If I can get away with not making a turkey for Thanksgiving, I will. But sometimes you just can’t; it’s the iconic and popular bird for the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. This year I treat it like a holiday challenge to make a roast turkey the best way I know how. The good news is: roasting the turkey is not dissimilar to cooking the chicken. The best practice in making a moist and juicy bird involves: brining, roasting and resting. These are the same principles as roasting the everyday chicken. It’s a matter of adjusting the scale and time. This was what I did and I got good results.
The crucial initial step is to marinade the whole turkey in a buttermilk bath for at least overnight. By all accounts, the buttermilk mixture, which is slightly acidic, tenderizes and adds lightness to the bird. Due to the larger size of the turkey, I let it marinade in buttermilk for two days.
The biggest problem with brining is that you need to have a vessel big enough to submerge the entire turkey. I use the biggest pot I have and let the pot (surrounded by ice packs) sit in a cold room. The other solution is to choose a right-size turkey which is big enough for the table and not too large to fit neatly on a rack in a rimmed baking pan. My turkey is between 8-10 lbs.
More importantly, it’s the prep work that sets the stage for a “perfectly roast turkey.” That involves preheating the oven with a pizza stone on a lower rack to 500°F. Roast the turkey at high temperature until it begins to brown (20-30 minutes), then lower the oven temperature to 325°F for the remaining time. Depending on the size of the turkey, roast for another 1-3 hours. The turkey is done when a instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thighs measures 155–165°F.
Remove the turkey from the oven and rest it on a cutting board. Tent it with aluminum foil for at least 20 minutes before carving it.
There are many ways to cook the seasonal bird and I’d never say this is the be-all-end-all recipe. But the method turns out moist breast and thigh meat, with burnished skin, and I can’t find a single dry piece of bird. The tasty gravy further enhances the flavor of the bird. There is much to be thankful for, above all, the marvellous pace of vaccine development.
Classic Roast Turkey | Mark Bittman
Ingredients
- 1 turkey (12 to 14 pounds)
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup roughly chopped onion
- 1 cup roughly chopped carrot
- 1 ⁄ 2 cup roughly chopped celery
- Stems from 1 bunch fresh parsley, tied together with kitchen string, optional
Instructions
PREHEAT OVEN TO 500°F. Rinse the turkey under cool running water and remove the giblets from the cavity. Trim off the excess fat and wing tips if you like. Pat the bird dry with a paper towel, smear the butter all over the skin, and sprinkle it well with salt and pepper.
Put the turkey on a rack in a large roasting pan with the breast facing up. Pour 1 ⁄ 2 cup water into the bottom of the pan and add the onion, carrot, celery, and parsley, along with the turkey neck, whatever giblets you want (or not), and the wing tips if you removed them. Put the turkey in the oven, legs first if possible.
ROAST TURKEY AT 500°F FOR 20 TO 30 MINUTES: Roast until the top of the turkey begins to brown, 20 to 30 minutes.
LOWER THE OVEN HEAT TO 325°F. Continue to roast, checking and brushing the bird with the pan juices every 30 minutes or so. If the bottom of the pan gets dry, add about 1 ⁄ 2 cup water; there should be a little liquid in the bottom of the pan at all times.
The turkey is done when a quick-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of one of the thighs measures 155–165°F, about 2 1 ⁄ 2 to 3 1 ⁄ 2 hours, depending on the size of the turkey. If the top looks like it’s getting too brown too quickly, press a piece of aluminum foil directly onto it. If the top looks like it’s not browned enough, turn the heat back up to 425°F for the last 20 to 30 minutes of roasting.
When the turkey is ready, tip the juices out of the cavity into the pan, transfer the bird to a cutting board, cover loosely with a tent of aluminum foil, and let it rest for at least 20 minutes before carving. If you’re serving the turkey with pan juices, strain them from the pan into a glass measuring cup. When the fat rises to the top, skim it off and warm the juices before serving (you can add them to several cups of chicken or turkey stock if you want more). If not, hang on to the roasting pan and all its contents; you’re going to need it to make gravy.
MAKING GRAVY
Whatever drips down from the turkey into the bottom of the roasting pan provides the backbone for incredible gravy. To add volume, you’ll need stock. (This is one of those times when water just doesn’t cut it.) Thicken it a bit and away you go.
PREPARE THE PAN AND GIBLETS: After you remove the turkey from the roasting pan, take out the giblets and chop them up; put them back in the pan along with the neck. Spoon some of the fat off the top of the pan liquids, leaving as many of the solids and as much of the dark liquid behind as possible. Put the roasting pan over 2 burners and turn the heat to high.
DEGLAZE THE PAN: When the solids in the pan start to sizzle, add 6 cups turkey or chicken stock. Scrape the bottom of the pan to get up any browned bits. Reduce the heat so the stock bubbles and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk 1/3 cup corn starch with 1 ⁄ 4 cup water in a small bowl until smooth.
FINISH THE GRAVY: Strain the stock through a mesh sieve into a large pot and discard the solids. Bring to a boil and add the cornstarch slurry to the bubbling gravy, stirring constantly. It should thicken almost immediately. Taste and adjust the seasoning and serve hot.
1 Comment
Kim+Tracy
November 28, 2021 at 6:27 pmI really admire your ability to roast and photograph such a beautiful looking bird. I have a hard time taking pics of roast chicken, etc. This does indeed look moist and beautiful. Love the idea of a buttermilk bath. That is one brine I haven’t tried yet!