Ingredients
1 turkey, any size
2 cups broth or water
Melted unsalted butter (optional, for basting)
Equipment
Roasting pan
Roasting rack
Turkey baster or spoon
Method
1. Prepare the Turkey for Roasting - About an hour before
roasting, take the turkey out of the fridge. Remove any packaging and
the bag of giblets (check in the body cavity and in the neck cavity).
Set the turkey breast-side up on the roasting rack and let it sit. This
takes the chill off the meat, which helps the meat cook faster and more
evenly, and it dries out the skin, which promotes browning and crisping.
2. Heat the Oven to 450°F - Position an oven rack in the
bottom third of your oven. If you brined your turkey, as we did, no need
to do anything now. If your turkey is straight out of the package, rub
it with some salt and pepper before putting it in the oven. We recommend
leaving your turkey un-stuffed and un-trussed, both because it's easier
and because the turkey will cook more evenly.
Optional Extras - Rub your turkey with butter or oil for a
richer flavor and browner skin, rub minced herbs or ground spices into
(or beneath) the skin for more flavor, place a few halved lemons or
garlic cloves inside the cavity of the turkey.
3. Roast the Turkey - Pour two cups of broth or water into the
roasting pan. Place the turkey in the oven and turn down the heat to
350°F. We're going for a breast-side up approach here. Some recipes
advocate starting the turkey breast-side down to shield the breast meat,
but the idea of flipping a hot, sputtering turkey is not our idea of a
good time. Instead, we like to shield the breast meat with foil toward
the end of cooking if it starts getting too browned.
4. Cooking Time - The rule of thumb for cooking a turkey is
13 minutes per pound.
So our 16-pound turkey should have taken about 3 hours and 45 minutes
to cook. However, some factors like brining the bird, cooking with an
empty (un-stuffed) cavity, and leaving the legs un-trussed will
contribute to much faster cooking. Plan on the 13-minute-per-pound rule,
but start checking the temperature of your turkey about halfway through
the scheduled cooking time to gauge how fast it's cooking.
5. Baste the Turkey - Every 45 minutes, remove the turkey from
the oven, close the oven door (don't let that heat out!), and baste the
turkey all over. To baste, tilt the pan and use a turkey baster or
spoon to scoop up the liquids and drizzle them on top of the turkey.
Basting with pan juices cools the surface of the turkey and slows down
cooking, which in turn keeps the breast meat cooking at close to the
same rate as the legs and thighs.
Optional Extra - In the last 45 minutes or so of cooking,
baste the turkey with melted butter or oil. This helps crisp up the skin
and turn it a beautiful deep golden brown.
5. Check the Temperature - To make sure that turkey is fully
cooked through and through, we like to check its temperature in three
places: the breast, the outer thigh, and the inside thigh (see photos
above). In every case, the meat should be at least 165°F. If any place
is under that temperature, put the turkey back in the oven for another
20 minutes. Shield the breast meat with foil if needed to keep it from
overcooking.
6. Rest the Turkey - Grab one side of the roasting rack with
an oven mitt and tilt the turkey so liquids inside the cavity run out
into the pan. (These juices are used to make the gravy.)
Then, lift the whole turkey (still on the rack) and transfer it to a
cutting board. Tent the turkey with aluminum foil and let it rest for at
least 30 minutes. This gives time for the meat to firm up and the
juices to be re-absorbed into the muscle tissue, making the turkey
easier to slice and taste juicier.
7. Carve the Turkey - Carve the turkey the same way you would carve a chicken
(click that link to see a video of the entire process of carving a
chicken): Remove the wings first, then the thighs, then the breast meat.
Once you have the meat off, you can separate the thighs into thighs and
drumsticks and carve the breast meat into individual slices.
That's all there is to it! Roasting a turkey is really just like
roasting a large chicken. The same methods and ideas apply. Even if you
don't get fancy with spices or special basting liquids, your turkey will
still turn out browned, moist, and flavorful.
One final note! Once you've sat down at the table, don't forget about
the turkey back on the counter. The leftover meat needs to be
refrigerated within two hours of cooking, after which the risk of
something nasty taking up residence starts to increase exponentially. Be
safe, kids!
