Whether you are a traditionalist that insists on a crackling-skinned, golden-brown breast-up turkey that looks like it belongs in a magazine, a maverick that roasts your turkey breast down or you take the middle ground and flip your bird over halfway through the total cooking time, the turkey still tastes great. Size matters, though, when deciding which method to use. Smaller birds dry out faster, while larger turkeys may give you trouble when the time comes to flip it.
Breast-Side Down
Step 1
Place the V-rack in a sturdy rectangular or oval roasting pan large enough to hold one turkey, while leaving at least 1/2- to 1-inch space between the turkey and the sides of the pan. Use a hard-sided turkey roaster, not a disposable aluminum one, especially if the turkey weighs more than 10 to 14 lbs. Use two aluminum pans and a wire lifting rack if you do not have a hard-sided turkey roaster, or place the doubled pans on a high-sided cookie sheet at least an inch longer and wider than the roasting pans.
Step 2
Remove the plastic covering from the turkey. Reach inside the bird and remove the giblets, neck bone and gravy packet, if any, reserving them to make gravy or stuffing later. Look for the neck inside the body cavity of the turkey, and the giblets inside the neck cavity, under the skin, and find the gravy packet in either cavity.
Step 3
Salt the turkey inside and out if you and your dinner guests are not on a sodium-restricted diet. Rub the entire exterior of the turkey with olive oil and sprinkle it with rosemary, paprika and onion powder, using plastic gloves to prevent transferring any bacteria.
Step 4
Peel three fist-sized onions, two carrots and eight cloves of garlic. Cut the carrots and two ribs of celery into 2-inch pieces. Place one onion, two pieces of celery, two pieces of carrot and 2 peeled garlic cloves into the neck cavity of the turkey. Pull the skin over the vegetables and secure it with a metal skewer.
Step 5
Place the remaining vegetables, onions and garlic cloves in the body cavity of the turkey. Pull the triangle-shaped "butt" portion, where the tail feathers used to be, up and into the turkey's body cavity, between its legs. Secure the legs against the "butt" using kitchen twine wrapped in a figure-eight from one leg to the other.
Step 6
Place the turkey in the V-rack, breast-side down. Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for one hour for every 5 lbs. of turkey. Stick basting forks in each end of the turkey, halfway through the baking time, to help you turn it breast-side up.
Step 7
Roast the turkey until a meat thermometer stuck into the thickest part of the breast without touching bone registers 165 F. Remove the turkey from the oven and allow it to rest for 15 to 20 minutes before carving it and placing the meat on a serving platter.
Breast-Side Up
Step 1
Use a hard-sided oval or rectangular roasting pan or doubled disposable roasting pans with a lifting rack or cookie sheet. Remove the plastic covering, giblets, neck and gravy packet as you did with the first turkey. Discard the plastic covering and reserve the giblets, neck and gravy packet for later use.
Step 2
Salt the inside body cavity and the space between the skin and the meat at the turkey's neck. Place onions, carrots, celery and garlic inside the neck and body cavities.
Step 3
Secure the flap of neck skin with a skewer as before, push the "butt" portion of the turkey into the body cavity and secure the turkey's legs with kitchen twine.
Step 4
Place the turkey on its back in the roasting pan and cover it with aluminum foil. Roast the turkey for one hour for every 5 lbs. at 325 F. One hour before the turkey finishes roasting, remove the foil and allow the skin to brown.
Step 5
Test the turkey with a meat thermometer in the thickest part of each breast and each thigh without touching any bones. Remove the turkey from the oven when all four register 165 F. Allow the turkey to rest 15 to 20 minutes before carving.
Tips and Warnings
- Buy a 14- by 10- by 2 1/2-inch pan for a 10- to 14-lb. turkey. Use a 17- by 11 1/2- by 2 1/2-inch pan for a 15 to 20-lb. turkey and use a 19- by 14- by 3 1/2-inch pan for turkeys that weigh more than 21 lbs.
Things You'll Need
- V-rack
- Rectangular or oval roasting pan
- Salt
- Olive oil
- Dried rosemary
- Paprika
- Onion powder
- Plastic gloves
- 3 fist-sized onions per turkey
- 2 large carrots per turkey
- 8 garlic cloves per turkey
- 2 celery ribs per turkey
- Metal skewer
- Kitchen twine
- 2 basting forks
- Meat thermometer
- Carving knife
- Serving platter
- Disposable aluminum roasting pan
- Lifting rack or high-sided cookie sheet
References
- U. S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service; Turkey From Farm to Table; August 2010
- U. S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service; Let's Talk Turkey---A Consumer Guide to Safely Roasting a Turkey; Jan. 2011
- CBS News: The Early Show; Tackling Your Thanksgiving Turkey; Torie Ritchie; Nov, 2004
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