted butter or oil. Tuck the drumsticks under the folds of skin or tie together with string. Lastly, insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh. The thermometer should point towards the body, and should not touch the bone.


Place the bird on a rack in a roasting pan, and into a preheated 350 degree F (175 degrees C) oven. Use the following chart to estimate the time required for baking.



Bake until the skin is a light golden color, and then cover loosely with a foil tent. During the last 45 minutes of baking, remove the foil tent to brown the skin. Basting is not necessary, but will promote even browning.


Weight of Bird Roasting Time (Unstuffed) Roasting Time (Stuffed)
10-18lbs
3-3.5 hrs. 3.75-4.5 hrs.
15-22lbs 3.5-4 hrs.
4.5-5 hrs.

22-24lbs 4-4.5 hrs. 5-5.5 hrs.
24-29lbs 4.5-5 hrs. 5.5-6.25 hrs.




The best test for doneness is the temperature of the meat, not the color of the skin. The turkey is done when the thigh meat reaches an internal temperature of 180 degrees F, and when the breast meat reaches an internal temperature of 170 degrees F. If your turkey has been stuffed, it is important to check the temperature of the dressing. The stuffing should be 165 degrees F. When the turkey is done, remove from the oven and allow to stand for 30 minutes.

Answer 2

Use the Turkey Size oven bags. Pull the timer out of the bird and use the guide on the bag. Don’t overcook! Follow instructions on the oven bag box! You can't go wrong and it cooks more quickly than the traditional way.

Start with a thawed turkey. Remove the giblet bag from the cavity. Check both cavities! Rinse the bird inside and out. Check the big cavity to see if the kidneys are still in there and stuck near the backbone. Pull them out and discard. Pat the bird dry with paper towels. Slather the skin with butter.

Sprinkle the cavity very liberally with Poultry Seasoning, Ground Sage, Salt and Pepper and a little Old Bay Seasoning.

I make the stuffing/dressing separately - so
Put 2 carrots, 2 celery sticks with the green tops, a half apple and a half onion in the cavity. Add a handful of parsley. Add a pat of butter.

Pour a can of vegetable broth (or turkey broth or chicken broth) in the cavity and inside the bag (once the turkey is in the bag).

Add the neck from the giblet packet to the cooking bag and put a few more pieces of carrot, celery, onion and apple around inside the bag. Chop and fry the rest of the giblets and use them in your stuffing/dressing or feed them to the dog/cat.

Seal up the bag and cook according to the guide on the bag. Cut the bag open at the last 30-minutes and slather the bird with more butter and let the skin crisp up. Check for doneness with a regular kitchen thermometer.

Note: sometime the bird will give off a lot of juices, if so, just carefully open the bag and remove some of the juices. Save them for the step below. Reseal the bag and continue cooking.

When bird is done, remove it from the bag put it on your serving tray and let it sit for about 15 - 20 minutes covered with foil and a few clean dishtowels before carving. Remove and discard the vegetables in the cavity.

When you cut the bag open, put a couple of cans of vegetable broth (or turkey broth or chicken broth) on the stove and simmer. Add the juices from the bag. Discard the vegetables and the neck bone. Skim the fat, adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning, bring to a boil, then thicken with cornstarch and you have the perfect gravy.

Save the carcass, any leftover meat, any leftover gravy and make soup the next day using this recipe:


Turkey Soup

2 quarts vegetable stock
1 turkey carcass
1 (10-ounce) box frozen mixed vegetables
1/2 cup rice
2 cups cooked turkey, cubed
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
2 teaspoons dried thyme
Salt and pepper, to taste

Combine the vegetable stock and the turkey carcass in a large soup pot over low heat and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 1 hour.

Add the remaining ingredients to the stock. Cover and simmer for an additional 20 minutes.

Remove the bones before serving.

Answer 3

Cover your turkey with cheesecloth soaked in melted butter or olive oil, and it will baste itself. Remove it during the last 30 minutes of baking to let the skin brown.
When your turkey is done, the juices will be clear and have no pink color, the meat will be fork-tender and the leg will move easily in the joint.
Let your turkey stand for 20 minutes after it's done to let the juices redistribute throughout the bird. This gives you time to make the gravy.
Insert a long-handled wooden spoon in each end of the turkey's cavity, and you'll have a good grip to transfer the turkey from the pan to the serving platter.

Butterball Turkey Talk Line: 800-BUTTERBALL
Reynolds Turkey Tips Hotline: [phone]
USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline: [phone]
Q&A page answers at: www.landolakes.com

Answer 4

Make sure it is defrosted. I believe it is 20 minutes for each lb.

I normally place mine inside a Reynolds Wrap turkey bag. It is really moist and super easy. (I did this last year for my first time cooking turkey and it was perfect).

Make sure you have a meat thermometer so you can make sure the temp is correct.

You can use the juice from the turkey to make a gravy. Either make a roux and add the juices to it, or put the juices in a pot and add some water and corn starch mixture to it and stir until it thickens and boils. (I prefer the roux method, but my mom uses corn startch and it always tastes good).

Answer 5

We like to de-bone a whole turkey, and tie it with string (buy the kind made for the oven)
you can season it with mustard, slat and pepper, or make a honey and rosemary mix, put all over the inside of the turkey before rolling it into a log and cooking..takes much less time to bake that way! and no yucky bones to pick at on the table.

Answer 6

My newlywed spouse and that i've got been information superhighway hosting a Thanksgiving the final couple years for our acquaintances at college that don't pass residing house for the holiday. We often initiate by potential of rubbing a butter/herb combination all around the poultry (some parsley, and regardless of your decision. Salt will draw out the moisture so don;t use that for the rub). do no longer be afraid to hide the element and get your hands in there. they are going to be slimy and coated in butter-that's stable. Then hide it with foil. the least perplexing way is to apply 2 sheets that meet interior the middle. once you pass to baste it, it quite is plenty greater trouble-free to open interior the middle-merely fold the sheets mutually as quickly as over. once you placed it into the oven, don;t shop messing with it. shop the floor juicy by potential of basting each and every 30-40 5 minutes. there will be juices from the turkey yet you will in all likelihood might desire to apply butter (melted) that replaced into left over from rubbing the turkey. while the floor starts to employer up/approximately one hour earlier finished cooking, take the foil off and anticipate the little pink button to pop or the right temp as measured interior the breast and faraway from the bones. We cook dinner the stuffing one by one yet my mom/grandma constantly cooked the stuffing interior the poultry. on occasion the stuffing soaks up the juices although. you are able to constantly use the leftover juices from cooking the poultry to characteristic to the stuffing for greater style. fat constantly tastes stable. merely ask Paula Dean. desire that facilitates. stable theory on the trial run. Oh ya-use a roaster pan, with an insert on the backside to strengthen the turkey off the backside

Answer 7

Use a Reynolds cooking bag and cover the top of the bird with bacon slices. The bacon will baste the bird with a wonderful smokey flavor.

Answer 8

i use the renyolds roasting bags. never had a dry turkey in over 18 years & the skin turns out great. It tells you the times with the bag and it can be stuffed or empty. EASY...No basting

Answer 9

Make sure to turn on the oven and set a timer.

Answer 10

I use a rotisary oven for my birds....I also use a meat injector and inject a little garlic butter into it.....very good...