How To Roast A Turkey

By RoketJSquerl

Ingredients

• 1 Whole Turkey, thawed (Mine is 12 1/2 lbs)
• 1 stick Butter
• Salt

Details

Servings 1
Preparation time 180mins
Cooking time 360mins
Adapted from tasteofsouthern.com

Preparation

Step 1

One day prior to cooking your turkey.

Remove thawed turkey from refrigerator and place in clean sink.

Remove the turkey from its packaging.

Remove any strings or bands that might be on the turkey legs.

Remove the neck and giblets from the body cavity. Do not discard.

Rinse the turkey well, inside and out, under cold running water.

Pat the turkey dry with several folded paper towels.

Salt the turkey generously, inside and out, on all sides.

Save and refrigerate all the giblet pieces and neck bone for making giblet gravy later.

Place turkey in a roasting pan.

Place the uncovered turkey in the refrigerator overnight. (This helps dry the skin.)

Be sure to thoroughly clean your utensils, sink, and all exposed surfaces.

Sanitize with a solution of Bleach and water.

On cooking day, 2 hours before roasting time.

Remove turkey and stick of butter from refrigerator.

Let sit, uncovered on your counter top for one hour.

After one hour…

Rub a layer of butter all over the outside of the turkey, massage it in good.

Place remaining butter in turkey cavity.

Roll up several pieces of aluminum foil to keep turkey off bottom of roasting pan if you don’t have wire racks or a regular roasting pan.

Let buttered turkey sit long enough to preheat the oven good and hot, about 20 minutes longer.

Roast the turkey.

Preheat oven to 425ºF.

Place roasting pan on lower rack in oven.

Roast the turkey for 30 minutes at this 425ºF temperature.

Roasting at high temperature to start will help the skin brown much better.

REDUCE heat to 325º

Roast the turkey based on the amount of time listed for the weight of your turkey. See the chart.

About every hour, baste the turkey with juices from the roasting pan. Also, rotate the pan in the oven after basting to allow for more even roasting.

Roast the turkey until it reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF, measured in the thigh.

Test for doneness by inserting a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh. Thermometer should not be touching the bone.

If turkey begins to brown before it gets done, make a tent from aluminum foil and cover the bird.

Remove from oven just as soon as the internal temperature of the bird reaches 165ºF.

The turkey will continue to cook and increase in temperature once it’s removed from the oven.

Carefully remove the pan from the oven and transfer the turkey to your serving platter.

Let the turkey rest 45-60 minutes before carving and serving. This helps retain moisture.

Enjoy!