A Little Personal History:
Thanksgiving is a great day for cooking. It’s all about family and being thankful for all we have. Considering the overtones of the day, the last thing you want is a dried, over/under cooked and flavorless Turkey. Here’s my tried and true approach that’s never failed me and always brings requests for my secret! The secret is out 
Description:
| Categories: | Holiday, Turkey |
| Servings: | 8 – 10 servings |
| Time: | Brining: 8 – 16 hours Preparation: 30 minutes Cooking: 2 – 5 hours (depending on weight) |
| Equipment: | Cutting board and knife, Meat or Turkey thermometer, roasting pan, aluminum foil, paper towels, baking string, basting brush, basting syringe |
| Difficulty: | Medium |
Ingredients:
- 8-10 lbs Fresh or Frozen Turkey
- Lars’s Turkey Marinade
- Lars’s Turkey Stock & Pan Gravy
- 1 red apple, sliced
- 1/2 onion, sliced
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 large orange, cut into 8ths
- 1 stalk celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 large carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 1 cup water
- 4 sprigs rosemary
- 6 leaves sage
- 1 cup Canola oil
Procedure:
Foil Tent Method
The traditional method of roasting turkey uses a foil tent of heavy duty aluminum foil to keep the turkey moist. Slow oven roasting ensures a roasted flavor.
Appearance—even golden brown and crisp exterior.
Advantage—often preferred for carving at the table.
- Night before cooking your Turkey make your Turkey stock, including giblets from Turkey cavity, and refrigerate in sealed container.
- While preparing your stock follow directions to brine your Turkey in Turkey marinade for 8-16 hours prior to beginning Step 3.
- Line a roasting pan, at least 2 inches deep, with heavy duty aluminum foil.
- Cavity Aromatics - On cutting board, slice fruit and vegetables as suggested. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, thyme, orange, celery, carrot bay leaves, and cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes to prepare aromatics. Set aside.
- At least 30 minutes prior to roasting, remove turkey from marinade and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard marinade. If necessary, return to refrigerator until ready to place in oven.
- When ready to start cooking your bird, preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Place turkey, breast side up, in foil-lined roasting pan and pat dry with paper towels.
- Add prepared aromatics to cavity along with rosemary and sage.
- Tuck back wings & legs, if necessary tie with string. Coat whole bird liberally with Canola, vegetable, or other neutral oil.
- Insert meat thermometer into inner thigh for whole turkey or into thickest part of breast for turkey breast (make sure thermometer doesn’t touch any bone).
- Making foil tent: Tear off a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil, crease foil crosswise through center. Place over turkey, leaving 1 inch between top of turkey and foil tent for heat circulation. Crimp foil onto long sides of pan to hold in place.
- Roast until meat thermometer reads 180 degrees degrees F for whole turkey, or 170 degrees to 175 degrees F for de-boned turkey breast. No part of the Turkey should be less than 165 degrees F.
- For every hour of roasting, use basting syringe to absorb turkey juices and baste top of turkey as necessary.
- To brown turkey, remove foil tent during last 1 1/2 hour of roasting time. During hourly juices basting, check texture and when turkey browns to your satisfaction, re-cover with foil tent as necessary.
- For easy slicing, cover turkey with foil and rest 15 minutes after removing from oven (a really sharp carving knife also helps!).
- While turkey is resting, make Turkey Pan Gravy. Note: Turkey Stock for gravy should already be made.
Advanced Preparation:
- Steps 1-4 should be done day prior to event. Steps 5 – 11 can be done morning of event. Do remaining steps dependent on how long your Turkey needs to roast. Pre-heat oven 30 minutes before placing Turkey in oven.
Tips, Notes, and Variations:
- Aromatics are NOT intended for consumption, just flavoring. You never want to risk an upset stomach or worse. If you wish a cavity stuffing for eating, while Turkey is resting, remove aromatics and replace with Apple, Cranberry and Apricot Stuffing.
- Let’s Talk Turkey - USDA.GOV
- Thanksgiving Turkey – Tips & Advice - some alternate viewpoints on “tenting”, “brining” & “trussing” with tips on carving.
- Check out this lifehacker article for tips and video on How to Properly Carve a Turkey
- Approximate roasting times are:
- 2-1/2 to 3 hours for 8 to 12 lb. turkey
- 3 to 4 hours for 12 to 16 lb. turkey
- Over 16 lb. you should seriously consider roasting a 2nd Turkey. If not, 4 to 4-1/2 hours for 16 to 20 lb. turkey; 4-1/2 to 5 hours for 20 to 24 lb. turkey.
