How to roast a turkey

The other day I was telling a girlfriend about the three meals I'd cooked from an inexpensive turkey I bought (yippee for November turkey prices!). She was surprised that I fixed a turkey on a weekday; I was surprised that she'd never fixed a turkey. I can see how that might happen, though--lots of people travel to their parents' homes for holiday dinners, so they've never had occasion to cook a turkey themselves.

In talking with several people, I've learned that turkeys intimidate many cooks. We want to serve a turkey dinner that looks like this:

But we're afraid that we'll end up with a turkey dinner that looks like this one from Christmas Vacation:

Turkey is a tasty, economical meat, but it mystifies many cooks, so I thought I'd do a little Turkey 101 here. 

First, you must buy a turkey. A good rule of thumb is to purchase a bird that is 1 1/2 pounds per person (this will provide plenty of leftovers). So if you need to feed 8 people, you'll want a 12-pound bird. If you're just feeding your immediate family, you'll probably just have to buy the smallest whole turkey you can find. Any kind is fine—I've used fresh birds, frozen birds, even go-to-the-turkey-farm-and-choose-a-bird-from-the-flock birds. It's all good. If you select a frozen bird, thaw according to package directions (be sure to keep the bird cold while it's thawing, either by thawing it in the refrigerator over the course of several days or by thawing it in cool water). Remove the neck and the giblets from the bird.

The next step is simple, but it's absolutely crucial to producing the most flavorful, moist turkey: brine the turkey. You don't need a special brining mix or anything fancy. I simply run a quart of hot water in a clean cooler and mix in 1 cup or more of kosher salt and 1/2 cup of brown sugar. If I have orange juice in the fridge, I pour in some of that. You can add other spices if you like. The most important thing is the salt.

Mix everything together well to dissolve the salt and sugar, then add cold water (2-3 quarts should do it) and ice cubes. Now plop your turkey in. Add more ice water if needed to completely submerge turkey and close up the cooler.  For best results, you want it to soak at least 6-8 hours, but it's fine to soak it for a little longer: just keep adding ice if necessary to keep the turkey good and cold. I usually mix up the brining solution the night before I cook a turkey and let the bird soak overnight. (If you don't have a cooler that will hold your turkey, use a bucket or large pot and keep it in the refrigerator.)

Doesn't look too pretty while it's brining, does it?

When you're ready to cook your bird, remove all but one rack in your oven. Move that rack to the lowest position. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Yes, you read that right: you want to start cooking the bird at very high heat.

If you have a turkey roasting pan, now's the time to use it. Or you can use a large baking pan with a wire rack placed in it. Or you can use disposable roasting pans (you might want to use two stacked together, since the turkey is heavy). Believe me, you don't need to spend money on a special pan for cooking your turkey. If you like, spray the pan lightly with non-stick cooking spray.

Remove the turkey from the brine and drain all the briny solution from the bird.  Rinse with clean water  and pat dry with paper towels. (Be sure all the salty water runs out of the cavity of your turkey.) Rub the turkey liberally with oil (I prefer canola). Be sure to coat it all over. I do not recommend stuffing the turkey with anything. Place turkey, breast side up, in the roasting pan. Now, before you put the turkey in the oven, tear off a large sheet of aluminum foil. Fold it over so that you have a triple-thick sheet large enough to cover the top of the entire turkey breast. Place the foil on the turkey breast and use your hand to conform the foil to the shape of the turkey, creating a little foil tent, like this:


Now REMOVE the foil and set it aside; you'll use it a little later.  See how it holds its shape?

Put the turkey in your 500 degree oven and let it roast, completely uncovered, for 30 minutes.

While this part of the roasting is happening, dump out your brining solution and clean your cooler thoroughly. I use bleach to do this.

After 30 minutes, remove the turkey from the oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.  Here's how your turkey will look after just 30 minutes at 500 degrees:


Take your foil tent and carefully put it on the turkey breast. You've already formed it to just the right shape, so you should be able to simply lay it in place. Be careful not to burn yourself on the hot roasting pan. Now stick a meat thermometer right through the foil tent into the thickest part of the turkey breast and put the bird into the 350-degree oven.



Roast the turkey at 350 degrees until the thermometer registers 162 degrees. Depending on the size of your bird, this process will probably take about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. But you can't rely on your timer for this part. You do need one special piece of equipment: a meat thermometer (this is the one I have).* The meat thermometer is the only way to insure that your turkey is done enough without being overdone. (Note: The USDA recommends that you cook turkeys to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. I suggest you remove the turkey from the oven when your thermometer reaches 162 degrees. The internal temperature will continue to rise due to residual heat. If you allow the turkey to reach 165 degrees while it's still in the oven, it will probably reach 170 degrees after you remove it--and at that point, your turkey will be a bit overdone.)

I can't stress this enough: If you don't already have a meat thermometer, you'll want to buy one. There's no need to spend a fortune—some are really expensive, but I think that's unnecessary. 

Remove the roasting pan from the oven. Cover the turkey loosely with foil and allow to rest 15 minutes before carving. I allow mine to sit for 10 minutes, then I lift the turkey out of the roasting pan onto a cutting board or platter. Then I pour the pan drippings through a sieve into a sauce pan. I heat the drippings on the stove top to boiling. While the drippings are heating, I mix a couple of tablespoons of flour with a bit of water in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. When the drippings are bubbling merrily, I use a wire whisk to stir my flour-water mixture into the drippings. Ummmm. . . mouth-watering turkey gravy. A word of caution: if you brined your turkey, your pan drippings will be salty. Be sure to taste the gravy before adding any seasoning. If the gravy is too salty, add more water and cook to reduce. 

Click here for ideas for turkey leftovers!

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