By ShowMeStepByStepPublished
Based on a video by Downshiftology.
A whole turkey looks like the hardest thing on the Thanksgiving table. It is actually the most forgiving thing on it. The oven does the work, and there are only two real ways to ruin it: pulling it out too late, or forgetting to dry the skin.
This method skips brining and skips basting. Herb butter goes under the skin instead, which is what keeps the breast meat from drying out. The oven stays at one temperature the whole way through. No starting hot and dropping down, no opening the door every half hour.
Downshiftology roasted a 13.5 pound bird here. The method scales to whatever size you bought - you need more or less butter, and the timing changes. Everything else stays the same.
Roast at 325F and count on about 15 minutes per pound for an unstuffed bird. Pull it when the thickest part of the breast or thigh reads 158 to 160F. It climbs to 165F on its own while it rests.
| Turkey weight | Roasting time at 325F | Thaw time in the fridge |
|---|---|---|
| 10 lb | 2 hr 30 min | 2 days |
| 12 lb | 3 hr | 2.5 days |
| 14 lb | 3 hr 30 min | 3 days |
| 16 lb | 4 hr | 3.5 days |
| 18 lb | 4 hr 30 min | 4 days |
| 20 lb | 5 hr | 4 days |
| 22 lb | 5 hr 30 min | 4.5 days |
| 24 lb | 6 hr | 5 days |
If you wait until the thermometer reads 165F in the oven, you have overshot. Carryover cooking takes it well past that on the counter, and dry breast meat is the result.
One pound per person, or a pound and a half if you want leftovers. Most people want leftovers.
Buy it at least a week ahead and keep it frozen, then move it to the fridge two to four days out. Thawing runs about 24 hours per 5 pounds. Picking up a frozen turkey the day before Thanksgiving is the most common way this whole thing goes wrong: a 16 pound bird needs three and a half days in the fridge, and no amount of counter time fixes that safely.
Not for this recipe. Brining is insurance against dry breast meat, and the herb butter under the skin is doing that job here.
If you already brine and you like how it turns out, keep going. Cut the salt in the herb butter back and skip salting the cavity, or the finished bird will be too salty.
A roasting pan, a thermometer, and a sharp knife. The disposable foil pan from the grocery store is fine. A rack is handy but not required, because a bed of chopped vegetables lifts the bird the same way and flavors the drippings while it does it.
The thermometer is the part to not skip. Instant-read, probe, leave-in, any of them will do. Roasting a turkey on time alone is guesswork.
Rest it 30 minutes first. Cutting into a hot bird dumps the juice onto your board instead of leaving it in the meat.
Legs come off first. Cut through the skin between the leg and the body, pull the leg flat, push up on the joint from underneath, then cut around it and lift the whole leg and thigh away. Repeat on the other side.
For the breasts, run long strokes down either side of the breastbone and use your thumb to ease the meat outward as your knife reaches the bottom. Wings last, straight through the joint. Then slice the breast against the grain so every piece keeps a strip of skin on it.
Those drippings in the bottom of the roasting pan are the start of your gravy, so do not tip them down the sink. And cook your stuffing in a casserole dish rather than inside the bird - packing the cavity slows the roast down and pushes your timing out.
The turkey is one dish on a table of them. Here is the rest of the plate:
10 steps · about 13 minutes.Check off each step as you go and your progress saves automatically.
Reach into the neck cavity and pull out the packet of giblets. Then check the large body cavity at the other end, where the neck usually sits. Trim off any loose skin around the neck opening, and the tail if it is still attached.
Check both ends twice. Finding a paper packet of giblets after three hours of roasting is a bad moment.
Tip
Save the giblets and neck if you want to build a stock for gravy. Otherwise bin them.
Salt and pepper the inside of the bird generously, then cut one onion and one lemon into wedges and push them into the cavity.
If your turkey is on the smaller side and the onion will not all fit, scatter what is left in the roasting pan. It does the same job down there.
Add a few sprigs of rosemary, sage and thyme to the cavity alongside the onion and lemon. They steam as the bird roasts and push flavor and moisture up into the meat.
Keep the cavity loose. Stuffing does not go in here - a packed cavity slows the roast and can add an hour or more to your timing.
Tip
Sage is good inside the bird but strong enough to bully the herb butter, so leave it out of the butter mix.
Put three quarters of a cup of softened butter in a bowl. Add a tablespoon each of finely chopped rosemary and thyme, six or seven minced garlic cloves, and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
Mash it with a fork until the herbs run all the way through. Chop them finer than feels necessary - big pieces sit in clumps under the skin instead of spreading out.
Tip
The butter has to be at room temperature. Cold butter tears the skin when you try to push it underneath.
Take a few paper towels and dry the whole outside of the bird. Going from the fridge to room temperature leaves beads of moisture sitting on the skin.
This is the step that decides whether the skin comes out golden and crisp or pale and rubbery. Wet skin steams. Dry skin browns.
Slide your fingers between the skin and the breast meat, then work them back slowly until the skin is free all the way over the top of the breast.
Use your hands, not a knife or a spatula. A tear here means the butter leaks out while it roasts and the top goes patchy. Take your time and it lifts cleanly.
Push about a third of the herb butter into the pocket you just opened up, smooth it out from the outside with your fingers, and pull the skin flat again.
Everything left over goes on the outside - breast, legs, thighs and wings. The butter underneath is what keeps the breast meat juicy, and it is the whole reason you never need to open the oven to baste.
Peel and quarter an onion, roughly chop three carrots and three celery ribs, and spread them over the bottom of the roasting pan. Set the turkey on top and tuck the wing tips underneath.
The vegetables lift the bird so air moves underneath it, which is all a roasting rack does. They also flavor the drippings, and the drippings become your gravy.
Leave the legs untied. Tied legs look tidier but they block air from circulating inside the cavity, and the bird cooks less evenly for it.
Tip
A disposable foil roasting pan works here. So does a mid-range one. There is no need for an expensive pan with a fitted rack.
Heat the oven to 325F and leave it there for the whole roast. Slide the pan in, and if you are using a probe thermometer, push it into the thickest part of the breast or thigh now.
Budget roughly 15 minutes per pound. For a 13 pound bird that lands around three and a quarter hours. If you are using an instant-read thermometer instead, start checking when it is about three quarters of the way through.
Pull it at 158 to 160F. It keeps cooking on the counter and settles at 165F by the time it has rested.
Tip
An instant-read thermometer is the one piece of kit worth buying for this. Time charts get you close, but ovens and birds both vary.
Let it sit for at least half an hour before a knife goes near it. The juices redistribute back through the meat instead of running out over your board.
Start with the legs: cut through the skin between leg and body, pull the leg back flat, push up on the joint from underneath and cut around it. Then take the breasts off with long strokes down either side of the breastbone, and finish with the wings through the joint.
Slice the breast meat against the grain so each piece holds onto a strip of skin.
Tip
A sharp knife matters more than an expensive one. A dull blade drags and pulls the skin off your slices.
Keep going
How to Make Gravy
7 steps · about 5 minutes
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