How to roast a turkey

When it comes to roasting a turkey, I find most people fall into one of two categories: those who have a tried and true method, or those who have no idea what to do and are a little frightened with the prospect of even attempting roasting a turkey.  One of my good friends has had a few turkey dinners go sideways, and finds the whole process very stressful.  One time, she forgot to take her turkey out of the freezer to properly defrost, and in a moment of panic, decided to throw it in the oven still frozen and just cook it longer hoping for the best.  After a few hours in the oven, the turkey looked beautifully bronzed like something out of a Courier and Ives Christmas card. However, when it came time to carve the bird, to her horror it was still raw inside.  I think this is the type of situation that scares people off making turkey dinner - the pressure of having something go wrong when you're cooking for a crowd. No one wants the culinary equivalent of having your pants pulled down in public.

The first time I cooked a turkey dinner, I took to the internet for help and advice only to be left with my head spinning from the sheer amount of information (much of which was contradictory from one site to another).  I remember wishing that all the information I needed to know could be found in one helpful guide.  Therefore, I've come up an easy, three step method I'm happy to share with you.

Step 1:
I brine my turkey (as I've outlined in my turkey brine post) to ensure a super moist and juicy bird. Many people think this is just too difficult or time consuming to bother with, and if you choose not to brine your turkey, it wouldn't be the end of the world. However, it's really not that troublesome because the brine is done two or three days ahead of when you actually roast the turkey. This way, you're not rushing around on turkey day stressed and feeling like the whole thing is just too overwhelming.

Step 2:
I think one of the keys to a delicious turkey, is to smother the turkey butter and to make sure it's well seasoned with salt and pepper before going in the oven. I like to make a herb butter mixture, which is essentially butter mixed with some herbs, garlic and a little olive oil (which helps to aid in a rich bronze finish, while at the same time preventing it from burning).  See the recipe below.

Step 3:
The final and most important part of the process; roasting the turkey for the correct amount of time, letting the bird rest (tented in aluminum foil) and testing for doneness.  If you dispense with every other recommendation I've made thus far- this is the portion of information that really counts.
Start by having a rough idea of how long the turkey will be in the oven to fully cook.  Generally speaking, 20 minutes of cooking time per pound at 350 degrees F will yield a very good result. While it's roasting, I like to baste only once or twice, I don't fuss about doing it every 30 minutes as some recommend because the butter ensures a nice golden finish.  To test for doneness, I have four ways of ensuring my turkey is fully cooked and juicy.

First:  I remove the turkey from the oven to get a good look at the it and see if the skin is nicely bronzed, this may seem obvious but you'd be surprised how many people overlook the appearance of their bird.

Second:  I press down on the breast meat with my fingers to feel how firm it is (don't worry, if you only touch down for a second you won't burn yourself).  If the breast meat feels squishy it'll need to go back into the oven for a while.  

Third:  I move the legs back and forth a little - if they move quite freely and without of a lot of resistance, the turkey is sufficiently cooked.

Fourth:  I take a paring knife and make a little cut in the space between the thigh and the breast to take a look at the joint area under the skin (I do this on both sides of the turkey).  If the juices are nice and golden the turkey is cooked.  Contrary to popular opinion, the juices will never really end up "clear" because turkey juices always have some tint of colour even when fully cooked, such as a yellow gold colour. The key is you don't want the juices to be red or very pink, since that will indicate the meat is not cooked enough and need to spend more time in the oven.

Once you've determined your turkey is cooked, let the turkey rest out of the oven at room temperature for at least 20 to 30 minutes; 45 is optimal.  This allows the meat to settle after being in the high temperature of the oven and allows some of the juices to re-distribute and get absorbed back into the meat and makes for better texture and moistness.  Tent the turkey in aluminium foil and the residual heat will keep the turkey cozily warm for quite some time.

Herb Butter

2 cups or 1 pound of unsalted butter and room temperature
Small bunch of herbs - I use rosemary, thyme, sage and parsley
One stalk of green onion torn apart or chopped in half
1 shallot, rougly chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled 
1 teaspoon of olive oil

Start with preparing the herbs by removing the rosemary needles and thyme leaves from the stalks and roughly tearing apart the sage and parsley. Then put the prepared herbs with all the other ingredients in a food processor and pulse until everything has combined together and is still a little chunky.  Alternatively, you could finely chop the herbs, green onion, shallot, garlic and combine with the room temperature butter and the olive oil in a mixing bowl.  Any left over butter can be frozen for up to 6 months.  

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F put your defrosted or fresh turkey on a roasting rack placed inside the roasting pan.  If you don't have a rack that sits inside your tin or are using a throw away aluminum tin, then simply cut up some carrots and onions and place your raw turkey on top of them so the turkey isn't sitting directly on the bottom of the pan.  The turkey will cook more evenly if slightly elevated from the bottom of the roaster.  Then pat the un-cooked turkey with paper towel to make sure the skin is dry before slathering your turkey with the butter.  If you attempt to smooth the butter on the turkey without patting it dry first, the butter won't spread out nice and evenly making the process much more difficult.  If you end up not drying the turkey well enough, and easy fix is to melt the butter mixture and pour it over the turkey and then use your hands to disperse evenly.  I also try to get some of the butter under the skin of the breast to help keep the breast meat extra moist and seasoned.  

Now sprinkle a generous amount of salt and pepper over the buttered turkey and place in the oven to cook for 20 minutes per pound at 350 degrees F and then use the techniques outlined above to test for doneness.  Let the cooked turkey rest for 45 minutes before carving and eating.

While I know this has been a long post, I do want to leave you with a couple of last thoughts and tips on turkey roasting.  Don't bother with a meat thermometer - it will do nothing but induce stress and fear that the damned turkey never reaches the correct temperature in the 8 million spots you end up testing in an effort to get an accurate reading (though a digital meat thermometer is not too bad at this, but a bit more of an investment).  My first day of culinary school was spent listening to the chef explain how much he hates meat thermometers and I must say I agree with him.
I feel it is okay to stuff a turkey - often times you will hear people advising not to do this as the turkey cavity is "toxic" - their words not mine. While it is true that you will need to cook your turkey longer in order to fully cook the stuffing inside, there is a way to do this without over-cooking the turkey itself.  I recommend cooking your stuffed turkey in the same fashion noted above then spoon the stuffing into an heat proof serving dish that you put into the oven to continue cooking while the turkey rests, problem solved.  Lastly, there is a lot of information about turkey cooking that is from a food safety perspective.  While I value the need for food safety, I do think that much of what these experts say causes more anxiety than it actually helps.  I'm left feeling I never want to cook anything let along a turkey for fear of ending up sick on the bathroom floor.  I feel that you have to trust your gut and use common sense in the kitchen and most of all not get into a panic over a turkey, it's just not worth it.