For the past several weeks I have been a bit stressed out about hosting my first Thanksgiving dinner. I was mostly stressed out about cooking the turkey.
Before you even start to cook the damn bird you need to make a zillion decisions….
Fresh or Frozen?
Free range, organic, kosher, natural, fresh or heritage?
Brine or no brine?
I ended up going with a free range, organic and fresh turkey. I also decided against using brine. I wasn’t quite sure how to keep the bird cold for 18 hours in a bucket. The thought of putting brine in a bag in my refrigerator scared me. It had “oh shit, the bag is leaking” written all over it.
So, I ended up going the butter and baste route.
I bought a 15.93 lb turkey from Whole Foods.
I gave the bird a good rub down with an entire stick of butter and some kosher salt prior to roasting. I only buttered the top skin of the bird.
I cooked the turkey for 40 minutes at 400 degrees for 40 minutes breast side down. I then flipped the bird and cooked it at 325 degrees for 3 hours and 15 minutes. I basted the bird every 25-30 minutes and turned the it in the oven 180 degrees half way though cooking. I let the bird rest for another 30 minutes.
All in all, it was pretty simple. No fuss, no muss. The turkey was moist and the skin crispy. I declare my first Thanksgiving Day turkey a success.
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