turkey
This is probably going to seem like a lame-ass post to most women and some men but here goes...
I've never made a whole turkey. The picture to the left is one I bought last year on sale and it's been sitting in my freezer for a long, long, long time. Since Thanksgiving is coming up here in the States and the consequent sales on Turkey, I decided it was time to roast the one from last year.
Since I've never done this before I've been consulting web sites as well as cookbooks so I don't screw it up.
Now I'm not going to do anything fancy--no marinade, not even basting for me.
And the roasting thing seems pretty damn simple. Just turn the oven on to 325f and leave it in there for 3.5 hours.
So I took the turkey (13.85 pounds, by the way) out of the freezer after work yesterday and it's been thawing ever since.
Tomorrow I'll put it in this roasting pan and hope for the best. Even though it seems simple, the idea of nearly 14 pounds of meat being cooked at once boggles my mind. That's enough to keep me fed for nearly a week!
And if this goes well, I have plenty of room in the freezer for two more, maybe 3, once turkey goes onto those really great sales the week before Thanksgiving. As I recall, I paid either$0.19 or $0.29 a pound for this bird. Under $5 in any case.
Feel free to give suggestions. It's my first time, y'know?
UPDATE: It's early Sunday afternoon now and the turkey is still too frozen to be roasted. Alas, I'll wait until tomorrow after work to do this. Since it appears that it'll be roasting for about 4 hours--it'll be a late dinner. For now, since I had the oven preheated and all, I'll just have a frozen pizza. Spinich and mushrooms. Yum.
I've never made a whole turkey. The picture to the left is one I bought last year on sale and it's been sitting in my freezer for a long, long, long time. Since Thanksgiving is coming up here in the States and the consequent sales on Turkey, I decided it was time to roast the one from last year.Since I've never done this before I've been consulting web sites as well as cookbooks so I don't screw it up.
Now I'm not going to do anything fancy--no marinade, not even basting for me.And the roasting thing seems pretty damn simple. Just turn the oven on to 325f and leave it in there for 3.5 hours.
So I took the turkey (13.85 pounds, by the way) out of the freezer after work yesterday and it's been thawing ever since.
Tomorrow I'll put it in this roasting pan and hope for the best. Even though it seems simple, the idea of nearly 14 pounds of meat being cooked at once boggles my mind. That's enough to keep me fed for nearly a week!And if this goes well, I have plenty of room in the freezer for two more, maybe 3, once turkey goes onto those really great sales the week before Thanksgiving. As I recall, I paid either$0.19 or $0.29 a pound for this bird. Under $5 in any case.
Feel free to give suggestions. It's my first time, y'know?
UPDATE: It's early Sunday afternoon now and the turkey is still too frozen to be roasted. Alas, I'll wait until tomorrow after work to do this. Since it appears that it'll be roasting for about 4 hours--it'll be a late dinner. For now, since I had the oven preheated and all, I'll just have a frozen pizza. Spinich and mushrooms. Yum.
Comments
Michele sent me!
10 - 12lb turkey 3¾ - 4 hours
12 - 14lb turkey 4 - 4¼ hours
14 - 16lb turkey 4¼ - 4½ hours
16 - 18lb turkey 4½ - 4¾ hours
18 - 20lb turkey 4¾ - 5 hours
- Start bird off at 400 degrees Fahrenheit (see temperature conversions) for 20 minutes then at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for the rest of the cooking time.
- Baste regularly.
- If breast and/or legs brown too quickly cover loosely with foil.
- To test to see if the turkey is cooked plunge a knife between the body and one of the legs.
- The juices should run clear with no hint of pink.
Good luck and hugsssssss
Phoenix, thanks for the advice. Yours is a lot more complete than what I saw on the website. I don't think I need quite that much cooking time though since I'm not going to have the turkey loaded with anything inside. I'm thinking of having a foil cover tenting over the entire turkey. I'll probably just refrigerate the legs to give to my girlfriend's dogs since I don't like dark meat on turkey.
Michele sent me!
Oh, and I don't use olive oil. The herbs under the skin are great, but then rub that baby all over, inside and out, with real butter - as least a half a pound. Be generous! Then sprinkle it all over, inside and out, with salt (kosher salt is preferred but not neccesary). You won't need to do as much basting and the drippings will make the best darn gravy you've ever had in your life. Do not, under ANY circumstances use margerine! Turkey roasting police will burst through your door and arrest you.
Enjoy.
Oh, and Michelle sent me!
Chris and Blond Girl, thanks for your suggestions. I have a lot of olive oil on hand and a couple of pounds of butter (I make honey butter a lot so there's always lots of butter on hand even tho I prefer the taste of margarine) and the kosher salt. I'll probably go with the butter over the olive oil since it'll probably stick better. I have an oven thermometer as well as one for meat so I should be okay in that regard.
Michele sent me :)
I may have to cook Thanksgiving dinner this year and I am thinkig ordering sounds like a great idea.
Here via Michele tonight :)
Start oven at 500 degrees, for one half hour to forty minutes.
Finish at 325 @ 20 min. per pound, whatever the poundage is---this was her rule of thumb.
I would worry about the
l-o-n-g time your turkey has been in the freezer. Personally, I wouldn't take any chances...a year seems too long to me, but...you know, better safe than sorry.
Hope this is helpful, and if not, my heart is in the right place.
I'll be back to find out how it went! Much Much Good Luck!
I do know that when the bird is finished off at 325, no basting was needed...
Now that I've confused you even more...Go With God!
Turkeys tend to be juicier if you cook them breast side down. If you need the browned skin over the breast (usually just for presentation) you are supposed to flip it back over for the final hour. After browning has set in it's a good idea to cover the legs and wings. And by all means, baste the poor guy (or girl as it's probably a hen). Even once an hour is better than not at all, though some swear you should do it every 30 minutes.
Good luck!
There's a type of pre-constructed frozen turkey in UK called 'butterball' or something which generally takes the anguish out of figuring out how to make it cook well and generally taste succulent. It may be cheating, but that the foundation I'd use for a good roast turkey.
I'll look forward to hearing the next chapter of this one!
rashbre
All I can say is - good luck!
Looking forward to nice piccies of browned crispy turkey with all the trimmings :-)
Here from you know where!
cq
yummmmmmmmmmm mushrooms and spinich :)
2) I think there's instructions right on the turkey? I can't remember because my husband has taken over the turkey making and I make the rest....
3) Love spinach & mushrooms- YUM!
4) Enjoy a varied blog- I'm officially a new groupie here- read several interesting posts and LOL at your sidebar poll! :D
I'm also cooking a turkey for the first time this year. We used to have big family things on my mother's side, at my grandmother's house, but since she went to a nursing home a couple years ago we haven't. So I decided I'd give it a whirl myself. My mom's family makes a rice-based stuffing (rather than traditional American bread-based stuffing) since they're Chinese. My other half of me is Jewish, so the Kosher salt sounds good too. :)
A whole year is an extreme amount of time to freeze a turkey. Hope it is not too dry. No matter, just a little bit of mashies and gravy will cover up a multitude of sins.
Oh, and to my 24 hour meme, I am NOT cruel! :-) Your comment did make me laugh, however!