Recipes

[shortbreadlover]

i put t jhe turkey in the oven so that the legs face the back of the oven.  i also use a turkey tent.  this fits over the turkey so that it sheilds the breast from getting over cooked or too done.

[shortbreadlover]

i bought a few ready made ones and have used them for several years.  i do not know if they still make them or not.

[panda1234]

@PA Mom-mom The turkey is moist and juicy. If you are concerned about salt you can get low sodium broth. It is so worth doing it the day before and getting it out of the way. The turkey monopolizes the oven and now you have freed it up for your sides.

[blackhole99]

@panda1234  I just read where some chef does exactly what you do to avoid a dried out turkey. I'm going to try that this Thanksgiving.

[Harpa]

---

@cmoose wrote:

Brilliant, buy a breast and leg's separately !!!!! What a great idea- that is just what I'm going to do!!!!!!!

---

@cmoose

Maybe it was just me, but I tried that one year, and that's the year the meat was not tender or moist at all!

The best turkey I make is a fresh bird, smaller in size, slather it inside & out w/ butter, S&P, and some liquid in the bottom of the pan; i.e., half water, half sherry, which then makes the best gravy! Cover tightly w/ foil.

And don't forget to let the bird rest, rest, rest when it comes out of the oven.

[momoftwo2007]

Try braising the turkey rather than roasting it.  Here is a great recipe from Amerca's Test Kitchen that I have made many times.  And it is perfection every time!

https://abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/braised-turkey-america-test-kitchen

[wagirl]

I don't ever cook a whole turkey anymore. I HATE having to deal with the carcass afterwards so I cook the breast, thighs and legs. I use a turkey oven bag after I season it all up. Seems to work very well and the drippings for the gravy are amazing. I never did stuff the whole bird ever either;  stuffin was always a side dish. Seems like I can get more in my oven using the turkey parts too. 

Also saw an interesting methos to cook turkey faster too. From Tyler Florence and Anne Burrell---he spatch co*cked the turkey and cooked in flat--that means removing the back bone--thought that was something I would try. Said it knocked off about 1 1/2 hours on the cooking time. Interesting.....

[tiny 2]

@wagirl, I had a large crowd last year and cooked 3 turkeys. One I did whole, one spatchcocked and one parts. My favorite was the parts because I could pull the breast and allow the darker pieces the time they needed. The spatchcocked turkey cooks much faster and you have the advantage of reassembling it for display if that is important for you. They were all delicious and I had a great time trying the different methods.

[nanny24]

Well, I went to the grocery store today to get the breast, legs, and thighs separately, and to my surprise, there were no legs or thighs. They had legs already smoked, but no raw legs or thighs. Sigh. I think I will go the way of the cooking bag, since so many of you like it. I always bake my bird the day before, and cool it and slice it, so all I have to do on the big day is reheat. Love all the comments.

[deeva]

I bought a turkey breast in the summer, today I bought two fresh turkey legs. I’ll roast the legs separately. I always cook my sides the day before.