[scrapsakes]

How do you PREP & COOK your turkey?

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reading this just made me hungrier
THANKS, ladies!! POINTS to you:

• meteechtap
  
• emarie803
  
• writerlady
  
• scrappie_stacie
  
• 3 Pals
  
• cynderellaj
  
• milmomma
  
• venus70
  
• retiree3
  
• reckshow

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i have seen them brine in a salt mixture or covered in a butter-soaked cheesecloth,
but i've only done the traditional kind with butter and herbs... although, this year, i
want to ask our friend if he could put it in his smoker since i don't have one of those.

[cynderellaj]

I just sit down at the table and eat it with some salt Noone wants me to touch the turkey, but I did hear that we are cooking ours on the weber grill this year. YUMM

[meteechtap]

I love to do traditional, but i also love deep fried Turkey! I have used whiskey before as well, and it was fab!!!!!!!!!

[Nikki_E]

We are having ham!

[writerlady]

I put spices under the skin and then on top, put onions and a few carrots in the cavity, fill the other cavity with my homemade sausage and hamburger cornbread stuffing, then stick it in a turkey-sized cooking bag and bake it for like 3-5 hours. It's always very, very good. I want to get turkey frier, but dh isn't interested.

[Henu_Nea]

I lift the skin away from the breast and put a butter & herb mixture under it. It makes the skin crispier and the meat juicier. Learned it from that Food Network chick that changes her kitchen with her tablescape....I think her name is Sandra Lee.

[mysunshine]

I don't!

Ok. Well, I tried smoking it once, but it was too cold in WA and the bird never got hot enough. We finished it in the oven, but it was ruined because we smoked it for too long!

[3 Pals]

I have done the cheesecloth thing...worked great! Beautiful golden all around... still hadt to foil the wings, I want to try the brine thing but not for a holiday I want to try it out first...if it goes bad it goes really bad ...the salt thing.

[milmomma]

Lots and lots of butter for us. stuff it with stuffing and bag it.

[emarie803]

We are having ham!

Can I come to your house? I don't like turkey.

[Ashjoy]

We soak over night in salt water bath and then roast brushed with butter. Nothing unusual. Although this year we may just have ham. Whole turkey isn't our favorite.

[scraptag]

I let someone else cook it!
I do the pies!

[letumom]

Traditional

[scrapbelle]

We do a traditional stuffed with dressing. We sometimes deep fry a couple if we are having a lot of guests.

[reckshow]

This is my favorite way to make turkey.

Thanksgiving Turkey

Season the cavity. Loosen the skin and pack with unsalted butter. You can make an herbed butter by mixing fresh herbs with the butter (echo the seasonings you’ll use in your dressing). You can also insert sprigs of herbs under the skin with the butter. I used as much as 2 sticks of butter. (Sage and rosemary are good herbs.)

Line the bottom of the roasting pan with equal parts celery, carrots, onion, and one head of unpeeled garlic. Pour in one half bottle of white wine. (Use the same wine you'd serve with the bird.) Place rack in pan on top of veggies and place bird on rack.

Start with a 500° oven. Put bird in, uncovered, and immediately turn down temperature to 350°. Cook uncovered for 30 minutes.

Cover bird with a tent of aluminum foil until bird reaches halfway point. (Use a meat thermometer) (You might want to make your aluminum tent before you start cooking the bird, that way you can just pop it over when its time, and not worry about burning yourself.) Uncover for the rest of the cooking time. Sprinkle some kosher salt on the skin at some point to help flavor and crunch up the skin (about the point you'd baste, if you're a baster. I'm not.) Finish cooking until the juices run clear and the temperature reaches the correct reading

Let it rest for 20 minutes before carving.

Enjoy!


If you want to read the story of how I got this recipe, you can check out my blog:

[chattyscrapper]

Hi. We put some veggies in the cavity, smother in butter and put it in a roasting bag. Turns out great every time.

[LyndaKay]

Our local turkey farm will roast a 20 pounder for me and I pick it up along with its stuffing and gravy!! I just fix the sides and my own cornbread dressing. Easy peasy

[naney1952]

I salt the cavity very generously and then stuff it with a traditional bread, onion, celery dressing in both cavities. I salt the outside a lot.....I mean a lot because it is a dense piece of meat and then pop it into an oven bag with a few stalks of celery for moisture and roast for abot 4-5 hours at 325 degrees. Turns out perfect every time!

[hendoscrap]

I grew up on a turkey farm so we only have turkey for the holidays. My mom usually is a great turkey baker. She bakes it in the bag. I'm lucky to have mom around and haven't had to prepare my own.
Now last year preparing the turkey was a little different because my mom left on part of the plastic lid to the pan. Don't ask me how but she caught the oven on fire and we had to move Thanksgiving to my house. So last year preparing the bird was a little different. We had to scrape off the burnt plastic. We'll never forget that Thanksgiving.

Shelly

[alykasn]

I always rub it down and let it sit in the fridge with nromal stuff like sage, poultry seas, thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper, easoning salt, maybe some other things. The next day I stick a cut orange, a cut apple, celery stalks, onion and I pour 2 cups of OJ in it. I like a smaller one in a big crockpot the best, if it's too big cover it well, and take it off at the end to brown well. It is a fall-a-part piece of goodness! I've also had it just rubbed down with mustard, it's pretty but it can get dry.