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Issue Date: November 11, 2001
The perfect holiday turkey
I tried every possible method. Most failed. Then I hit on the secret: Keep turning that bird!
I'll never forget the summer I learned how to roast a moist, flavorful turkey. With all the techniques out there, I knew I'd have to roast a few birds. At the time, I just didn't know how many. So I decided to devote three days to the project and hired a helper. Roasting two a day in three ovens, we churned out 18 turkeys.
We tried different oven temperatures. Some turkeys we basted; others we left alone. We roasted them in foil, oven bags and brown paper sacks. We covered one with cheesecloth and basted it with butter, and another was coated with flour-butter paste. We dissected a bird, roasted the parts separately and then skewered it back together. After three exhausting days, we weren't even close to perfection.
My colleague had other commitments and couldn't continue. But I had a deadline and couldn't stop. So the next several days started like the old Cheech and Chong account of summer vacation: got up; put on a bathing suit, jogging shorts and tennis shoes; pulled a turkey from the fridge; roasted it.
My testing, however, wasn't in vain. What I learned is that if the turkey roasts breast side up (as most do), the breast consistently cooked 10 degrees faster than the leg/thigh. To compound the problem, I found that the breast meat is perfectly done at 160 degrees, while the leg/thigh is just done at 170 degrees. If I cooked the leg/thigh of the turkey to 170 degrees, the breast already was a parched 180, a full 20 degrees past perfection. I finally understood why the white meat of most roast turkeys is so throat-chokingly dry.
The solution: Rotate the turkey during roasting. This technique requires a heavy-duty V-rack, available for about $12 in kitchenware stores. I also discovered that this technique works only for turkeys that are 14 pounds or less. It's too awkward to lift a large turkey, and most ovens aren't large enough to hold a huge bird sitting on a V-rack. The turkey starts breast side down and is shifted from side to side, then finally breast side up.
During my turkey marathon, I also discovered an even more helpful tip in Jean Anderson's The Food of Portugal. If a turkey is soaked in salt water the night before roasting, it absorbs the saline solution. This extra water cushions the turkey and keeps it from drying out while the salt cleanses the bird, making it taste seasoned from the surface right down to the bone. No more dry, bland turkey.
Pam Anderson is the author of "How to Cook Without a Book" (Broadway, $25) and "The Perfect Recipe" (Houghton Mifflin, $27).
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Full-Flavored Roast Turkey
Start by soaking the turkey in brine. I need 1 1/2 gallons of water to cover the turkey in the bucket I use. A larger container may require more water. Just remember the ratio -- 1 cup kosher salt (and 2/3 cup sugar) per gallon of water -- and increase accordingly. Don't worry if a bit of the turkey is not submerged. Just place the turkey, breast down, in the water, and let part of the back sit above the water. Sugar is optional, but it helps the bird brown beautifully.
1 1/2 cups kosher salt
1 cup sugar (optional)
1 turkey (11-14 pounds), thawed if frozen, giblet bag, neck and tail cut off and reserved for gravy (see next page), excess fat around each cavity removed and discarded
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, coarsely chopped
1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
3 Tbs. melted butter
Mix salt, optional sugar and 1 1/2 gallons of cold water in a clean bucket or stockpot large enough to hold the turkey. Add turkey; refrigerate 12-15 hours. Remove turkey from brine, rinse thoroughly under cool running water and pat dry.
Adjust oven rack to lowest position and preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place half of the chopped onion, carrot and celery in the turkey cavity. Tie the legs together and secure the wings. Scatter remaining onion, carrot and celery in a large roasting pan. Pour 1 cup of water over the vegetables. Set V-rack in pan. Place turkey, breast side down, on V-rack. Brush back and sides with melted butter. Roast for 45 minutes.
Remove pan from oven. Close oven door. Baste the turkey's back with drippings from the caramelized roasted vegetables, adding a little water to the pan if drippings need loosening. With a wad of paper towels in each hand, turn the turkey on its side so one leg and wing are up. Brush exposed area of turkey with loosened pan drippings. Add 1/2 cup water to the pan. Return to oven and roast for 20 minutes.
Remove turkey from oven; close oven door. Use the wads of paper towels to turn the turkey so the other leg/wing faces up. Baste exposed areas with drippings. Add more water to the pan, if necessary, to keep vegetables from burning. Roast 20 minutes more.
For the third time, remove turkey from oven; close door. Turn turkey breast side up and baste with drippings; roast 35-55 minutes longer, until a meat thermometer inserted in the breast registers 160-165 degrees and the leg/thigh registers about 170 degrees.
Keep checking the pan, making sure the vegetables maintain a rich caramel color; add water if they start to burn.
Transfer turkey to a platter and let rest, uncovered, 30 minutes before carving. Meanwhile, pour excess fat from pan; discard fat and reserve drippings for gravy.
An 11- to 14-pound turkey should serve 10-12 people, with some leftovers.
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Rich, Simple Turkey Gravy or Sauce
Do not add salt when making the broth. The pan drippings from the brined turkey will provide enough salt for the gravy. For a richer broth, add a cut-up chicken thigh or two, along with the giblets. For thickened "au jus"-style consistency, use the cornstarch. For thicker, traditional gravy, use the flour. If you prefer to use not to use wine, simply add water in its place.
2 tsps. vegetable oil
Giblets (liver discarded), neck and tail from 1 turkey, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
Reserved turkey roasting pan with drippings
1 cup dry white wine or dry vermouth
3 Tbs. cornstarch or 6 Tbs. flour
Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add giblets, neck, tail pieces and onion; sauté until giblets lose their raw color and onion softens, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until turkey parts release their liquid, about 20 minutes. Add 1 quart of water, bring to boil, cover and simmer, partially covered, to make a flavorful broth. Strain, then return broth to pan. You should have about 3 cups of broth. (Can be refrigerated overnight.) Skim fat from broth.
Set reserved turkey roasting pan with its drippings over two burners on medium-high heat. Add the wine; cook, loosening pan drippings with a wooden spoon, until mixture boils. Strain pan drippings into broth in saucepan, pressing on vegetables to release their flavor. Bring broth mixture to simmer; mix cornstarch or cornstarch with 1/2 cup water and stir into simmering broth. Continue to simmer until lightly thickened. Serve with turkey and dressing.
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Your turkey guide
Pam Anderson on the best way to buy, roast, carve and serve
There may be a few cooks who have roasted more turkeys than I have in the last seven years, but I don't know anyone who has spent as much time analyzing the process. My testing has not been in vain, however, because I've developed a roast turkey that's juicy, full-flavored, quick to roast, simple to carve and easy to serve. Before buying and roasting your next turkey, read what I've learned from my scores of tests.
Brine the turkey. If you don't follow another single word of my advice, try soaking the turkey in a bucket of salt water the night before roasting (1 cup of kosher salt and 2/3 cup optional sugar for every gallon of water). Three good things happen during the brining process: The salt water draws out the blood, cleansing the bird; the salt and water absorb into the turkey, causing the roasted bird to be juicier and to taste wonderfully seasoned from the skin right down to the bone; and sugar subtly rounds out the flavor and helps the turkey to brown. The turkey can be soaked in a small plastic bucket or large stockpot. For those in northern climates, it's usually cold enough in an unheated garage or basement at Thanksgiving (or even outside with a weighted lid) to store the soaking turkey overnight. If, however, you live in a warm climate and can't make room in the refrigerator (or don't have a spare one), dissolve the salt in a small amount of lukewarm water in an ice chest, and add ice water to cover the turkey. Two varieties of turkeys should not be brined -- kosher turkeys, which already have been coated in salt for a period of time at the processing plant, and self-basting turkeys, which have been injected with salted broth, fat and other seasonings.
Rotate the turkey during roasting. If the turkey is roasted breast side up the entire time, the breast meat will be dry. Rotating the turkey during cooking protects the breast and results in juicy white meat. To simplify the rotation process, purchase a heavy-duty V-rack (a mere $12 investment), which cradles the bird and holds it in place.
Choose a small turkey. They're are easier to rotate, so select ones that are no more than 14 pounds. Not only are large turkeys more difficult to rotate (actually impossible to roast in the leg/wing up position in most ovens), they also take longer to cook, making the outer area of meat more likely to overcook and dry out before the interior meat is cooked.
Roast two small turkeys rather than one big one (for those who need it). A small turkey roasts in about 2 1/2 hours, so cook the first one early in the day when the oven's not in demand. Carve the turkey, arrange it on an ovenproof platter, and cover it. Meanwhile, roast the second turkey. Just before serving, set the covered platter in a warm oven. Use the whole bird for show at the table and use the already carved meat for passing -- no more side dishes getting cold while one nervous person tries to carve at the table. The second whole bird can be carved once everyone's had a first serving or can be saved and used for leftovers.
Purchase a fresh turkey, if possible, but brining greatly improves a frozen one. One Thanksgiving I served a fresh, free-range roast turkey alongside a frozen, mass-produced roast turkey. Most guests identified the fresh turkey over the frozen one, but most thought the frozen turkey was perfectly acceptable. Brining cleanses and seasons, bridging the quality gap between frozen, mass-produced turkeys and those that are fresh and free-range.
Don't stuff the turkey. It's a fact: A stuffed turkey sits longer in a hot oven waiting for the cavity to come to temperature than an unstuffed turkey. The longer the turkey sits in a hot oven, the more the meat overcooks and dries out. Sticking a few aromatics in the turkey cavity -- onions, carrots and celery -- improves the meat's flavor without slowing down the cooking process.
Carve the turkey on a large cutting board, then transfer the meat to a platter. Start by removing both wings. Separate each wing at the joint and place all four wings sections on the platter; they're always the first to go! Remove each leg/thigh section and set aside. Remove each breast half, then cut each, crosswise, into thin slices. Cut each leg/thigh at the joint and carve meat from each part.
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