Roast Turkey

"NOTE: Even though you may have purchased a Butterball or a butter basted bird, you should still follow these directions, as they inject very little butter into the bird, just so that they can legally get away with saying that it is butter basted. Trust this recipe of mine, and I guarantee that you and your guests will have the best and juciest turkey ever! The cook time will vary, depending on the size of the bird. ALSO, SEE MY RECIPE #105192 FOR THE BEST GIBLET GRAVY. It is very EASY! If you have any questions e-mail me: AlanLeonetti@q.com"
 
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photo by Jonathan Melendez photo by Jonathan Melendez
photo by Ben H. photo by Ben H.
photo by Ben H. photo by Ben H.
photo by robledo.mickey photo by robledo.mickey
photo by Robin Z. photo by Robin Z.
Ready In:
3hrs 50mins
Ingredients:
13
Yields:
1 Turkey
Serves:
10
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ingredients

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directions

  • Remove giblets from both cavities at both ends and set aside. Rinse the bird inside and out and pat dry with paper towel.
  • Place a rack into a large roasting pan,and then place the turkey onto the rack with the breast and legs up.
  • Mix all of the seasonings, except the paprika, together with the butter.
  • Place your hand between the skin and the flesh from the rear of the turkey and slide a palm full of butter and seasoning mixture in between the skin and flesh.
  • Then place a glob of butter into the palm of your hand and generously rub the entire turkey with the butter. Generously sprinkle the entire bird with salt, freshly ground black pepper, onion powder, granulated garlic powder, tarragon, parsley flakes, thyme, basil and paprika. Pour about 1/4" to 1/2" of chicken broth in the bottom of the roasting pan, being careful not to wash any of the seasonings off the turkey.
  • Completely tent the turkey with aluminum foil and place into a preheated 325 degree oven for about 1 1/2 hours. Remove the foil tent and wrap foil around the legs and wings.
  • Baste the turkey and return it to the oven for the remainder of the cooking time, which will be when the interior temperature of the bird reaches 180 degrees or until the juices run clear and not red when you puncture the bird between the thigh and the breast.
  • Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the turkey.
  • NOTE: I always cook my turkey unstuffed.
  • I place my stuffing into baking dishes to bake.
  • Also, see my recipe #105192 for the best giblet gravy ever!
  • During the last 10 or 15 minutes of cooking, increase temperature to 375 or 400 degrees F. to get more browning, but watch it carefully, as you do not want to burn it or dry it out.

Questions & Replies

  1. If I were going to use a countertop roaster as opposed to an oven, would you make any changes with regards to covering with foil, etc?
     
  2. I am using a countertop roaster, do you do anything different?
     
  3. Last year, all of my lovely seasoning slid off the turkey into the gravy every time I basted the turkey. Any suggestions?
     
  4. Can u cook frozen
     
  5. So how much exactly of "all of the seasonings, except the paprika" should be mixed with that butter? Since you apparently used a lot of those same spices again to "generously sprinkle the entire bird"........ Are the noted amounts in the listed ingredients pertaining to what goes under the skin only and you're just throwing however much you want on the outside? Seems like it since that info is missing.......
     
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Reviews

  1. This was my first time making a turkey myself, and it turned out great! The skin was crispy and flavorful, and the inside was moist. I only made an 8-9lb turkey, but still used the full amount of compound butter. I would agree with a few others that the directions aren't as clear as they could be, especially for people who don't do a lot of cooking. Step 3 makes a compound butter that you spread UNDER the skin to keep the turkey from drying out during cooking. Then you rub plain butter on top of the skin and sprinkle on additional seasonings. How much is according to your preference. It sounds like a lot of people tried to just spread the compound butter on top instead of putting it under the skin. The only tweaks I made were to take out the onion powder since my boyfriend hates onions and halved the salt since a lot of reviewers mentioned it being too salty. It was still plenty flavorful even with these modifications. My only issue was there were barely any drippings to use for basting and making gravy, but this was probably my fault. We didn't buy the turkey until the night before, so it wasn't fully defrosted when we started cooking. I did my best to defrost by running under warm water, but I think it definitely added significantly to the cooking time and all the drippings dried out in the pan because it was taking so long. Next time, I may cook the turkey in an oven bag instead of using tin foil and then remove to get the browning even if I have more time to defrost beforehand.
     
  2. This is awesome! Didn't have a rack to put the turkey on so I used onions to prop it up like another reviewer suggested. Also, like others mentioned, I cooked it breast side down for an hour and a half. The turkey was really moist and flavorful. Got compliments from everyone. The house does smell wonderful while it's cooking too!
     
  3. I decided not to go through the hassle of brining the turkey this year and so I tried this recipe. The turkey turned out fabulous. When the turkey was being carved, I could see the juices flowing from the breast. Now that's one juicy turkey! Thanks for sharing your recipe. It's much easier than brining and the turkey was just as juicy. I plan on using your recipe for many more times to come.
     
  4. Made this for Chrimbus dinner, and it was amazing! I used a 20lb butterball that I thawed in the fridge for 4 days. I accidentally added the paprika to the compound butter mixture but it was fine. I followed other posters advice and reduced the salt since Butterballs are 'seasoned' meaning brined. We've had fresh birds for the last 5 years, and all the food snobs couldn't even tell it was formerly a popsicle. So tender and tasty, with an appealing colour.
     
  5. This is basically the way we have always roasted our family turkey. Just a couple of differences. DON'T ignore the giblets!!! Before you do anything with the turkey, take out and wash them and throw in a pot of water with 1 sliced onion, 1 rounded teaspoon chopped garlic and 3 or 4 celery tops with leaves (the real flavor is in the leaves!) and 4-5 black peppercorns. Bring to boil then low simmer. Now you can prepare the turkey. Use the giblet broth instead of chicken broth for everything. Just keep adding water and simmering. We keep it on the back burner while roasting the bird so the oven heat just keeps it simmering all day. Use it for the liquid when making stuffing/dressing, etc. If you put liquid in the roaster, use the giblet broth. We don't use a roasting rack. Just put 1 1/2 sticks of butter (if you're going to play then PLAY!), sliced onion and celery tops. These will keep the bird from sticking and give amazing flavor to the drippings. And remember the giblet liquid is your base for gravy. Make extra and before it thickens freeze some in small containers to flavor stews, soups, casseroles throughout the year.
     
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Tweaks

  1. Halve the salt!
     
  2. Made it in a roasting bag.
     
  3. Just finished our Thanksgiving dinner and the turkey was wonderful. I substituted sage for the basil and I baked mine in a baking bag. Glad I bought a big bird this year... lots of leftovers!
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I was born in 1942 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in this GREAT United States of America. I have since resided in Baltimore Maryland, Atlanta Georgia, Orlando Florida, Fort Lauderdale Florida, Los Angeles California, Selma Oregon, and now in Albuquerque New Mexico. I have enjoyed not only eating, but cooking all my life.
 
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