Directions: |
Directions:Remove thawed turkey from refrigerator 2-3 hours before cooking to allow it to come closer to room temperature. This will make the turkey cook more evenly.
Rinse the turkey inside and out, use paper towels to pat turkey dry.
Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Slather inside of cavity with lemon juice. run a couple teaspoons of salt all over the inside of the turkey, (skip if you use a brine turkey).
Put half onion, several sprigs of parsley, a couple of carrots and some celery tops into the main cavity of turkey. These will flavor the turkey from the inside out as it cooks.
Cover the entrance of the cavity with aluminum foil.
Put a few sprigs of parsley into the neck opening. Add several sprigs of fresh thyme and rosemary to the outside of the turkey and under the wings.
Rub outside of turkey with either softened butter or olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt on all sides. (again skip if brine). Sprinkle with pepper all over outside.
Place turkey breast down on rack. This will allow for juices to run into breast while cooking. Can turn over at the end to "crisp" outside.
Roughly the turkey will take 15 minutes per pound to cook.
Cook turkey 400ºF for the first 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 325ºF for the next 2 hours. then reduce further to 225ºF until finished.
If you want the breast to be browned, turn oven to 500ºF, turn turkey over and for 4-5 minutes, just enough to brown the breast.
You want a resulting temperature of 170ºF for the dark meat and 165º for the breast. The temperature will continue to rise once taken out of the oven, so remove at 165º for dark and 160º for the breast.
Once you remove the turkey form the oven, transfer to a cutting board. Tent with foil to keep warm, and let rest for 15-30 minutes. |
This recipe for ROAST TURKEY is from