Turkey Tips?

[CuriousCat]

So a bunch of friends decided on a whim to celebrate (Canadian) Thanksgiving, and I'm partly in charge of the bird. I've roasted many a chicken, but never a turkey, and so would appreciate any guidelines re: prep and roasting.

Right now, I have a thawed 13.5lb turkey salting in a way-too-big ziploc bag* in my fridge ("dry" brining). I used a scant 3 TBS of very coarse sea salt. On Friday night, I'll remove the bag, slip some herbed butter under the skin, and let it air dry overnight in the fridge so that we can start cooking it Saturday.

I would love to hear your ideas on roasting temp (325?), covered vs. not, and stuffing in the bird vs. not. My inclinations are to do it at a constant temp (too scared to do super-high heat on this one), and to not cover it (except maybe put foil on the wingtips?).

*Seriously, this bag is airtight, but it's frickin' MASSIVE. It's one of the 40qt ziploc bags. (I didn't have time to find an appropriately-sized bag.) Do you think this will be a problem? I've sort of bunched it up so that there's not as much air space in there, but I'm still a bit worried. Should I transfer it to a smaller bag?

[CuriousCat]

To follow up: The turkey was lovely! After salting for 3 days, I let it air-dry uncovered in the fridge overnight. (There was still a good bit of liquid in the bag by the end of the 3 days, but no worries, we just tossed it and patted dry the bird as best we could.)

After letting it sit at room temp for 1.5 hours (didn't ice the breast this time), I brushed it with 1/4 cup of melted butter, popped it into a 425ºF oven for 30 mins, then down to 325ºF for the remainder of the cooking time. I wrapped the wing tips in foil after about an hour of cooking. I also didn't bother flipping it, the bird just sat in the v-rack the whole time, and we didn't baste. I covered the breast with foil for the last 30 mins of cooking (by then the meat was at the right temp, but the stuffing wasn't yet). We let it rest tented in foil for about 30 mins before carving.

By the way, the thermometers were driving me *crazy*. The oven-safe digital one that we stuck into the thigh read at 165ºF after ONE hour, which is impossible. We tried a metal probe in the breast, which read slightly lower, but still too high to be correct. I ended up sticking the digital one into the stuffing, and taking the bird out when the stuffing registered 160ºF (about 3.5 hours total time [including a lot of door-opening] for a 13.5 lb turkey), all the while checking sporadically with an insta-read. It was a fretful few hours for me. ;)

My friends really wanted to stuff the bird, so the meat was probably just the tiniest bit overcooked, but it was still really really good -- moist and flavourful. I somehow didn't get to try any of the skin (!) but it looked beautifully golden and I heard no complaints.

Thanks again to everyone for their help! This turned out so nicely and was so simple that I may even try to convert my turkey-hating mother this Christmas. Happy Thanksgiving!

[DMW]

I can't recommend the Cook's Illustrated technique more highly (don't have the book with me right now so can't be too specific...).

Basically brine (dry brining should be fine), air dry overnight in fridge, and roast using the turning technique - the bird spends part of its time with each leg up, maybe some time back side up (can't remember for sure as we deep fried last year), and finishes breast side up. The bird is not covered; can't remember if it is basted. The turkey has always come out amazing, tender, succulent, crispy skin.

Also, do not stuff the bird. Sans stuffing allows for more even cooking, and it takes much less time. We do oyster stuffing on the side - yum!

[biondanonima]

I just checked CI and they have several techniques on their site - the dry brine one, from 2006, calls for icing the breast while letting the rest of the turkey come to room temp for an hour after rinsing off the salt and drying the turkey. Then you brush all over with butter and roast breast down at 425 for 45 mins. Reduce oven temp to 325, flip bird onto its back and continue roasting until done. No further basting - they say that doing it at the beginning helps browning but thereafter it makes the skin soggy.

Other than the basting and the reduction in oven temp, this is what I do and it works great. I may try the lower temp this year as I tend to smoke up my apartment BIG TIME with the high heat method!

[CuriousCat]

Thanks to you both! I'm going to press HARD for them not to stuff the bird (someone else is handling the stuffing)... I figure you can always ladle some juices over the stuffing afterwards, it will almost be the same thing. I'm having a very entertaining mental diorama of myself struggling with flipping a hot bird. ;) Sounds like it's worth it though!

[fourunder]

If you like moist white meat, try roasting at a lower temperature of 225* for 5.5-6.0 hours based on the weight of your bird and the variables of your oven temperature.. Slow roasting at a lower temperature is the only way I ever do meats in the oven...whether it be beef, pork or turkey, and I've been doing it this way for well over a decade. To Brown the skin, just use some butter at the end and crank your oven up to 450-500* for 10-15 minutes and you will have perfect crispy skin.

Wet or Dry Brine your bird a day or two in advance..... let your bird air dry the last 24 hours....or during the dry brine period.....take your bird out of the refrigerator at least two hours before you place in the oven, to bring the bird as close to room temperature as possible.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/573117 ....a boneless idea

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/666948

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/6632... ....a two hour recipe

[CuriousCat]

Thanks fourunder! I've just recently started slow-roasting my chickens (around 275) and may never go back. My own apartment is ridiculously smoke-intolerant (crappy range fan, smoke detector *right* next to the range...), so I can't roast on high (or even med-high) heat. Thank goodness this turkey's being cooked at a friend's.

[biondanonima]

I dry-brined last year for the first time and it was a huge hit. I would suggest, however, NOT putting butter under the skin. From what I understand, the whole point of dry-brining and then air drying (in addition to getting the salt into the meat) is that they work together to get the skin SUPER dry, which results in crackling crisp skin. Introducing butter to the mix will just add moisture back and create skin that's less crispy. Of course, I am a wh*re for crispy skin (it's the only part of the turkey I eat, frankly), so if you're not as interested in that as I am you can surely use the butter!

I never baste or use butter and I've never turned out a dry bird. I use a constant heat, high heat method and it works like a charm. I also don't truss - it allows more of the skin around the legs and thighs to get crisp that way. I do ice the breast before I put it in the oven but I'm not sure it really does anything to help the turkey!

[CuriousCat]

Thanks, I was a bit confused about the butter part, esp. with regard to basting. I'm really not keen on doing high-heat this time (maybe on subsequent turkeys!), do you have any ideas about basting when it goes in at a lower heat?

[biondanonima]

IMO basting in general is going to contribute to soggy skin - you're introducing water to something that you really want dry. Butter will aid in browning, but not necessarily crisping the skin. I also don't believe that basting does ANYTHING to keep the meat moist, but everyone has their own suspicions - for instance, I start my turkey roasting breast down because I feel like it helps the breast cook slower and retain more moisture (but I have no proof!).

Anyway, if you don't want to do straight up high heat this time, do a combined method - Alton Brown recommends 30 mins at 500 degrees and then down to 350 for the remaining time. You have to have at least SOME high heat involved to get that awesome skin!

[CuriousCat]

Yes, I think I read in CI (or ATK?) that basting didn't seem to have any effect on the moistness of the meat when roasting chicken. I assume it will be the same for turkey. I might rub some butter on at the start, but I think I'll skip basting (less work is good!).

Do you get a lot of smoke with the 30 mins at 500? We're making this bird at a friend's house, so I might have to see how good her range is. Thanks again!

[biondanonima]

Oh yes, TONS of smoke. That is the one drawback - well, that and the fact that you can't really cook anything else in your oven while you're doing the turkey unless it too needs to be cooked at 450. I have to make up a very elaborate chart with timings so I can get everything cooked either before the bird goes in or while it's resting.

Oh, speaking of resting - as I said, I am all about the crispy skin. If the turkey rests on a board, the skin it's sitting on (typically its back) WILL get soggy. So, I either find a way to make it sit upright (a la beer can chicken), or I peel off the skin from the back before I sit the bird down. If it gets cold it can be rewarmed/recrisped in the oven, but it doesn't usually last that long at my house! :)

[CuriousCat]

Spreadsheets for Thanksgiving kitchen-usage! Love it.

Sorry, to clarify: does it smoke even during the first 30 mins? If so, I might have to stick with a constant lower heat... there'll be a bunch of us hanging out in the kitchen, so plumes of smoke probably won't be appreciated.

[biondanonima]

As I recall, the smoking doesn't start until a bit later. You want to make sure to start with a VERY clean oven - in my case, the first year my oven was dirty and the smoke was REALLY bad because all of the old junk was burning along with the new grease. Putting a layer of sliced potatoes or other vegetables in the bottom of your roasting pan will help (they'll soak up the grease so it splatters less and doesn't burn), but if you want drippings you're out of luck.

[wattacetti]

Canadian Thanksgiving is Monday so either you're doing it early or you're attempting turkey jerky.

I generally roast unstuffed at 325-350ºF covered for first portion of cooking primarily to prevent burn on the skin (which it can); wingtips stay foil-wrapped until last hour of cooking. I have also glove-boned and stuffed a turkey, though that one roasts pretty much the same way as an unstuffed one.

Haven't dry-brined but I do roast in a moist oven (pan of water).

[CuriousCat]

Yes, we're eating Sat night! ;)