For a crispy skinned perfect, whole bird, this method will give you spectacular results.
It took me a few years to master whole turkey; I succeeded to the point where my turkeys were requested for wedding receptions. And the identical method can be used with a Webber Kettle charcoal grill, with maple, and apple wood chunks, I have pictures that will be shown in a subsequent post,
Rub a herbed butter (compound butter) under the skin. Inject the breast, and thighs, all over with turkey broth made by boiling the liver, and giblets. The broth should be seasoned to taste with S&P, and powdered sage. and thyme.
If you like the turkey liver, and giblets, chop them up and add to yo9ur dressing/stuffing. If not, your dog will love them.
holder if you turkey came with one.
Preheat oven to 375' F.
Pace the turkey into a rack, and into your roaster. Truss the drumstick ends together, or use the plastic holder if your turkey came with one. Tuck the wing ends behind the back. Unless fulling the cavity with stuffing, Cut an onion, a lemon, and an orange into quarters. Add a few sprigs of thyme, and sage to the onion, and fruit. Push it into the turkey cavity to add wonderful aromatic flavor,
Place it all into you hot oven.
Press aluminum foil. shiny side out, over the breast before inserting the temperature probe. Cook the bird at 375' F. until a meat thermometer, inserted through the thickest par of the breast, with the tip resting nest to the thigh/body joint, reads 158 degrees. I use a meat thermometer that I can set an alarm when it reaches the correct temp. Figure about 14 minutes per pound. Remove the foil 30 minutes before the final temp. is reached.
When the bird reaches temp, remove from your oven. Let it rest 30 minutes before carving, to allow the meat juices to re-distribute through the meat,
Carve the bird by removing the whole breast halves, and slicing to desired thickness against the grain (sideways to the breast length).
Remove the thighs at the body joint. Remove the wings at the body joint.
There is really good meat on the back, right beside where the thigh, and wings attached, arguably, the best meat on the bird, Save these as cook's treat, and for someone special. There isn't a lot of it.
Cut the meat from the thigh bones and slice up for dark meat. Save all bones to make into soup, or turkey broth/stock.
Lay the meat slices onto a platter. I do it by sliding my knife under one, sliced breast half, an placing the whole batch to one side of the platter center.
Repeat with the other side. Place the dark meat on both sides, beside the breast halves. Place the drumsticks beside the dark meat. Place the wings beside the breasts, but at the other end. Garnish the platter with roasted sweet peppers, orange, and red, and maybe some flowering Kale.
If you stuffed you bird, the stuffing should be removed to an oven safe casserole dish, and baked to a temperature o5 160' F. as read with a thermometer.
Tip, basting does nothing to make the meat juicier. The skin acts as a seal. The basting juices simply roll off of the skin, and to the bottom of the roaster, Opening the oven door to baste only serves to lengthen the roasting time, not a good thing.
This will give you very juicy white, and dark meat, every time, no matter the size of the bird. It also works for Cornish game hens, whole chicken, and
capons.
Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
The turkey was eomoved from heat at 160' F. After thirty minutesresting time, this is what the thermometer read.
