Recipes

[qualityshopper]

I came across this when searching for how to keep a turkey breast from drying out when roasting. Has anyone done this--spreading mayo all over a turkey before roasting to keep it moist? If so, did it really work? Could Miracle Whip be used rather than Hellmann's for example? Thanks for any advice.

[Dorothy11]

I have not tried this, but the theory behind it would be that mayo is mostly oil, which would help brown the skin. I don't know that it would keep the meat from drying out.

A couple of pointers - Do not stuff the turkey. It takes much longer to cook, and the meat will dry out. It is also safer to cook stuffing separately.

Do not bother basting the turkey. Opening and closing the oven door drops the oven temperature significantly, and prolongs the cooking time. Basting does not help to keep the meat moist.

[PINKdogWOOD]

I started doing this with my turkey a couple of years ago -

Preheat oven 425

Rub olive oil all around the turnkey, put it on a rack so it's not laying right in the roasting pan.  Underneath is a bed of cut up onions, celery & carrots. Salt & pepper the turkey. Toss in 2 or 3 chicken bouillion cubes. Place roaster UNcovered in the oven to brown the turkey for about 1 hour.

Turn oven down to 325.  Cover.  Enjoy the aroma until turkey is done about 3 hours later.  Take temp, if done, take out to rest.

Personally I would never use Miracle Whip on anything.  We are Hellmann's people.  But I still wouldn't use either, Olive oil works great to brown.  Looks beautiful, tastes UNBELIEVABLE!!!

[Poodlepet2]

I made this last week using a blog "Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen".  I would have preferred to use yogurt and cut down on some of the fat. I used a thin layer of mayo and reduced fat parmesean and it was wonderful. If Miracle Whip is what you are used to, why not? I was running short on time and in pain: this recipe was easy to prepare and bought a new dimension to what can be a dry tasteless meat.

Poodlepet2

[daisyk]

I've done the mayo before and it turned out really well. I would think the Miracle Whip would be okay. The mayo turkey doesn't taste at all like mayo, so I would think either one would work.

[DiAnne]

This sounds interesting and I may try it but not with Miracle Whip.  To me Miracle Whip is sweet. 

[novamc1]

I'm not in charge of roasting turkey for a crowd this year, so I got a smaller  5-6-lb. turkey breast last week and tried roasting it just for husband and me, in one of those Reynolds cooking bags, along with nothing else except  some dried herbs and chicken broth..  Turned out great in terms of taste, tenderness and moistness.  The skin did not brown, but the abundance of white meat was great with dressing and gravy. 

One recipe I looked at before making this suggested taking the breast out of the bag and broiling it for a few minutes, but this would have been messy and I'm sure would have started drying out a very nice bird.

[Toppers]

I haven't heard of doing it, either.

If you're concerned about your breast getting too dry on your turkey itself, you can buy some disposable turkey pop-up timers that you would just stick in the breast while it's cooking.

You just take one and put it in the breast before roasting, and the little button on the timer will pop-up when the breast is done. The breast/white meat of the turkey cooks before the dark meat. 

I tent the turkey with foil when I see the turkey browning to where it gets to a nice brown color where I don't want it to get too brown.

[Nightowlz]

I have never tried it. I always make turkey breasts. I put several pats of butter under the skin, rub down the turkey with olive oil & use poultry seasoning or herbes de provence. I don't baste. It's never dry. I also use a thermometer.

[Nightowlz]

---

@PINKdogWOOD wrote:

I started doing this with my turkey a couple of years ago -

Preheat oven 425

Rub olive oil all around the turnkey, put it on a rack so it's not laying right in the roasting pan.  Underneath is a bed of cut up onions, celery & carrots. Salt & pepper the turkey. Toss in 2 or 3 chicken bouillion cubes. Place roaster UNcovered in the oven to brown the turkey for about 1 hour.

Turn oven down to 325.  Cover.  Enjoy the aroma until turkey is done about 3 hours later.  Take temp, if done, take out to rest.

Personally I would never use Miracle Whip on anything.  We are Hellmann's people.  But I still wouldn't use either, Olive oil works great to brown.  Looks beautiful, tastes UNBELIEVABLE!!!

---

LOL!!! I like that We are Hellman's people. I hate miracle whip. I cannot stand that wang it has. DH will only use Miracle Whip & I will only use Hellman's light so I have to buy the small jars.