If this is your first year hosting the family for a traditional Thanksgiving feast, anxiety probably started creeping in days before the big event. The centerpiece of the meal -- the turkey -- often causes worry among Thanksgiving cooks. In reality, though, you'll like spend much more time preparing the multitude of side dishes than the bird itself. Although time consuming, roasting a turkey does not require much effort on your part. You need to check on it occasionally while it cooks, but you'll have plenty of time to either spend with your guests or prepare your other dishes.
Step 1
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
Step 2
Remove your thawed turkey from the refrigerator.
Step 3
Remove or cut away the wrapping from the turkey, then remove the bag of giblets and neck from the cavity. Don't throw the packaging away until you take note of the bird's weight, because you will need to know this to determine how long to cook it.
Step 4
Wash the turkey inside and out with cool running water from your kitchen sink, then pat it dry with clean kitchen towels.
Step 5
Set the turkey breast side down in a roasting pan about 2 inches to 2½ inches deep.
Step 6
Stuff the turkey with stuffing or dressing if you will prepare your turkey with the stuffing inside. The USDA advises against cooking stuffing in the bird because of an increased risk of food-borne illness. However, if cooked properly it should pose no problems as long as you remember that stuffed turkeys take longer to roast.
Step 7
Cover the turkey loosely with aluminum foil.
Step 8
Place the covered roasting pan in the preheated oven and set your kitchen timer for one and a half hours.
Step 9
Remove the foil from the bird after an hour and half.
Step 10
Baste the turkey with the drippings in the bottom of the pan, or you can brush it with vegetable oil. This step is not required, but it does help make the turkey meat more moist and gives the turkey a nice brown color.
Step 11
Place the turkey back in the oven to allow it to finish cooking, basting it as desired. Cooking time varies based on the size of the bird and whether it is stuffed. For example, an 8-lb. to 12-lb. turkey will take two and three-quarter hours to three hours to cook unstuffed or three to three and a half hours to cook stuffed, the USDA reports. An 18-lb. to 20-lb. turkey will take four and a quarter to four and a half hours to cooked unstuffed or four and a quarter to four and three-quarter hours stuffed.
Step 12
Remove the turkey from the oven once it has cooked for the specified time to check the internal temperature.
Step 13
Insert a meat thermometer into the thigh of the turkey to see if it has reached a minimum temperature of 165 degrees F. Repeat this procedure in the breast to make sure it, too, has reached this necessary temperature.
Step 14
Place the turkey back in the oven if it has not yet reached 165 degrees F and check it every 15 minutes until it does.
Step 15
Allow the turkey to sit and rest for 20 minutes before carving it, to allow the juices to fully saturate the meat of the bird.
Tips and Warnings
- If you roast a stuffed turkey, you must also check the temperature of the stuffing while in the bird to make sure it also reaches at least 165 degrees F before serving. In some cases, turkey meat may appear pink even though it has been cooked to 165 degrees F. This occurs because of hemoglobin the tissue of the bird and does not mean it is unsafe to eat, the USDA reports. When stuffing a turkey, use a half-cup to a three-quarters of a cup of turkey for every 1 lb. of bird weight, the University of Illinois Extension advises. The USDA recommends thawing a frozen turkey in the refrigerator, a process that takes several days depending on the size of the bird. In general, it will take one day for every 4 to 5 lbs. of weight.
Things You'll Need
- Kitchen scissors or a knife
- Towels
- Roasting pan
- Kitchen timer
- Aluminum foil
- Turkey baster, if desired
- Basting brush, if desired
- Vegetable oil, if desired
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