Roasted Turkey

So, I am not a traditional oven roasted turkey girl. I use an electric roaster oven every year – they cook faster and have fewer issues with drying the meat out.

Remember, to completely defrost your bird. I have heard the electric roasters can actually cook frozen birds, but have never had the guts to try it. So, defrost! Remember that it’s approximately five hours per pound of meat to defrost. So if you have a 15 pound turkey, be sure to put it into the fridge at least three days in advance. And check your bird the day before. If it still seems too frozen, there is always the quick water defrost method. To defrost with water, be sure your turkey is in a waterproof package. Immerse in cold water. Change the water every 30 minutes. Allow about 30 minutes of thawing in water per pound. So if you have a 15 pound turkey, it’ll take about 7 hours.

On the day of cooking, take out your roaster’s insert pan and pre-heat your roaster to 450°F. While roaster is heating, pull your turkey out of the fridge and prep it. Remove packaging (but leave plastic hooks holding legs if yours have it) and organs and neck from cavity. Rinse with water, inside and out, and pat dry. Rub the bird with butter. Sprinkle your favorite kind of salt and pepper all over outside and inside of bird (we like to use seasoned salts and peppers). Place a stick of two of celery, one coarsely chopped onion and a stick of butter in cavity.

Place the bird in the insert pan on top of the wire rack that comes with your roaster. Make sure the handles are up, not tucked below, or it’ll be a pain to remove when done. Fill the bottom of the pan with water, but not so much that the water level comes over the wire rack (usually only a cup or two in mine). Place into the roaster oven and cover.

Roast at 450°F for 30 minutes. This is to give your bird a nice brown skin. After 30 minutes, turn the oven temperature down to 325°F. 8

The roaster will self-baste if you do not lift the lid, so you don't have to baste it every 20 minutes like you do in your conventional oven. So don’t life the lid during cooking time! Lifting the lid will increase your cooking time (as roasters lose their heat a lot faster than ovens) and can make your turkey dryer.

Check turkey for doneness. Your roaster should come with time tables for how long to cook a turkey. Make sure to follow it! Roasters cook faster, so if you go by the amount given for cooking a turkey in a traditional oven, it will be overdone and possibly dry! If you can’t find your roasters manual, figure to start checking about an hour before it would be done in a traditional oven. Final temps should be 165°D in the breast (be careful not to touch the bone). Juices should be clear, not pink.

Remember, if you’re using a pop-up thermometer, they stick sometimes. So you should have a regular meat thermometer to double check.

When done, remove from the roaster, tent with foil, and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.