How to Make a Moist Thanksgiving Turkey with Roxanne Webber

Published on Thursday, November 5, 2009, by Meredith Arthur, Blake Smith, and Roxanne Webber / Edit Post

How to Make a Moist Thanksgiving Turkey with Roxanne Webber

By Meredith Arthur, Blake Smith, and Roxanne Webber

CHOW Associate Editor Roxanne Webber demonstrates the wrongs and rights of Thanksgiving turkey. She suggests that you give yourself plenty of time for the bird to defrost (at least three days for a 15-pound turkey), and that, while roasting, you check the temperature regularly with a meat thermometer.


More Thanksgiving Rights and Wrongs:
How to Time Your Thanksgiving Dinner
How to Make Thanksgiving Stuffing
How to Make a Flaky Thanksgiving Pie Crust
How to Store Your Thanksgiving Leftovers

You’re Doing It All Wrong is constructive criticism. Don’t take it the wrong way: Just learn the right way.

ALLYou're Doing It All Wrong
POST A COMMENT |5 Comments

COMMENT

  • No brine?! Savages. Butter under the skin is child's play (and unnecessary.) Once you try it with a brine, you'll never go back.

    Brine and remove at 155 (it continues cooking while it's resting...) I get rave reviews every year.

  • I brined my bird this year and sliced it the way Alton Brown suggests and it was the best turkey ever. The slicing method is to slice off the breast along the breast bone and then cut slices against the grain. Wonderful!

  • If you are basting your turkey, you are doing it all wrong. Not only do you add about twenty minutes to the cooking time each time you open the oven and baste, you are also ensuring that the skin comes out gummy and gooey, instead of nice and crispy.

    The most important points made here are: make sure the bird is thawed, don't stuff it, and cook it to temperature, not time. Turning it over,...+READ

    If you are basting your turkey, you are doing it all wrong. Not only do you add about twenty minutes to the cooking time each time you open the oven and baste, you are also ensuring that the skin comes out gummy and gooey, instead of nice and crispy.

    The most important points made here are: make sure the bird is thawed, don't stuff it, and cook it to temperature, not time. Turning it over, basting it and so on are just wastes of heat, time, and effort.-COLLAPSE

  • Not so sure what inverting would do for it, except to get more of the juices to fall toward the white meat.

    Rather than stuff under the skin with butter, I'd save that valuable space to stuff with herbs, and bard the turkey with sheets of back fat instead. Same net effect, but now the flavour of my herb mix is in the meat itself, and not just on the skin.

    I agree with not stuffing the bird with...+READ

    Not so sure what inverting would do for it, except to get more of the juices to fall toward the white meat.

    Rather than stuff under the skin with butter, I'd save that valuable space to stuff with herbs, and bard the turkey with sheets of back fat instead. Same net effect, but now the flavour of my herb mix is in the meat itself, and not just on the skin.

    I agree with not stuffing the bird with the stuffing as well, but rather using some of the drippings (that would normally go toward your gravy) to cook the stuffing stove-top. As suggested, stuffing the bird with aromatic ingredients is still a good idea.-COLLAPSE

  • I disagree about the basting. Constantly opening the oven door and letting out heat is only going to increase the amount of time required to fully cook the bird which will result in dryer meat. Keep the door closed.