i need help cooking my first turkey !!!?

Question

this is my first christmas away from home and i need help cooking my first turkey...its about 5-7 kgs (around 10 pounds i guess) i dont want it to be dry lol...so any help is appreciated !!!

Answer 1

Turkey with Herbes de Provence and Citrus is a great recipe i've made it twice and it came out great! the lemons, oranges, and onions inside the turkey lock in the moisture. follow the recipe on the link...

Answer 2

t's very important to plan your cooking time in advance, to make sure you get the bird in the oven early enough to cook it thoroughly. A large turkey can take several hours to cook properly.

How to check your bird is cooked
These cooking guidelines are only estimates; always check that the bird is properly cooked before serving, because eating undercooked turkey (or other poultry) could cause food poisoning.

These are the three main ways to tell if poultry is cooked:

the meat should be piping hot all the way through
when you cut into the thickest part of the meat, none of the meat should be pink
if juices run out when you pierce the turkey, or when you press the thigh, they should be clear

How long to cook
These cooking times are based on an unstuffed bird. It's better to cook your stuffing in a separate roasting tin, rather than inside the bird, so it will cook more easily and cooking guidelines will be more accurate. (If you cook your bird with the stuffing inside, you will need to allow extra time for the amount of stuffing and allow for the fact that it cooks more slowly.)

Remember some ovens, such as fan-assisted ovens, might cook the bird more quickly – check the manufacturer's handbook for your oven if you can. Always check that the meat is cooked thorougly before serving.

As a general guide, in an oven preheated to 180ºC (350ºF, Gas Mark 4):

for a turkey under 4.5kg, allow 45 minutes per kg plus 20 minutes
for a turkey weighing between 4.5kg and 6.5kg, allow 40 minutes per kg
for a turkey over 6.5kg, allow 35 minutes per kg
Tip: Cover your turkey with foil during cooking and uncover for the last 30 minutes to brown the skin. To stop the meat drying out, baste it every hour during cooking.


one thing my mum dose is to put bacon over the top of the turkey, cook it very slowly over night. in the morning cook fresh bread put the bacon from the turkey in the bread and enjoy. breakfast cooked as well

ps remember that a turkey is for xmas not for life!!!!

Answer 3

You thaw it out real good
wash it real good, remove the packet containing the innards
tuck under the wingtips
put some seasoned salt all over it
put a can of chicken broth in the pan
cook the bird@325 for 3.5 hours covered.
That is it. People mess up when they fail to properly defrost a bird or stuff it with messy dressing.
While you are baking the bird you can boil a package of turkey necks with them innards and make some killer dirty rice. Or you can remove the bird after cooking and add some bread to the juices and sauted veggies along with the boiled necks and make some dressing. While that dressing is getting all jiggy you can be carving the turkey .add back the pieces and cover the whole shebang till eating time.

Answer 4

I've cooked more than a few turkeys over the years, and eaten even more. I'd say at least half to two-thirds of them were way to dry.

I've found only one method of cooking a turkey so that it is consistently moist, and that method is brining.

Here is a recipe from Alton Brown's Good Eats that produces a moist tasty turkey every time.

Doc

Good Eats Roast Turkey
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey
For the brine:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1/2 tablespoon allspice berries
1/2 tablespoon candied ginger
1 gallon iced water
For the aromatics:
1 red apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
Canola oil

Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stockpot, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

Early on the day of cooking, (or late the night before) combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5-gallon bucket. Place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) for 6 hours. Turn turkey over once, half way through brining.

A few minutes before roasting, heat oven to 500 degrees. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes.

Remove bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard brine.

Place bird on roasting rack inside wide, low pan and pat dry with paper towels. Add steeped aromatics to cavity along with rosemary and sage. Tuck back wings and coat whole bird liberally with canola (or other neutral) oil.

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.

Answer 5

mmmm you could melt some butter on the side with some brown sugar or whatever you want to put on top of your turkey and with a knife stab the trurkey all around and when its in the oven and you keep checking on your turkey with the turkey squeezer squeeze the melted butter and brown sugar and it will keep your turkey nice and juicy.....mmmmmm

Answer 6

i am a single man and i put it in a reynolds oven bag according to the directions in the box of the bags.
always worked fine for me.

Answer 7

its gonna take forever to cook that

Answer 8

i always just throw it in the oven,put maximum heat reducing it time to time until its ready and it has always been fine!