Roast Turkey for Thanksgiving, Part 1

Turkey on a bed of mashed potatoes covered in gravy with a side of sliced jellied cranberry sauce and garnished with dry parsley.

Roast turkey over a bed of mashed potatoes and covered in gravy with a side of sliced, jellied cranberry sauce and garnished with dry parsley.

THANKSGIVING IS PRACTICALLY HERE!!! And it’s been a minute since I posted my turkey recipe, which I have improved since my original turkey recipe post. Now rather than dry brining the outside skin of the turkey, I make a delicious herbed butter that I stuff under the skin. If you want to make my old recipe, it is a little less labor intensive.

For my updated recipe, I grind dry herbs and spices together and beat it into a softened stick of Kerry Gold Irish Butter, which I then tuck under the skin and the membrane between the skin and the meat. I try to get as much contact between the seasoned butter and the meat as I can, so the turkey is moist, flavorful, and delicious.

The directions and ingredients below target the traditional Thanksgiving turkey flavors and timeline. You can apply similar practices and theory to change the flavor profile and make a whole roast turkey any time of year. You can also change the cooking method to smoke, deep-fry, or grill your turkey, although you may want to spatchcock your bird if you’re going to grill your turkey.

Ingredients:

Turkey, 12-14 lbs.
1 stick good quality butter
1 tbsp. thyme
2 tsp. rubbed sage
2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg (up to ½ tsp. to taste)
¼ tsp. ground allspice
1 ½-2 tbsp. kosher salt

Directions (for Thanksgiving Turkey):

Put the turkey in a pan in the fridge Sunday night to begin thawing.
Wednesday evening, unwrap the butter and set in a mixing bowl to soften while you remove the turkey from the packaging. Remove the giblets and neck and place them in a zip-top bag in the fridge to make the gravy the next day.
Rinse the bird under cold water to remove the super-slippery poultry juices. Pat dry and place on a rack over your roasting pan.
In a coffee grinder (or using a mortar and pestle if you abhor modern technology), combine the thyme, sage, pepper, nutmeg, and allspice. Grind to a fine powder before adding the salt.
Pulse the herbs, spices, and salt a few times so the salt retains some larger crystals.
Combine the herbs and spices with the butter and mix thoroughly until no lighter streaks of butter remain. Set herbed butter aside until time to work under the turkey skin.
Use your fingertips to separate the skin from the meat without tearing the skin. Try to get under the stretchy membrane between the skin and the meat so your herbed butter comes in direct contact with the meat. Don’t forget to work around to the leg meat.
Stuff the herbed butter under the skin and try to get as deep into the pockets as you can. You should be able to see the dark seasoned butter under the skin. Note that the butter will stick to your hands. Use your cleaner hand to press on the outside of the skin while you pull your fingers out from under the skin to scrape the butter off and deposit it onto the meat.
Wipe any excess herbed butter inside the cavity and on the exterior of the bird’s skin.
Lightly cover your turkey with foil or plastic wrap and store in the fridge overnight so the seasonings in the butter can begin working into the meat.
Thursday morning, preheat your oven to 500°. Form a triangle of foil over the breast according to Alton Brown’s instructions in the classic Good Eats episode “Romancing the Bird.” Actually, from this point, follow Alton’s instructions for roasting a whole turkey, including time and temperature. Set your turkey triangle aside to apply later
Set your probe thermometer in the deepest part of the meat without touching bone or puncturing the cavity. Roast at 500° for 30 minutes, then lower the oven to 350° and apply the turkey triangle. Pull the turkey when your white meat is at 161° and dark meat is at 171°.
Stab the underside of your turkey a few times to extract any juices trapped under the skin into your roasting pan. Rest the bird lightly tented in foil for 30-45 minutes while you make your gravy and reheat your sides.

Stay tuned for part 2 of my updated turkey recipe where I describe how to make gluten-free turkey gravy from scratch using the giblets and neck. Also, the video for part 2 will include how to carve your bird. Just as a refresher.

Let me know how you enjoy your Thanksgiving turkey in a comment below! If you liked this recipe, don’t miss out on my traditional Thanksgiving pies, like my pumpkin pie recipe or my maple bourbon pecan pie recipe.