Roasting Turkey

[dockhl]

Sugarella~

OK, whew. I got my 'trial' turkey yesterday so next weekend we'll try this before the Big Day with all those people watching !

Stuffing sounds fussy but good---I'll let you know what the initial reaction is. (We all love stuffing but we'll see if my daughter can possible accept a new taste.....)

One question--are you roasting your turkey on a rack? You mention that the stuffing gets soaked when you stuff the turkey---how?

I feel like I am really being dense....sorry. Thanks for taking the time to organize so much info !

Kathy

[Sugarella]

Sugarella~

OK, whew. I got my 'trial' turkey yesterday so next weekend we'll try this before the Big Day with all those people watching !

Stuffing sounds fussy but good---I'll let you know what the initial reaction is. (We all love stuffing but we'll see if my daughter can possible accept a new taste.....)

One question--are you roasting your turkey on a rack? You mention that the stuffing gets soaked when you stuff the turkey---how?

I feel like I am really being dense....sorry. Thanks for taking the time to organize so much info !

Kathy

←

Hehehe.....if you got the turkey yesterday and you're making it next weekend it must be frozen..... frozen turkeys don't let go of as much liquid as the fresh ones do. But it'll still be good and you'll have a great turkey. I can't remember from the time I tried it with frozen exactly how much water was in the pan 1/2 way through but I do remember it seemed a lot less than all the times I've used a fresh turkey.

But with the fresh ones, using one of those large roasting pans, you'll end up with turkey water 1/2 way through cooking coming nearly all the way up to the top of the pan, so the cavity is full of water too. That's how the stuffing ends up soaked, initially. But the turkey water does re-absorb back into the bird and it doesn't leave the stuffing soggy, either. Somehow it all just works.

To stuff, be careful because the water is scalding hot and it'll splash back at you if you try to shove the stuffing in there too forcefully. I have 2 large flat wooden spoons I use to scoop the stuffing, then slide it down into the cavity, pressing gently to compact the stuffing as much as you can. It still takes me a good 15 or 20 minutes to stuff the bird this way because you have to go slow, but that's the only tricky part. I do also use the rack that came with the roasting pan.... it sits just barely above the pan bottom, but I don't think the height would make much of a difference.

Any more ???s just hollar, and no you're not dense. My middle name is dense.

My Thanksgiving for tomorrow got cancelled and I was supposed to do all this with my sister providing the bird, so I think I'll pick one up and make myself a turkey this weekend too. I already bought all the stuff for it.

[ianeccleston]

Is there an ideal size of turkey for roasting? i.e. does a 12 pound bird cook more evenly and yield a juicier, tastier product than a 20 pound bird? (I prefer roasting a 3 lb. chicken to a 6 pounder).

I'm considering roasting 2 12 pound turkeys instead of a 20 pounder, despite not having two ovens (well, I have two ovens available, but 3-4 city blocks separate the two)

Ian

[jackal10]

hi there

I know its a little early for thanks giving or xmas but recently i learnt to make a lovely chicken ballotine and wanted to know if anyone has made a turkey ballotine using the whole turkey? not just breast or leg

Tell us all  size of bird?  what stuffing? deboning technique? string? muslin? cheesecloth? roasting time? results?

Mainly asking as i be visiting my friends overseas this xmas and want to really wow them/ show off by making a really toffee nosed high class xmas dinner for them.

So what was the most amazing turkey dinner you had? what side dishes and veg accompanied the bird? etc etc looking for ideas to make them go

ooouhhh!!!! and arrrr....

←

My turducken is, in effect, a ballotine...

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=74407

[JPW]

Is there an ideal size of turkey for roasting?  i.e. does a 12 pound bird cook more evenly and yield a juicier, tastier product than a 20 pound bird?  (I prefer roasting a 3 lb. chicken to a 6 pounder).   

I'm considering roasting 2 12 pound turkeys instead of a 20 pounder, despite not having two ovens (well, I have two ovens available, but 3-4 city blocks separate the two)

Ian

←

Yes. Go with the 2 smaller birds.

[ianeccleston]

Is there an ideal size of turkey for roasting?  i.e. does a 12 pound bird cook more evenly and yield a juicier, tastier product than a 20 pound bird?  (I prefer roasting a 3 lb. chicken to a 6 pounder).   

I'm considering roasting 2 12 pound turkeys instead of a 20 pounder, despite not having two ovens (well, I have two ovens available, but 3-4 city blocks separate the two)

Ian

←

Yes. Go with the 2 smaller birds.

←

Thanks! Crap, now I have to figure out how to get two ovens going.

Say in the interest of keeping sane on Thanksgiving I go with the one larger bird. On other threads I heard mention of cooking at 250 with a 400 degree finish in the last hour for larger birds - has anyone had success with this?

Ian

[bronihk]

Say in the interest of keeping sane on Thanksgiving I go with the one larger bird. On other threads I heard mention of cooking at 250 with a 400 degree finish in the last hour for larger birds - has anyone had success with thi

I've done pretty large birds (20lbs) the past 4 or 5 years and used a high-heat method which literally halves the cooking time and have always gotten really positive feedback from guests...last year it was brined and high-heat roasted. although better, not significantly so.

what sort of luck have other people had with high-heat/shorter time?

[ianeccleston]

Say in the interest of keeping sane on Thanksgiving I go with the one larger bird. On other threads I heard mention of cooking at 250 with a 400 degree finish in the last hour for larger birds - has anyone had success with thi

I've done pretty large birds (20lbs) the past 4 or 5 years and used a high-heat method which literally halves the cooking time and have always gotten really positive feedback from guests...last year it was brined and high-heat roasted. although better, not significantly so.

what sort of luck have other people had with high-heat/shorter time?

←

How high? How long? Sounds interesting.

Ian

[kiliki]

Roasting at 450 works great for me-crispy skin, juicy meat (I do brine first). I can't remember exactly how long my 12-15 lb. birds take-I just keep the thermometer in-but I don't think it's ever taken more than two hours. This is the only way I've ever cooked a turkey and I get confused when I hear people (e.g. coworkers the other day) talk about having a turkey in the oven all day. Why would you do that?

Anyone else read Gourmet's turkey article this month? After much turkey testing the one they liked best was not adorned in any way-not even butter on the skin!-only high heat roasted with salt and pepper.

[Huevos del Toro]

I stumbled across ANOTHER turkey roasting technique. I’m a guest this year so won’t have an opportunity to try this.

It’s a high heat technique, fine tuned.

It appears Safeway perfected this technique. They claim you can roast a 10-22 pound turkey to perfection in 2 hours or less.

Roast in a 475°F preheated oven until the meat reaches 160°F

Let rest 30-45 minutes.

The detailed directions appear to be available only from a Safeway store (for obvious reasons).

This is the Washington Post article. You may have to register to access it, but it’s free.

I am a guest this year so won’t have an opportunity to try it. I’ll bet one or more of you will be curious enough to try it and report.

[fifi]

Be glad you aren't a guest so that you won't have to try it.

I saw the big display at my Randall's (owned by Safeway) and had to wonder. When I looked at it I was struck by an overwhelming feeling of deja vu. Here is the story:

I had just gotten the Barbara Kafka Roasting book and I figured that the turkey was the thing to try in preparation for Thanksgiving. I procured a bird about 14 pounds. Kafka says that it takes 2 hours at 500F for a 15 pounder so this is close enough for our purposes. I had calibrated my oven and left the thermometer in there just to be sure. It was huffing and puffing to get to 500 and peaked out at about 475. Following all Kafka directions to the letter in went the bird. Looking good for the first few minutes. Then all hell broke loose. Smoke is billowing. Smoke alarms are screaching. We open the windows to clear the smog. We are left with a largely inedible hunk of bird. The meat texture was just ok and the whole thing had this nasty taste of overheated fat. Needless to say, there was nothing useful for gravy in the bottom of the pan. I have no clue as to how Kafka got that golden bird that is pictured on the cover of the book. Several friends insisted that I had done something wrong. Kafka couldn't be wrong. So they tried it. They too lived with smoky smelling houses for a couple of weeks.

Epilogue: After trying several other recipes in the book, with similar results, the book has been relegated to the "ash heap" section of the bookcase. It only awaits an encounter with the appropriate PITA so that it can be gift wrapped and presented with an evil grin.

[Huevos del Toro]

Be glad you aren't a guest so that you won't have to try it.

I saw the big display at my Randall's (owned by Safeway) and had to wonder. When I looked at it I was struck by an overwhelming feeling of deja vu. Here is the story:

I had just gotten the Barbara Kafka Roasting book and I figured that the turkey was the thing to try in preparation for Thanksgiving. I procured a bird about 14 pounds. Kafka says that it takes 2 hours at 500F for a 15 pounder so this is close enough for our purposes. I had calibrated my oven and left the thermometer in there just to be sure. It was huffing and puffing to get to 500 and peaked out at about 475. Following all Kafka directions to the letter in went the bird. Looking good for the first few minutes. Then all hell broke loose. Smoke is billowing. Smoke alarms are screaching. We open the windows to clear the smog. We are left with a largely inedible hunk of bird. The meat texture was just ok and the whole thing had this nasty taste of overheated fat. Needless to say, there was nothing useful for gravy in the bottom of the pan. I have no clue as to how Kafka got that golden bird that is pictured on the cover of the book. Several friends insisted that I had done something wrong. Kafka couldn't be wrong. So they tried it. They too lived with smoky smelling houses for a couple of weeks.

Epilogue: After trying several other recipes in the book, with similar results, the book has been relegated to the "ash heap" section of the bookcase. It only awaits an encounter with the appropriate PITA so that it can be gift wrapped and presented with an evil grin.

←

Thanks fifi. If something as simple as that really worked it wouldn’t be a recent discovery. Suppose the Washington Post is shilling for Safeway? Say it isn’t so!

[melkor]

I don't see why it would be hard to roast a turkey at high temps, you'd just need to add stock from time to time so the bird and roasting pan stay moist. It'd be a huge pain in the ass, but I'm thinking about roasting 4 small turkeys for thanksgiving to see how this high-temp thing turns out. Two birds at high temp, two at low, one of each being a regular white turkey the other two being heritage breeds. I'm not sure I want to occupy both of my ovens for that much of the day and air-drying 4 birds seems like a giant hassle. We'll see.

[Pam R]

A picky person may tell me I'm steaming and not roasting my turkeys, but I do them at 400-425. Into a pan on a bed of vegetables AND a cup of water. Cover tightly with foil and roast. Results in a very moist turkey. The last 15 minutes or so the foil is removed and the skin browns up. (a 10 lb. turkey takes about 2 1/4 hours)

[Huevos del Toro]

This explains it a little more. Safeway pulled out of our area years ago but there's a Tom Thumb nearby and will have the printed directions. I suspect there IS some liquid in the roasting pan to keep the grease from smoking.

[fifi]

This explains it a little more. Safeway pulled out of our area years ago but there's a Tom Thumb nearby and will have the printed directions. I suspect there IS some liquid in the roasting pan to keep the grease from smoking.

←

I will take a look when I go into my store in the next couple of days. The addition of liquid seems it would help. However, I called a friend that tried the Kafka routine after I did. I also reread the instructions. Kafka doesn't put any liquid in the bottom of the pan. She also calls for a clean oven to mitigate smoke. My oven was self cleaning and I did that before trying the turkey. My friend says he remembers putting about a half inch of liquid (he thinks it was just water) in the bottom of the pan. While the water did cook away, it kept the burnt stuff down some. The turkey still smoked up the house, tasted like overheated fat and the drippings were inedible.

If anyone figures out how to make this work, please tell. I now count three of us, all pretty competent cooks, that couldn't get it to work.

[melkor]

Cooking anything in an oven full of burning grease isn't going to make it taste good... You'd need to add liquid throughout the cooking process, a half inch when the bird goes in the oven would be gone in short order. You've got other issues if your oven smells like its on fire when its simply running at 500*F. It'd almost certainly work in a good oven if you added a bit of stock every half hour or so, I'd probably also rotate the bird in the rack at the same time.

[Chris Amirault]

Dave, define "bit of stock." I always manage to add too little (so it just burns off) or too much (so that the bird steams). 1/4 c every 20 minutes? 1/2 c every 15? 1-2 T every five?!?

[lancastermike]

This explains it a little more. Safeway pulled out of our area years ago but there's a Tom Thumb nearby and will have the printed directions. I suspect there IS some liquid in the roasting pan to keep the grease from smoking.

←

I will take a look when I go into my store in the next couple of days. The addition of liquid seems it would help. However, I called a friend that tried the Kafka routine after I did. I also reread the instructions. Kafka doesn't put any liquid in the bottom of the pan. She also calls for a clean oven to mitigate smoke. My oven was self cleaning and I did that before trying the turkey. My friend says he remembers putting about a half inch of liquid (he thinks it was just water) in the bottom of the pan. While the water did cook away, it kept the burnt stuff down some. The turkey still smoked up the house, tasted like overheated fat and the drippings were inedible.

If anyone figures out how to make this work, please tell. I now count three of us, all pretty competent cooks, that couldn't get it to work.

←

Add me to your list. I too bought this book when it came out due to all the hype. All I ever got was lots and lots of smoke. I do usually start my chickens and turkey out at a higher temperture and than bring the temp down for alonger period. However, 475 to 500 just makes smoke at my house. Dumping liquid in the pan will stop this, BUT you are 100% right in saying Kafka says nothing at all about that.

The real solution is to just smoke that bird, however that is another thread

[fifi]

Or fry it.

It is done in an even shorter time but does take some equipment and know how.

[melkor]

Dave, define "bit of stock." I always manage to add too little (so it just burns off) or too much (so that the bird steams). 1/4 c every 20 minutes? 1/2 c every 15? 1-2 T every five?!?

←

I treat it the same was as making risotto - you want the pan to dry out enough to create a nice fond but you don't want it to burn. Try to add enough stock that you can make it 30 minutes without bad smells coming out of the oven. Opening the oven too often screws things up also. You need less stock each time you add it since the bird is going to contribute some fat and liquid as it cooks but you want to be sure the pan gets dry enough for a good fond to form at some point during the process.

[JSD]

Actually, I cooked a turkey this way about a month ago. I read the recipe in Julia Child's The Way to Cook (p 169) I had a 13 or 14 pound turkey which cooked in about 2 hours. The key, I guess is that after 30 minutes at 500, reduce the temp to 450, add a bunch of chopped vegetables, and two cups of water, which keeps the drippings from burning. It turned out great. I was surprised that it was as good as it was.

[fifi]

Ah ha! Water and added mass of the vegetables.

I think I will stick with smoking and frying, though. I have a long standing animosity toward turkey.

I am still curious about the original technique that started all of this. I will still check it out.

[JSD]

I think I will stick with smoking and frying, though. I have a long standing animosity toward turkey.

←

I had fried turkey last year. It was ok, but not better than this, and it was a little scary, what with the hot oil, propane burner and all, and way more expensive. Plus, someone had to stay there and make sure nothing bad happened, such as something or someone catching on fire, whereas I was relatively free while my turkey cooked.

Smoked turkey sounds really good, though.

[jsolomon]

Epilogue: After trying several other recipes in the book, with similar results, the book has been relegated to the "ash heap" section of the bookcase. It only awaits an encounter with the appropriate PITA so that it can be gift wrapped and presented with an evil grin.

←

Hunh. I love that book and use it regularly.