Nancy's Method of Roasting a Turkey:
If you are a turkey roasting newbie, or if it’s been a while since you roasted one, there are a couple things to know about the bird you’re going to buy.
1). Commercial turkeys always come with a package of giblets (neck, heart, liver, and gizzards). Usually, you’ll find it in the cavity of the bird, but occasionally it’s hiding under the skin in the front part of the breast. Make sure to take the gizzard package out before you either stuff the bird or just pop it in the oven!
2). Most commercial turkeys come with a fancy plastic contraption that holds the legs together, which also goes inside the cavity of the bird and anchors to some of the bones on the inside. If you’re not going to use them to truss up the legs (and I don’t), remove this because I just can’t imagine cooking anything with plastic is good for you. Before they had those plastic contraptions, butcher’s string which is truly wonderful stuff, was a hot commodity at holiday time, and among other things it was used to truss up a bird so that when it was stuffed, the stuffing didn’t fall out.
Actually, I think the real reason they trussed birds is that somebody thought the turkey looked indecent with its legs spread wide and that it would be a much more elegant and “ladylike” presentation with its legs trussed. While that’s all well and good, and who doesn’t enjoy a Norman Rockwell- worthy presentation of a turkey, there is more than one important reason not to truss your bird!
Among other things, when you stuff a bird, you increase its density, and therefore you increase the cooking time. Trussing a bird also adds to the density by pulling everything in together and tight, which therefore increases the cooking time even more. Whereas if you allow the legs to do what they will (and it’s truly not unsightly), you will cut down on the cooking time!
At minimum, I always have at least a houseful of strapping young men (I'm the mother of four boys) and usually several other guests who join us for holidays, and so, when I roast a turkey, it’s the biggest one I can find; otherwise, there is absolutely no chance of leftovers! Because I always need a really big bird, by the time it’s stuffed, if I roast it using the traditional method of slow cooking, it would take right around nine hours to cook -and in my life, that’s just not a reasonable amount of time. The way I do it is not only faster, but the bird is both moist and beautiful. With that...
Ingredients:
- 1 20 pound turkey, stuffed
- 3 chicken bouillon cubes
- 1 inch water, for the bottom of the roasting pan
- The contents of the giblet package -which will be roasted in the water (Note: I don’t like liver, so I keep that out and give it to the hound dawgs as a treat, but do with it what you will)
Instructions:
-Preheat the oven to 450 ̊F.
-Place a rack in a large roasting pan (make sure the rack fits in the pan -one size does not fit all), then put approximately an inch of water in the bottom of the pan and place the chicken bouillon cubes in the water around the pan. As an aside, adding water does two things: 1). It prevents the bird from “spitting” all over your oven, which keeps it from smoking and making everything you bake or roast taste like smoke, and 2). It provides a really nice base for a rich gravy, particularly when combined with bouillon.
-Put the turkey on the rack, breast side up, and stuff it from both ends until you cannot possibly get any more stuffing in.
-Put the turkey in the oven and cook it for 1 hour at 450 ̊F.
-After the hour, turn the oven down to 400 ̊F and continue to bake until the turkey is done. This method should take the bird 10 minutes a pound to cook, so if you have a 20-pound bird (weight before being stuffed), it will take approximately 3-1⁄2 hours to cook.
There are several ways to know when a bird is done. I grew up hearing if you shake its leg and it jiggles, then it’s done. Or, if yours has a pop-up thermometer in its chest and it has popped up, that’s an easy tell. And of course, you can always check the breast with a meat thermometer. The best way to do that is by sliding the thermometer from the back of the breast down and towards the front of the bird, without touching any bones.
While the turkey is roasting, feel free to baste it a few times. Truth be told, the thing basting does best is to keep the stuffing moist. And as you're basting, you can keep an eye on the water level in the bottom of the pan and make sure it doesn’t evaporate. If you notice the level getting low, add some more water.
Once the bird is done, transfer it to a platter and, folding a piece of tinfoil in half, place it on top of the bird, allowing it to go halfway down on both sides and let it sit for half an hour before carving. This procedure is called "tenting". Do NOT take the foil all the way down to the platter. The point isn’t to have the bird completely enclosed, which would make it cook significantly more. Rather, you want to allow the bird to 'rest' for no less than half an hour, which makes it easier to carve and preserves its juices, thus keeping it moist and juicy.
While the bird is 'resting', you can make your gravy with the drippings from the bottom of the pan. See the Turkey Gravy blog for the recipe.
Remove the stuffing just before serving. Now, your flavorful roasted turkey is ready for carving. We know just the place for the perfect carving board.
Bon Appétit -and from all of us at JK Adams, we wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Author Note: Nancy Carey Johnson is a singer/songwriter and the award- winning author of Life is Good: Wit & Wisdom From A Vermont Homesteader and The Vermont Homesteader's Christmas Memories: Wit, Wisdom & Holiday Recipes. She lives in Poultney, Vermont with her three dogs, four cats and a flock of clucking Chickens, she is also the mother of four grown sons. In her spare time, she loves to garden and bake.
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