Favorite way to cook turkey

[Elphie 0]

I always cook it in the oven. I'm not a fan of deep frying anything. I've never tried the bags. I've used them for other things like beef roasts and chicken and they always come out good.

[*JG* 2]

I used to cook it. The prep, the mess after.....not anymore. I buy a pre-cooked from The Honeybaked Ham Store and just warm it up. Makes my life so much easier and I get to actually socialize a bit on Thanksgiving.

[Sister Fracas 5]

My mum deep fries turkeys (never for Thanksgiving though) and I have to say it's fabulous. The meat always comes out very juicy. She grilled the turkey one year for Thanksgiving and I told her I felt robbed of all of the nice smells in the kitchen and throught the house! lol The way I like to cook it in the oven is to rub the cavity with some olive oil, fill the cavity with some carrots, onions and a bit of lemon and then put fresh herbs (thyme, tarragon & parsley) BETWEEN the skin and flesh of the bird and also in the cavity, then rub the outside with olive oil, season it and then I learned of this trick years ago and that's to flip the bird onto the breast-side for some of the cooking time to allow all of the juices that are forming inside of the cavity from the veggies and oil to seep into the breast meat which is the driest meat. It's a tricky thing flipping a big freakin' cooking turkey.... but it really works! Also, I'd never stuff a bird because that can draw juices away from the meat. I make stuffing in a separate caserole dish.

The thing about flipping it is that you may not getting the prettiest skin, but that doesn't really matter because the bird isnt' suppose to go to the table straight from the oven. You are suppose to let it sit about 20 minutes and it becomes easier to slice. I love how on TV they always show the big-a$$ turkey going straight from oven to table...duhr!

Edited November 5, 2007 by Frances

[Sister Fracas 5]

I think the misconception about the deep fried turkey is that it will be greasy and this is far from the truth. It's not at all and since you aren't suppose to eat skin anyway.... you arent' eating the fatty part.

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

My fiancée's grandmother made the best goose I ever had for New Year's. Crispy skin and a juicy tender inside. I ate every bit to the bare bone and came back the next day to suck on the bones! (Okay not really!)

I'd deep fry it, but truly, I prefer other poultry. Goose and duck come to mind.

I like goose too but I've never had good luck with it. I did one this past Christmas and it was so fatty it just fell apart in the roasting pan.

[rebeccajo 14]

I always cook it in the oven. I'm not a fan of deep frying anything. I've never tried the bags. I've used them for other things like beef roasts and chicken and they always come out good.

Beef roast? Why did I never think of that! I bet that works out great. I hate dry roast beef and it's always been one of my cooking challenges.

[Amby 490]

turducken is the best really...so fatty...so bad for arteries

[LoriLawless 0]

I always cook it in the oven. I'm not a fan of deep frying anything. I've never tried the bags. I've used them for other things like beef roasts and chicken and they always come out good.

Beef roast? Why did I never think of that! I bet that works out great. I hate dry roast beef and it's always been one of my cooking challenges.

Oh they work GREAT for beef roasts.

[de_sjiem 0]

I cooked Turkey in beer one year... turned out pretty good... (I think it was Thanksgiving, but it would have been the Canadian thanksgiving anyways, although perhaps it was Christmas... )

[john_and_marlene 162]

you didn't have a rotisserie choice. I like either deep fried or rotisserie.

[tom&tata 2]

We will go to his grandma & his dad's house, so we would not be cooking. His dad deep fried the turkey, grandma cooked it in the oven. No options for "whatever parents or grandma cooks"

[no name 1]

The bags are GENIUS.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

I think takeout (let someone else cook it) for turkey.

Chicken, we'll bake at home (smaller, and more flavourful bird).

[♥JP♥ 5]

I hate the bag method. I use a method I saw on Martha Stewart several years ago. Rub the turkey inside, outside, and under the skin with tons of butter, then put some fresh herbs under the skin and inside the cavity (I like sage). Lightly salt/pepper inside outside. I also add some aeromatics inside the bird, onion, apple, lemon, orange, whatever I have on hand.

Then preheat your oven to 500 degrees, once your oven has reached the desired temp, put the bird in. Leave in the oven for 30 mintues exactly, DON"T TOUCH. Take the bird out, the skin will be a lovely crispy brown. Congratulations you have just seared in all the juices and your bird wont be dry. Lower the temp down to 350 and put on a turkey triangle ( a large piece of foil shaped into a triangle) the point should be on the breast, covering it completely. The rest of the triangle will cover the legs so they dont burn.

I only baste the bird once or twice, it has never come out dry. Always perfect and tasty!

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I hate the bag method. I use a method I saw on Martha Stewart several years ago. Rub the turkey inside, outside, and under the skin with tons of butter, then put some fresh herbs under the skin and inside the cavity (I like sage). Lightly salt/pepper inside outside. I also add some aeromatics inside the bird, onion, apple, lemon, orange, whatever I have on hand.

Then preheat your oven to 500 degrees, once your oven has reached the desired temp, put the bird in. Leave in the oven for 30 mintues exactly, DON"T TOUCH. Take the bird out, the skin will be a lovely crispy brown. Congratulations you have just seared in all the juices and your bird wont be dry. Lower the temp down to 350 and put on a turkey triangle ( a large piece of foil shaped into a triangle) the point should be on the breast, covering it completely. The rest of the triangle will cover the legs so they dont burn.

I only baste the bird once or twice, it has never come out dry. Always perfect and tasty!

That's exactly how Alton Brown's recipe works. Aromatics are good!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/re...36_8389,00.html

Edited November 21, 2007 by Mister Fancypants