Uncle Bill's Method for Cooking Turkey

THE MOST FEARED CREATURE IN A HOUSEWIVES KITCHEN IS HER FIRST TURKEY...

NEVER FEAR UNCLE BILL IS HERE!!!

I had never cooked a turkey before and my DH detests turkey at all times but with this recipe I even got rave reviews from him!! I loved that it didn't have tons of salt or anything else complicated happening with it and yet was still the most moist turkey I've ever eaten!

Before I poured the boiling water over this giant bird I gently separated the skin from the meat with my hands and lukewarm water running over it to make it easier, then I rubbed down the meat with a compound butter I had made the night before that had everything from raw hazelnuts and walnuts to fresh sage and rosemary in it for a dramatic touch. It was simply amazing! I was fascinated by how the skin just sealed up against every nook and cranny. My little old auntie accused me of having done a practice turkey before this one and honestly I had never done this before!! You should've seen me smack talking that 25lb bird @ 3am! I didn't even have the proper tools to tie up the legs I used a brand new greased up shoe string!!!!

If this is your first turkey and you go any other way than this recipe your just plain silly!! Just remember your working with something that is going to be eaten not bronzed and put on display for the rest of your life! Tin foil the breasts if they get brown too soon or (I know it sounds crazy) cook the bird breasts down for the first half of the bake time!

Will never be able to thank you enough for this method Uncle Bill, you have made me a legendary cook in my family @ just 22years old I have all the little old ladies jealous of my prowess in the kitchen!!

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I tried this at Thanksgiving. It was well worth the extra time getting the bird in the oven. Everything was moist, even the breast meat! I will use this method always from now on!

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I used a 13lb turkey and cooked it an hour on 400, an hour and 45 mins on 325, a half hour on 350, took the foil off and started basting and within 45 mins my popper popped and the turkey was perfect!!! Soooo easy! Plus it made 5 cups of drippings for the gravy. I used the gravy Mean Chef's Turkey Gravy. It was awesome!

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Yummy Turkey Bill. Even though you said not to, I rubbed down my turkey under the skin and marinated overnight. Before roasting, I poured the scalding hot water over my bird. I used a bag too. My baby was so moist that when I moved her out of the pan her legs fell right off--wings came off with a gentle tug. She was a juicy beauty! I brined my turkey last year--THIS WAS BETTER. Brining was a giant pain in the butt and this tasted better.

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I've had burnt or dry turkey the whole time I was growing up... Thank you for posting an easy recipe for those who still need the basics!

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This recipe was delicious. I added seasoning salt, garlic powder, paprika, and cayenne pepper to the recipe by putting the dry mixture underneath the skin as well as on top. I let it marinate for approx. 3 hrs. Going forward, this will be how I bake chicken. Thank so much for the posting.

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Used this recipe a couple of Thanksgivings ago and our turkey turned out perfectly. The next year I couldn't remember where I had placed this recipe and ultimately had to go back to our first method of Turkey roasting which does not create the near perfect results as Uncle Bill's method.

I will never lose this recipe again, I will never lose this recipe again, I will never lose this recipe again... Thank you!!

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Oh my goodness, this is wonderful. I roasted a turkey breast for New Years Eve dinner, my very first try at making a turkey. The shrink wrapping effect of the skin is truly a sight to see, and the breast meat was positively bursting with juice. An onion and a stalk of celery underneath the turkey made for some excellent, nearly fat-free drippings for my gravy, and the whole thing went really well with some horseradish mashed potatoes and roasted veg. Thank you, Uncle Bill, for helping me past my turkey hang up. It's not scary anymore! Yay! We'll be doing this regularly now, I have the feeling.

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Hi Uncle Bill! Well, I tried this method of scalding last year and could see no difference, so this time round, I bought a smaller turkey (141/2 instead of 24lbs). I put my huge stockpot up to boil and dunked it in for a few minutes. The rest is (or should say..WAS) an amazing star of the dinner show. Hope your T-day was as tasty as mine. Thanks Loads

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WOW! If only I could pour hot water on me and shrink up MY flesh. The turkey came out like a Norman Rockwell painting. Very brown, very moist and very good. No turkey or chicken in this house will ever go into the oven before taking "a hot bath". Uncle Bill, if I could, I'd give this more than 5 stars. Thanking you for sharing this with us.

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What a delicious turkey! I've used this method at least 5 times with the same perfect results each time. Thank you Uncle Bill :)

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My first time making turkey.Came out good.

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This was a fantastic technique to cook a turkey. I used a mixture of garlic, butter, herbs as a rub under the skin of the turkey. The hot water was very neat to watch! But most importantly the turkey was MOIST and beautiful! Even today....it tasted great! I will use this again. I had a 21 lb turkey and cooked it for 5 hours.....probably could have gone a little less but still yet.....YUMMO! Thanks Uncle Bill!

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Just coming back for my annual printout of this recipe. I think I have done the bird this way four times now. I am thankful for this recipe.

Thanks Uncle Bill... also thanks for your soup recipes!

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This was my first time making turkey, and it turned out way better than I thought it would. It was moist and tender. I will definitely use this method again.

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Thank you for making my very first turkey a huge success! Added a few carrots, onions and garden parsley as well as the butter on the outside and it was beautiful! This will be my go to recipe for thanksgiving!

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This was the moistest turkey I've ever made. It's how I will make my turkeys (and maybe chickens) from now on. Thanks for sharing it!

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Wonderful - my Turkey finally came out perfect. Thanks!!

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You can't go wrong with this one! I've done this several different ways with several different spices and it always comes out great. I used to dry rub and smoke my turkeys, but now I just add my dry rub to the olive oil and to the inside of the bird and use Uncle Bill's method. My kids love turkey when it is cooked this way. I like to remove the foil about 30 minutes earlier to really brown the bird.

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This was so easy and worked exactly as described. next time i will add more seasoning. The gravy turned out great had 5 1/2 cups of drippings.

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