Cooking a perfect turkey...recipes? tips?

Last year, my fiance and I stayed home and made our own Thanksgiving dinner....and it was a disaster. The turkey was dry and my guy had left the giblit bag in it for the entire duration of the roasting. We are hoping to have better luck this year, and I have decided to do a 'trial run' this weekend to see if we are capable of cooking a turkey without it tasting like cardboard. Any tips or recipies?Cooking a perfect turkey...recipes? tips?
Okay, I've been cooking thanksgiving dinner for well over 20 years, and I don't think I've ever made a ';bad'; one. So here you go...


First you wash the turkey in cold water, remove the giblets and set them in a saucepan. Put your turkey in a large pan and use either olive or vegetable oil and rub all over the turkey. Season with poultry seasoning or just use sage and salt and pepper, even on the inside of the Turkey.


You will also need a turkey baster.


I will even give you the best stuffing recipe I know.


make one pan of cornbread. (you can use Aunt Millie's or Aunt Jemima) cool. Saute 1 large onion, 3 stalks of celery diced in butter till almost soft. Break cornbread in large pieces in a bowl, add 4 to 5 slices of broken up stale bread, celery and onion, 4 raw eggs, 2 teaspoons of sage, salt and pepper to taste.


Make bouillon, I use only Knorr chicken bouillon, use 2 cubes of bouillon to 3 cups of water, ( I heat it in the microwave for a couple of minutes till it is bubbling) pour slowly over mixture while stirring until it is very moist. Place in pan around the turkey.. do not stuff the turkey.


Cover Turkey for the first hour of cooking with foil, then uncover and baste every 1/2 hour until it is done. Baste the stuffing a little occasionally too so it doesn't dry out.


Good luck and happy thanksgiving!Cooking a perfect turkey...recipes? tips?
I'm so glad it worked out for you... pretty easy, and very tasty, huh? May you have a wonderful thanksgiving with all of your family! Report Abuse

The absolute best way to cook a turkey is to deep fry it!!! First inject it with cajun spices the rub outside with spices. Heat peanut oil to 325-350 degrees in a deep turkey fryer( about 25 dollars at walmart) deep fry approx 2/12 to 3 min. per pound. It will be crispy outside and teder and very juicy inside. You will never bake or roast a turkey again. My family used to fry one and roast one too, but noone even touched the roasted one so now we just fry two!!! I guarantee it will be the best turkey you ever ate!
I agree with the previous answerer, the bag is the way. Another tip: fill the cavity with chopped onions or other veggies for flavor. Don't stuff it, it will dry it out. Just cooks the stuffing in a separate dish with some chicken broth.
My newlywed wife and I have been hosting a Thanksgiving the last couple years for our friends in school that don't go home for the holiday. We usually start by rubbing a butter/herb mix all over the bird (some parsley, and whatever your preference. Salt will draw out the moisture so don;t use that for the rub). Don't be afraid to cover the thing and get your hands in there. They will be slimy and covered in butter-that's good. Then cover it with foil. The easiest way is to use two sheets that meet in the middle. When you go to baste it, it is much easier to open in the middle-just fold the sheets together once over. When you put it into the oven, don;t keep messing with it. Keep the skin juicy by basting every 30-45 minutes. There will be juices from the turkey but you will probably have to use butter (melted) that was left over from rubbing the turkey. When the skin begins to firm up/about one hour before finished cooking, take the foil off and wait for the little red button to pop or the proper temp as measured in the breast and away from the bones. We cook the stuffing separately but my mom/grandma always cooked the stuffing inside the bird. Sometimes the stuffing soaks up the juices though. You can always use the leftover juices from cooking the bird to add to the stuffing for more flavor. Fat always tastes good. Just ask Paula Dean. hope that helps. Good idea on the trial run.


Oh ya-use a roaster pan, with an insert on the bottom to raise the turkey off the bottom
Rub olive oil generously on the skin and season with salt (I like kosher) and pepper. Put onions, carrots, celery and rosemary inside the turkey. You can put herbs on the skin too if you like. (My sister who cooks all the time gave me this recipe)


If you want to try another way, I've been told that you can cook a turkey in a paper grocery bag (not tried it, but have heard that it's really good this way too)
i put mine in a roaster pan with a lid and rub butter on it then salt %26amp; pepper it pour alittle water in the pan put it in oven bake that way i make dressing with the broth of the turkey. i've been doing thanksgiving dinners for about 22 years never had a complaint yet just buy a good brand turkey so it won't be fatty lol
This will make it really juicey. put under the skin a couple of large flat mushrooms. The juices run into the turkey while cooking and u also have a very faint taste of mushrooms in the meat which is really nice (only if u like mushrooms though).
Put turky in viniger for 2 hours befor you put it in the oven
You sure you don't have a cook book???


well you'll get web sites galore now and many recipes


check the thrift stores for large roasting pans with lids and if they have cookbooks


used book stores also


then there is Barns %26amp; Nobel


http://www.bn.com
I myself cooked my very first turkey last year. Luckily, it tasted wonderful. The EASIEST way - THE BAG!!! Buy the reynolds turkey roaster bags, follow the directions on that box and it is fool-proof. I like to put a little bit of a rub on the skin too. McCormick brand seasoning has a poultry rub and a specific turkey rub that are very good. Or - what I did last year was just a bit of oregano, parsley, basil, salt and pepper. And like I said, it was delicious!





Hope that helps