This is one of three blogs talking about how to make a perfect Thanksgiving Day Turkey! In the first blog, I discussed how to make homemade turkey stock which you are going to need to baste the turkey. You can make the stock up to three days ahead. It needs to simmer for several hours and so I highly recommend starting early. You can of course use purchased stock. . .but there’s nothing like homemade. (Note: This recipe was taken from cooking.com and slightly altered.)
‘Twas the Morning of Thanksgiving. . .
. . .and the kitchen was a buzz with all of the preparations for the big meal.
You will need:
One 18-pound fresh turkey
About 12 cups of your favorite stuffing (if you plan on stuffing the bird)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Salt and freshly milled black pepper
2 1/2 quarts Homemade Turkey Stock (see recipe), or as needed
Melted unsalted butter, if needed
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
Directions:
Position a rack in the lowest position of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. A turkey cooked on a lower temperature for longer will yield a more moist end result.
You should have already reserved the giblets and ’innards’ of the turkey when you were making your stock. Rinse the turkey inside and out with cold water. Pat the turkey skin dry. Turn the turkey on its breast. Loosely fill the neck cavity with stuffing. Using a thin wooden or metal skewer, and pin the neck skin to the back. Fold the turkey’s wings behind the back or tie to the body with kitchen string. Loosely fill the large body cavity with stuffing. Place any remaining stuffing in a lightly buttered casserole, cover, and refrigerate to bake as a side dish. Place the drumsticks in the hock lock or tie together with kitchen string. If you prefer, you can also just skip stuffing the bird and make the stuffing as a side dish.
Place the turkey, breast side up, on a rack in the roasting pan. Rub all over with the softened butter. Season with salt and pepper. Tightly cover the breast area with aluminum foil. Pour 2 cups of the turkey stock into the bottom of the pan.
Roast the turkey, basting all over every 30 minutes with the juices on the bottom of the pan (lift up the foil to reach the breast area), until a meat thermometer inserted in the meaty part of the thigh (but not touching a bone) reads 180 degrees, about 4 1/4 hours. Whenever the drippings evaporate, add stock to moisten them, about 1 1/2 cups at a time. Remove the foil during the last hour to allow the breast skin to brown.
Transfer the turkey to a large serving platter and let it stand for at least 20 minutes before carving. (If you don’t, it will be much harder to carve.)
See how other Families members cook their turkeys!