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Turkey! The star of the show, kinda.  I love the big beautiful golden turkey at Thanksgiving, but for me the star of the show is the sides.  But, we are talking about turkey.  It is really not that hard-it just looks hard and takes some time. A couple things to remember is to put your frozen turkey in the fridge to thaw on MONDAY. Yes, it takes that long to thaw.  Then the next thing to remember is to let your turkey come to room temperature before you put it in the oven.  Put in on your counter about 2 HOURS prior to putting it in the oven.  If you follow those two tips you are way ahead of the game and the chances of your turkey coming out of that oven perfect are pretty high!
A couple other side notes…. keep an eye on the bottom of the roasting pan. You want liquid in the pan at all times, but you don’t want it overflowing or you will steam your turkey instead of roasting. And you also want to make sure that all the liquid has not evaporated otherwise all the drippings will burn and you want those drippings for the gravy!  Another note is to make sure that you have those wings tucked and the legs tied so they do not burn.
Oh and another thing-take that stupid pop up timer OUT of the bird before you start to roast.  Use your instant read thermometer. Put in the thickest part of the thigh without touching any bone. Look for a temp of 160 degrees to 165 degrees.  Once it hits that temp remove it from the oven and drape foil over top loosely and let rest for about an HOUR.
So, if you look at the timeline you need to pull the turkey out of the fridge 1 1/2-2 hours before you start cooking. Then it will take about 2 1/2 hours to cook then you need 1 hour to rest. That is 5-6 hours you need before you eat.  So… be sure and plan to eat about 6 hours AFTER you start.  This is one reason we eat dinner at 7pm at night.  I do not want to get up at the crack of dawn to start cooking.
Enjoy and please let me know if you have any questions!
Happy Thanksgiving!
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Roasted Turkey

Delicious juicy whole roasted turkey!


Servings 8

Ingredients

  • 1 12-14lb. Turkey, thawed (giblets removed)
  • 3 Sticks Butter, room temperature
  • 1 Bottle White wine-any white wine will do
  • 1 Bunch of each-rosemary, sage, thyme (chop half for butter mixture and keep the other half whole for the cavity of the bird)
  • 1 Onion-quartered
  • 1 Carrot-cut into chunks
  • 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons Black pepper
  • 1 cheesecloth
  • cooking twine

Instructions

  1. Rinse turkey with water and pat dry. Remove pop up timer. If it has a plastic ring tying the legs together leave it alone-that saves you a step. Let it come to room temperature-about 2 hours. This will allow for even cooking.


  2. Heat oven to 450 degrees

  3. In a small bowl, mix 1 stick of room temperature butter with chopped herbs.


  4. Combine remaining sticks of butter and wine in a saucepan on the stove over medium heat.

  5. Place the turkey with the breast up in a roasting pan with a rack.

    Loosen the skin of the bird and place the butter/herb mixture under the skin all over the bird.

    Sprinkle salt and pepper over entire turkey. Stuff the cavity with onion, carrot and whole herbs.

    Tie the legs together with the twine and bend the wings under the bird.

    Fold the cheesecloth to make a 12"x12" square. Drape it over the breast of the bird, covering as much of the legs as you can.

  6. Spoon half of the wine/butter mixture over the cheesecloth-drenching it!

    Place the turkey in the oven, legs first if possible. Roast for 30 minutes. Baste with wine/butter mixture.

  7. Reduce oven temperature to 350°

  8. Continue to roast for 2 1/2 hours, basting every 30 minutes.

  9. Remove cheesecloth and roast for another 30 minutes to one hour or until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the leg reaches 165°.

  10. Let turkey rest 1 hour before carving.

Needed Items