Turkey review 101!

[kochh2]

Ok, so while it is all fresh in our heads, and since We will be cooking a 16lb-er on Sunday for Family that was not together on Thursday, lets talk turkey one more time... What did you do to the bird?? anything unusual, or wonderful??? lets share ideas so next year we can come and search for this thread and remember all the good thanksgiving ideas!!!
TIA!!

[bcky2]

my sister did a fresh turkey and it was AWESOME!!!!!! she brined it and then did a rub on it. we will never taste a turkey better then that one again in our lives :P

[LD92599]

We cooked the bird breast-side-down by accident. We did it a few years ago (also not realizing!) and it was very yummy & moist!!!

Laura
mom to William

LKibala @ optonline.net
[img]http://lilypie.com/baby3/030305/1/2/0/-5/.png

[brittone2]

Hi Holly ;)

We had a fresh free ranger that we brined (have heard that if the turkey is a Butterball type brining doesn't really matter or make much of a difference) in kosher salt and brown sugar. We let it dry in the fridge for a few hours before roasting.

I stuck pats of butter under the skin all over the turkey, and I stuffed some thyme and sage under the skin too. I cut up an onion and a peeled/cored apple and a handful of carrots and put that in the cavity. Seasoned the cavity with pepper (if you aren't brining some salt is good in there too).

I put foil over the wings which keeps them from getting overly dark. We did 500 degrees uncovered (except for the wing tips) for 30 mins, brushed melted butter over it at that time. Covered with two layers of foil (we never use foil other than for Thanksgiving) and left it that way for the rest of the time, basting w/ melted butter every 30 minutes (I couldn't fit my turkey pain in the oven front/back so I rotated left/right halfway through if that makes sense). The last 30 minutes we removed the foil.

We had a 15 lb turkey and it took right around 3 hours I think (unstuffed).

We've done turkeys for a few years now but this was our best yet :) I preprepped/ precooked a lot of the other dishes so it wasn't a big deal to do a few extra things for the turkey this year.

Have a great time :)

If you've never done a turkey before make sure you check the cavity in case there are giblets or other goodies hiding in there before you cook it :)

[newbelly2002]

What did we do? Ordered it from a local gourmet store cooked, stuffed, and delivered warm in its own packing case. Couldn't have asked for a better turkey :)

With 10 adults, 5 kids on the guest list, 22 weeks pregnant with twins, and in a country where I had to go to 7 different stores to find cranberries, it was the best decision I ever made! We made a shallot gravy that complimented it perfectly. In fact it was good enough that I'm thinking about making it a tradition.... :)


Paula
Mama to Dante, 8/02
And 2 sweet peas in an April pod

[mudder17]

Okay, so far it looks like I'm the only one who used a frozen turkey (13.5 pounds), but it was $0.39/pound, so I'm not complaining. If we had gotten a +18 pounder, it would have been $0.29/pound. :)

Anyway, not sure if I should participate, since this was my first turkey ever, but I have to say it was a pretty yummy turkey!

I basically used the recipe that Larissa (bostonmama) shared:

http://thanksgiving.allrecipes.com/az/RoastTurkeywithMapleHerbBu.asp

but I put 6 slices of bacon + maple syrup in the cavity. I also used more dried thyme and marjoram than the recipe actually called for. I rubbed the maple butter under the skin and on the outside, roasted for 35 minutes at 375-400, then cooked for most of the time at 325, but turned it up 350 for the last hour because we were running out of time! :P Oh, and I basted every 15-20 minutes, although I don't know if I needed to, especially if I kept the coooking temp at 325.

Next time I will put foil over the wing tips, I will start the turkey earlier so I can cook at 325 after the initial roasting. But this turkey was still really delicious and moist, so overall, it's an excellent recipe. I have to thank Larissa for pointing me towards this because it got lots of raves, plus people took some leftovers home, which is great for us! :) I'm very happy with my first turkey!


Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif for Leah
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif

http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/catcatcvi20040222_4_Kaya+is.png
Kaya's a cousin! 10/1/05, 5lb13oz

[omgrown]

I didn't do the turkey this year, but for the past 2 years I've done Thanksgiving and Xmas turkey's so I'm pretty well versed, although I make no claims to being the best ;-)
Anyway, I'm a firm believer in the turkey bag. The turkey cooks in about half the time (a plus for big birds, we usually have at least a 22lber), they stay super moist and juicy, its sort of self basting and it keeps all the drippings in the bag for the gravy. I also stuff the bird, which I know alot of people don't do, with a cornbread stuffing recipe I found a couple of years back and put lots of butter and herbs (usually rosemary and sage) under the skin. I also usually get a fresh natural turkey from a local farm that are always great. Not sure of my mom's secrets, but she's pretty traditional in her prep and her turkey was delicious as always.

[daisymommy]

Another happy Reynolds Turkey Bag user here :) I love how fast it cooks (mine was done in 2.5 hrs.)--so no getting up early on Thanksgiving morning just to stick the turkey in the oven.

It also always turns out nice and golden brown on the outside, very juicy and moist on the inside.

I rub mine with butter or olive oil, sprinkle with poultry seasoning, and that's it! Yummy!

btw...I usually buy a fresh Shady Brook Farms turkey. The frozen one's usually contain more nitrates and other salt than fresh ones.

[bostonsmama]

Yeah, what she said! I actually took a hint from Eileen's first post and roasted it at 415 degrees for 45 min (covered wings w/ foil) then knocked it down to 350 (b/c I forgot 325 was the ideal temp) for 2 hours then 325 for another hour & 20 min (at which point the pop-up timer went off, so we took it out). We basted it w/ fresh maple-sweetened chicken stock and minced fresh onion we put under the turkey every 35min. Our fresh 19lb turkey was so golden and beautiful and moist inside....just a hint of sweetness. We let it rest for 20 min so the juices returned to the meat before cutting into it. In addition to the recipe posted above, we put some herb stuffing inside that reached 160 and eventually 170 after letting it rest. It was very nice. The gravy was the best part. DH said it was the best I'd made in six years!

Larissa
who's gettin in the holiday mood
**Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh, hey!**

"Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imita

[kijip]

Eileen- we had rib roast (a huge treat) and my friends brought over a frozen turkey. It was great and moist. We ended up buying THREE Turkeys for the freezer since the sales were so low and $$ is tight with me unemployed (outside the home!). 23 cents a pound for 16-20 pounds birds! So less than $5 for a 20 pound bird. We will be eating a lot of turkey soup this winter. I am glad to know I have a hope of making a frozen turkey come out great since I am used to fresh. Off to take one out to cook sometime next week.

[kelly ann]

Boston Market did a mighty good job on our turkey this year :P

We could not cook it this year (I had surgery on Wednesday), but I would not hesitate to do the same next year.

[SeekerMage]

We had a frozen turkey...from last year (hubby got one as a xmas gift from work) and my dad as usual cooked it in the reynolds bag....it was sooo juicy, even the leftovers were juicy! I think that he salts the inside, stuffs it and rubs the outside with butter and then stuffs it in the bag and cooks it...I think he then opens up the bag and cooks it a few minutes outside the bag so the crust gets nice and crusty...but I could be wrong. I do know he makes sure to let it rest atleast 15 minutes...thats what helps keep the juices in...if you cut it too soon all the juice will run out. For being an "old frozen turkey" it was FANTASTIC! I definitely say do the bag!

[cmdunn1972]

We brined our turkey also.

We only had 4 of us (plus baby, who hasn't started eating meat yet since he has no teeth), so I bought a fresh young turkey that was under 10 pounds. I brined it overnight by placing the (unwrapped) turkey in a tall kitchen trash bag and pouring 2 gallons of water and 2 cups of kosher salt in it. After sealing the bag, I placed the whole thing in the roasting pan (sans rack) in the refrigerator overnight (almost like you would a marinade).

When it was ready to be cooked, I drained the bag and threw it out. (Brining draws out some of the blood in the turkey and I didn't want that sitting around my kitchen.) After stuffing the turkey, I put leftover fresh rosemary under the skin, tucked the wind tips under, and buttered the whole top of the bird so that it would brown nicely. I baked it in the roasting pan (with rack this time), uncovered, at the temperature listed on the directions on the package. During the last hour or so of cooking, I covered the bird with a loose tent of foil.

We ended up with a bird that was juicy and flavored lighly of salt and a hint of rosemary. :) (Apparently, soaking in salt water prior to cooking makes food taste less salty than putting salt on food after it's cooked so you only get a hint of salt flavor by brining.)

[bcky2]

you are 110% correct about the salt. it had just had that hint of salt to it. it was perfect. i need to find out what kind of rub she did on her turkey because it gave the bird some wonderful flavor :)