By Emma Christensen, The Splendid Table
Are you roasting a whole turkey for the first time this year? Or perhaps you’ve done this many times before, but you want a quick refresher to brush up on the basics? We’ll help you make your mama proud with these step-by-step instructions for roasting a delicious turkey. Here’s our super basic, super simple, super easy tutorial for roasting a super beautiful turkey this Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving turkey
Now, we know that many people have strong opinions on the best way to cook a turkey. You may fry it, roast it overnight, or do it in a slow cooker. You may brine religiously, or have a secret family spice rub.
But just to keep things simple and straightforward we are taking a completely no-frills approach in this tutorial. There are lots of places along the way where you can add some spice, flavor, or personal touches. Consider this a recipe template and feel free to play with it as much or as little as you like; our goal is simply to give you a foolproof way to get that turkey roasted and onto plates with as little stress as possible.
This method will work with any turkey: big or small, brined or not, free-range or otherwise. Cooking times will vary, but the basic technique will be the same. For reference, the turkey in the photos was a pre-brined 16-pound turkey from Williams-Sonoma.
Thawing the Turkey
Be sure to let your turkey completely thaw before cooking. If it was frozen through when you bought it, the turkey will thaw within a few days in the fridge, approximately 24 hours for every five pounds of turkey. For quicker thawing, place the turkey in a cold water bath and change the water every 30 minutes until it’s thawed.
For more information on safe turkey thawing, check out the USDA website Turkey Basics: Safe Thawing .
Brining a Turkey
One thing we’re not talking about here is brining the turkey. This method has become popular over the last few years and involves immersing the turkey in a salt water solution for a day or so before cooking. The end result of this process is moist, perfectly seasoned turkey meat. We’ve had great results with brining and heartily endorse it. For a full explanation, check out this post .
Ready? Let’s cook some turkey.
Read the full article by Emma Christensen from the Splendid Table for the recipe.
