How is your Thanksgiving turkey cooked?

[Kitty 34]

If you cook it or someone else.....how do they prepare the bird?

I have always bought the oven bags and we cook it unstuffed in the oven in an aluminum pan. Has always worked for us and the turkey is usually quite moist.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Someone else cooks mine - either Wegmans or Boar's Head.

 

[VandVsmama]

I brine it the night before. Then it gets roasted in the oven, unstuffed, not in a roasting bag. Turns out fabulous every time.

 

[ronandannette]

If you cook it or someone else.....how do they prepare the bird?

I have always bought the oven bags and we cook it unstuffed in the oven in an aluminum pan. Has always worked for us and the turkey is usually quite moist.

Stuffed and roasted in a turkey bag set in a large roaster without the lid on. I've been doing it like that for decades and it's never failed me yet.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

If you cook it or someone else.....how do they prepare the bird?

I have always bought the oven bags and we cook it unstuffed in the oven in an aluminum pan. Has always worked for us and the turkey is usually quite moist.

I cook the turkey & stuffing the day before. Oil the breast, wrap in foil, and cook in oven. Uncover the breast the last 20 minutes to brown.

 

[Hikergirl]

Roast it upside down

 

[mom2rb]

We have a fried one and a smoked one.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I rarely season a bird the same way and through the decades have used a variety of cooking methods. Depends on my guest list, how many guests, and how adventurous I'm feeling.

One of my favorites when hosting a buffet is to debone the legs and fill with stuffing so they slice like a turkey roll/roulade. A hotel breast resting a top a bed of stuffing gives more dark meat as well as white. Removing the wishbone again allows for easier slicing. Nice for a family meal and a boon to those who have problems carving the roast (yes I'm talking about one of my BILs and the man) neatly.

Wet brined small turkeys (average weight 13 lbs) lets me cook two birds in the stove's oven and another in the microwave convection oven . After brining no matter what seasoning use I generally air dry the birds on a rack in a cooler for a few days so the skin will be crispy. Perfect when hosting 20 or more guests.

Making a turkey breast roulade is nice when the meal is traveling to another destination with limited plates and eating utensils. Then I stuff it with the side dishes as well as cornbread stuffing. Looks pretty when cut into.

Deep fried a bird once on a campground. One and done.

Did a turkducken once with a group of people. Never again, LOL. For starters I dislike cooking with people who stand around waiting for you to tell them what to do. Guess I'm really a kitchen loner.

Upside down, right side up, laying on it's side but I haven't basted a bird in donkey years since I learned to douse a few layers of cheesecloth in wine, stock, whatever and lay it atop the breast until almost the end. A foil triangle over each thigh keeps that area from browning too fast as well.

I tend to save oven space for sides and/or dessert and serve the bird(s) room temp or warmed over a heating tray tented with foil. Normally, all the meat is cooked by at least the day before so I always make sure the gravy is piping hot. Always somebody who wants the meat hot as well so I direct them to the paper plates and nuker that I moved out the kitchen into a corner of the dining room.

 

[Disneylover99]

Lately, I’ve been buying the prestuffed butterballs that you cook from frozen. I put the turkey in doubled up two disposable aluminum foil pans (in case there’s a hole in one of the pans) and tent the turkey with foil.

I stick the turkey in the oven at 325 degrees early in the morning and take it out at dinner time.

 

[Sabeking]

I brine it the night before. Then it gets roasted in the oven, unstuffed, not in a roasting bag. Turns out fabulous every time.

I have always wondered what brining does. Is it supposed to make it more moist?

 

[luvsJack]

Fried either in oil or in an oil less fryer. Always good. Always moist.

Since we have gone to needing two turkeys, we sometimes cook each one differently. Last year we did a Cajun boil. It was good that day but the leftovers weren’t.

This year I was thinking of roasting one and frying one but I have gotten so used to not needing my oven for a turkey that I really don’t want to deal with that. So in the fryer they shall go.

 

[LSUmiss]

We fry ours. Mil sometimes roasts one too b/c she like it.

 

[disneychrista]

By my mom.

I have tried twice and both times (two separate ovens) it just didn't work. Half the turkey was still under cooked/raw.

I did a turkey breast several years ago and that worked out okay. Just put it in the oven and cooked until done. I think I put onion and celery around the turkey but honestly don't remember.

 

[DuskKodesh]

I buy a whole breast and brine it in broth with onion, marjoram, sage, and thyme. Add some extra herbs under the skin with chopped garlic then butter the skin and roast it with carrots and celery holding it up absorbing the drippings. Never turned out bad.

 

[luvsJack]

There used to be a recipe that a lot of people used and I actually did it a few times. But I am pretty sure it’s taking a chance of the possibility of food borne illness. You had to do it the night before.

But you had to use a roaster with a tight lid. Salt the turkey well, put a whole apple, a quartered onion and a couple of stalks of celery in the cavity. Put the turkey in the roastter and put in some chicken broth. Heat your oven to 4:50 and cook the turkey for one hour. Then turn off the oven and do not open it. Leave the turkey over night and the next morning it was done.

The times I did it this way it turned out perfect. My sil still did her’s this way a couple of years ago. I stopped when my oven door got bent and even though it was repaired, I just had a fear of it not sealing well and the turkey not staying to temp.

Plus you have to take it out as soon as you get up and get it either back to temp or in the fridge.

Just a lot of variables that could make it not end well. But like I said, it was successful when I did it.

 

[VandVsmama]

I have always wondered what brining does. Is it supposed to make it more moist?

It definitely makes it more moist. I put salt and honey in mine, along with an orange, peppercorns, and some herbs.

 

[Carol_]

I realized one day that life is too short to eat something I don’t like that much... We’re having steak for Thanksgiving, and I’ll be far more grateful for it.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I have always wondered what brining does. Is it supposed to make it more moist?

Agreeing with @VandVsmama on the moister meat specifically white meat. Should you season the brine with more than sugar and salt it will also infuse it's flavor throughout the entire bird. The brined bird that I have to hide a bit of in advance to make sure I get some is this one:

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/brined-roast-turkey-with-pan-gravy-recipe-1941958
It's not a recipe to start spur of the moment as it has so many ingredients some of which the cost adds up on but when I know I'm doing it I start buying the seasonings months in advance. I never use grade A maple syrup always B since the brined is thrown away.

Otherwise it's simple stuff like a lemon or orange with thyme. Honey sounds like a nice addition.

 

[Sabeking]

Agreeing with @VandVsmama on the moister meat specifically white meat. Should you season the brine with more than sugar and salt it will also infuse it's flavor throughout the entire bird. The brined bird that I have to hide a bit of in advance to make sure I get some is this one:

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/brined-roast-turkey-with-pan-gravy-recipe-1941958
It's not a recipe to start spur of the moment as it has so many ingredients some of which the cost adds up on but when I know I'm doing it I start buying the seasonings months in advance. I never use grade A maple syrup always B since the brined is thrown away.

Otherwise it's simple stuff like a lemon or orange with thyme. Honey sounds like a nice addition.

Holy moly...that recipe is serious cooking. It sounds amazing though!

 

[Dan Murphy]

My son is a real gourmet firefighter. His cooking is unbelievable. Don't know where he learned it all.

He has spachcocked a turkey several years now, always wonderful. Amazing.

https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf...&ved=0ahUKEwjLz47C7vLlAhWDTt8KHfWLBw4Q4dUDCAs