My Best Turkey Advice
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Photo by Sarah Plfug
I have been hosting Thanksgiving dinner for 20 years, and I have tried literally everything when it comes to cooking turkey. I’ve brined it, deep-fried it, marinated it, injected it, buttered it, dry-rubbed it, butterflied it, smoked it, and stuffed it. I’ve tried Kosher turkeys, organic turkeys, free-range turkeys, and self-basting turkeys.
A few years ago, I even bought an oil-less outdoor propane turkey fryer called “The Big Easy,” which freed up my oven and actually made a wonderfully crisp-skinned and juicy turkey. (If you want to spend $160 on a large piece of equipment that will likely sit in storage collecting cobwebs 364 days a year, I highly recommend it!)
From all this fussing with turkeys, I’ve come to realize that my turkey will never be perfect.
Let’s face it: turkeys, on their own, just aren’t very good. That’s what gravy and cranberry sauce are for.
As Mary Risley from Tante Marie’s Cooking School humorously points out in the video below (which you should definitely watch, especially if you have any turkey-cooking anxiety), “I have never had an outstanding turkey.”
(Heads up: this video contains some foul language)
Short of purchasing a special turkey cooker (this is the one I have), it is near impossible to cook a turkey perfectly: the white meat always cooks before the dark meat is done, and the skin on the bottom is never crisp (unless you flip the hot, sputtering bird mid-way through cooking…ummm, no thank you).
So is it really worth it to go to great lengths — brining in big coolers for days in the garage, risking life and limb deep-frying in the driveway, pre-icing the breast of the turkey so it cooks more slowly (I swear, there’s a very respectable cooking magazine that wants you to do this) — to make that be-all-and-end-all turkey?
It’s up to you, but I’m not interested in babysitting my turkey for three days to get only marginally better results at the end.
My advice to you on Thanksgiving is to keep it simple. Make an easy roast turkey recipe, like this dry-brined roast turkey, with an over-the-top delicious gravy and some cranberry sauce to go with it. (Or, if you really don’t want to stress, go ahead and buy your turkey already roasted!) Serve lots of wine and focus your time and creativity on the side dishes and desserts because that’s what everyone really looks forward to anyway.
Wishing you a happy and stress-free Thanksgiving! ❤️
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This is basically a moan about cooking turkey in general!
The dry brining in Jen’s recipe made a very tasty turkey but I throw my hands up with respect to the challenge of getting the legs done while not drying out the breast meat.
I took the 12 lb turkey out from the 375F oven when the $$ digital thermometer beeped at 165F but we found that the legs were still a bit pink at the joints after it had sat for 30 minutes and we began carving. A granddaughter was kept busy running to the microwave to zap the pink away as her Dad was carving!
I even had notched the skin between the leg and the body as Jacques Pepin recommends! I think that next year I will roast on a rack on a baking tray to expose more of the bird to the direct heat and maybe even spatchcock it to see it that evens up the cooking. The other thing that gets me about cooking turkey is that I find the time it takes to cook so unpredictable which is fine for those living in the house but hard to know when to tell outside visitors to arrive.
But thanks Jen for all your recipes. These are the ones we used in addition to the turkey: the gravy, the sausage stuffing, the creamed spinach and the do ahead mashed potatoes. All were made ahead and reheated except the spinach as I worried the green color would dull (but it hasn’t the next day so I didn’t need to worry).
We used your recipe for our turkey this year. It was fabulous! Thank you!
I made the dry brined Turkey for the very first time. We had 8 people and a 13 lbs fresh Turkey bought at Costco. I removed the package and dry rubbed it very generously with the rub from the recipe 36 hours before cooking . My first thought was too much salt and even the amount of sugar was surprising . Just before putting it in the oven I wiped the rub off and smeared it with the butter. I stuffed some of my often tried stuffing with celery, onions, diced apples, sausage meat and dried cherries. Figuring it would take an additional 20 to 30 minutes to cook. I do have an instant wireless meat thermometer that gives me the cooking time after about 15 minutes in the oven. To my surprise the bird was done in 1 hour and 50 minutes. As usual we let the Roasted Turkey rest before carving. It was without a doubt the tastiest , tender, most juicy bird we have had in a long long time. From now on it will always be the dry rub . Jenn as usual your recipes never disappoint
I’ve tried so may different ways to make turkey better, and as you say, nothing really works. But, to get a faster, more even roast, spatchcock the turkey; that actually makes a difference
Jenn, This video made my day! Absolutely great. I loved it and I feel the same way about turkey. A nice tradition but yuck in the cooking and flavor department.
Happy Thanksgiving
PS We’re having N. Y. strips for Thanksgiving dinner. Just couldn’t take another dried out turkey leg.
Jenn, LOVE THE VIDEO! You are my ‘go-to’ chef for all recipes! You test and prepare so well and I KNOW your recipes are going to be delicious and correct. I’ve purchased two of your cookbooks- one for me and one as a gift. We will haul our best dishes, including our spatchcocked turkey on the road from Mississippi to Austin, TX this year!
Happy Thanksgiving! Tina
❤️
The “Big Easy” propane turkey cooker is on sale for $99 on Amazon today
I always love this funny video!! Thank you for sharing again!
And of course I love your recipes. ❤️
I love Tante Marie and her Thanksgiving advice! Thank you for sharing your advice as well. Since COVID our group gathering dwindled in number so this year we’re going away for Thanksgiving. I hope to get back to gathering again or I will lose my Thanksgiving prep skills. 🙂
A few years ago I started ordering my turkey dinners from a local food store and have never been disappointed with the results. The turkey is always flavourful and moist and my only work is to reheat the turkey for a couple of hours and reheat the sides I order with it. No stress!
Hey Jenn, love your recipes! My husband and I lost our home to Hurricane Irma in 2017. We lived in his man cave garage for 20 months during the rebuilding of our new house. That Thanksgiving we purchased the Char Broil Big Easy to cook our turkey. This will be our 6th year using the Big Easy for the big bird! We love it. And, we also do our Christmas prime rib in the Big Easy. So moist!
Good to know you like the Big Easy (and I’m SO sorry about the loss of your home)! It had to have been devastating, but glad to hear you’re in a rebuilt home and doing well. 🙂
I’ve been making Thanksgiving dinner for 40 years. The best thing I did was to buy an electric turkey roaster for maybe $50. Turkey cooks in that, which frees up the oven. I am down to a single oven and am thinking of making homemade rolls earlier in the day and then reheating in the oven for 10 minutes so other side dishes don’t get cold. Or is there a better way to reheat? Thanks and happy Thanksgiving to all!
I think using the oven to reheat the rolls is a good way to go. Happy Thanksgiving!
Do you have a recipe for the oil-less fried Turkey? Thanks!
Hi Katie, I keep it very simple and follow the seasoning from the this recipe. As for the cook time, I would reference the manual for the fryer. Hope that helps!
Thanks!
Such helpful advice, thank you! I’m contemplating buying the big easy. Could you share your recipe for turkey with it? How long does it take to cook the Turkey? Thanks again!
I actually used a recipe (it wasn’t mine) but I’d keep it simple and season it with salt and pepper (see how I treat the turkey in this recipe). Regarding timing, I’d consult the Big Easy manual for guidance.
I purchased a 17 lbs Butterball & planned to use your dry brine recipe. But, I read that you don’t recommend it for Butterballs. Is there a no-fuss recipe I can still use? I plan to cook the turkey in my electric roaster oven. Thank you; I love your recipes!
Hi Janet, You can use the dry-brine recipe; just cut the salt to 2 tablespoons for a 17 lb butterball turkey. I would also reduce the heat to 325. It will take about 3-1/2 hrs to cook. Happy Thanksgiving!
Your advice is fantastic! Thank you for making my Thanksgiving a success. I had many compliments on the turkey (which was wonderfully moist and had a lovely crispy brown skin) and the make ahead mashed potatoes and gravy were delicious. Being able to make the sides ahead of time enabled me to relax and enjoy my guests, as well as get dinner on the table on time! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
It was great! Turkey was moist and skin was crispy!
Here is the funny thing about this Best Turkey Advise: It got me interested in the Big Easy Oil less Turkey Fryer. I did research and same as another reader, I liked the idea of less mess and not having so much to put in the oven. So, it was on sale and I bought it. I also keep wondering how many people bought one as a result of this article. LOL. Bottom line, our turkey was outstanding. moist with a nice crispy skin. We loved it! Yes, there is the problem of where to store it, but in the meantime we are going to try cooking some different things in it. I had never heard of this- thank you for the education and the point of your article is turkey is hard to make flavorful but when all is said and done, your turkey recipes and advise are terrific! Thank you!
Happy Thanksgiving!!!! (You ought to get paid by Charbroil for bringing their product into the limelight. lol)
Made the herb and brown sugar dry-brined turkey. Everyone loved it. It was so moist! I had a 20 pound bird so I doubled your recipe for the brine. I baked my turkey at 325 degrees and it was done in two hours. I was shocked. I used my meat thermometer on the breast and the drumsticks and they were done. Don’t know why it cooked so fast because my oven temp is correct. Not complaining though. And the butter rub right before baking really made a beautiful crisp skin. Thanks Jenn, I rely on your recipes so much because you give great directions and you recipes are always so good. Giving three of your cookbooks as Christmas presents this year! All of your recipes are 5 STARS!!!!!!!!!!!
So glad the turkey came out well (and thanks for your very kind words and support of the cookbook)! 🙂
I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the video. Just what I needed to relax and remember that Thanksgiving should be fun. Thank you!!!!!
Jenn! I went ahead and ordered the Charbroil oilers fryer. Got a good deal on Amazon. How do you prepare your turkey when you use yours? Thank you!
Hi Kelly, Super simple — just olive oil, kosher salt and pepper! You can use this recipe as a guide for quantities (and gravy too).
A language warning would have been really nice on that video!! My children we with me when I hit play and now their innocent ears have heard the F bomb!! 😱🤬😩
I appreciate your recipes and enjoy following your blog, but PLEASE give warning in future if anything has adult content!!!!
Oh no I’m so sorry about that! There is something right above the video that says that it contains foul language but you must not of seen it – sorry!!!
Leah, I hear you, but believe me your kids are going to be okay. Mine turned out okay.
Take care and Happy Thanksgiving.
Yup there is a warning posted guess your innocent eyes didn’t see it 🙄
2 Interesting stories. Years ago I had this wall oven that died right before Thanksgiving. The only thing that worked was the broiler. I figured no Turkey. Well my kids whined and cried they wanted Turkey. So I cooked the Turkey under the broiler. Just kept turning it off an on. The Turkey actually came out OK
Another time I had heard cooking the Turkey upside down would moisten the breasts, which it did. Except when I turned it over the whole bird fell apart.
No great visual Turkey moment.
😂
The best part of Thanksgiving turkey is the prepping with family creating memories that will last. Even though my mom is no longer with us, times we prepped the turkey come up as I’m working in the kitchen with our children.
💓
I been cooking Thanksgiving dinner for 38 years and your advice was the best advice I have ever got! Thanks so much. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
I have Thanksgiving turkey horror stories. Last year I purchased a sous vide cooker. Game changer! We will never bake a turkey again!