Ultimate Classic Roast Turkey

Ultimate Classic Roast Turkey turns out perfectly juicy every time thanks to a wine-and-butter-soaked cheesecloth that keeps the turkey from drying out for most of the roasting time.

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Updated post.

Turkeys of Thanksgivings past

Momma's turkey

I remember my mother getting up very early in the morning on Thanksgiving day—still groggy—to get the turkey in the oven.

This produced all sorts of hilarious results, from discovering that she’d put the bird in the oven upside-down to finding the giblet packet still nestled inside the cavity like a gory Christmas present.

Mom would roast the turkey all day for fear of salmonella contamination—as a result, the bird would often be reminiscent of the turkey scene in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

"Ex turkey"

My ex was a fan of brining and/or injecting the turkey.

This seemed like an incredible hassle to me for marginal results.

In my opinion, brined turkey ends up tasting more like ham. I realize that this is due to a brine gone terribly wrong, but it really turned me off the whole brine thing.

What really torpedoes brining for me, though, is that the drippings from a brined bird are too salty for gravy.

Given what I’ve described above, it’s probably no surprise that I never cared for turkey that much. Until…

Turkeys of Thanksgiving present

Then I met Phil, now my husband of 4 years, who has an all-out turkey fetish.

Not just once a year, either: nay, we have half-Thanksgiving, Birthday Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving for Christmas...and I have to admit: turkey is really, really economical—especially given everything you can do with the leftovers.

I began studying the art of turkey roasting in earnest. To do this, I:

...investigated the pros and cons of wet brines vs. dry brines, of injecting vs. basting, and whether to stuff or not to stuff.

...watched Alton Brown (he’s a brining, no-basting, non-stuffer).

...watched Food Network’s Thanksgiving Special.

...I combed through the Thanksgiving Dinner editions of Fine Cooking and Food and Wine.

The perfect solution: turkey mummy

And then, I found a reportedly fail-safe recipe from Martha Stewart.

The comment section was full of fans raving about how their turkey came out picture-perfect, tender, and delicious every time. I have since made turkey according to this recipe 10 times. I can attest: the result is perfection.

My slightly adapted recipe—which I am now calling the Ultimate Classic Roast Turkey—involves draping the turkey with wine-and-butter-soaked cheesecloth, which prevents the turkey from drying out during the roast.

While the "turkey mummy" cooks, you baste with the wine and butter mixture and pan juices. I like to stick fresh herbs into the cheesecloth and add chicken broth to the roasting pan for some steam from the bottom. Other than that, I've changed very little.

This turkey is the closest to a foolproof roast turkey recipe as any recipe I've ever found.

Considerations for making Ultimate Classic Roast Turkey

Size

Most sites recommend 1.5 lbs. of turkey per person. No, not everybody is going to actually eat 1.5 lbs., but that includes the bones—and I'm calculating so that you'll have leftovers!

Thawing

The general recommendation is to allow 1 day of thaw time in the fridge per 5 pounds of bird, so a 20-lb turkey will take 4 days to thaw.

It's tempting to let the turkey thaw in a cold garage; however, you really can't control the temperature, so this isn't a safe method.

If it's the last minute and you don't have time, you can usually find a never-frozen bird at the grocery—but you'll pay a premium.

Cleaning

Tons of recipes tell you to rinse the bird.

The standard method for rinsing is to put the bird in the (clean) sink under the faucet. 

DON'T DO IT THIS WAY. 

Water from a running faucet will hit the bird and atomize into a cloud of bacteria-infested nastiness, which will spray all over your kitchen and dramatically increase the probability of your party playing host to an outbreak of foodborne illness.

That would be awful. 

If you must rinse the bird, do so by adding cold water to a large container and very gently—no splashes!—pour it over your bird in the (carefully washed out) sink. After you've dried off the turkey and covered it with plastic wrap, use a sanitizer to clean all surfaces near the sink.

Prepping Ultimate Classic Roast Turkey

1. The turkey must sit at room temperature for 2 hours. I usually rinse (yes) as described above, pat dry with plenty of paper toweling, and cover with a few sheets of plastic wrap.
   • Make sure to remove the neck and giblet package, if present (check both the abdominal and neck cavities!). Reserve if you like giblet gravy.
2. You also need a stick of butter at room temperature (for rubbing down the turkey).
3. Make the wine and butter mixture in advance so it can cool somewhat before you add the cheesecloth and wring it out (otherwise, ouch!).

Roasting the Ultimate Classic Roast Turkey

I roast the turkey at a really high temperature for half an hour.

Then, I baste and continue roasting at a lower oven temperature.

I baste every half-hour: the second time, I add a quart of chicken broth to the roasting pan.

This steams the turkey from below while adding great flavor to the pan drippings.

Of course, you use those drippings to make easy, rich turkey gravy later.

About 3 hours into the roast, I remove the cheesecloth to let the turkey brown up, continuing to baste every 30 minutes.

You can see that the bird develops a gorgeous golden color.

I start checking the temperature of the bird at this point: I have a digital thermometer with 2 probes (one in the breast and one in the thigh).

The bird is done when the breast reaches 180º and the thigh reaches 165º.

I also check the stuffing with an instant-read thermometer to make sure that it reaches 165º.

After removing your ultimate classic roast turkey from the oven, rest it for at least 30 minutes.

This is great news if you're making the full turkey dinner!

After all, you'll need to bake your side-dishes and make gravy and mashed potatoes.

The links to all those yummy recipes are below!

 Carving your Ultimate Classic Roast Turkey

This is something that still gives me the jitters.

Every time I'm about to go in with my knife, I watch a video reminding me how to do it—but more often than not, I admit that I happily let the hubster take over.

I could try to describe the steps to you, but I think a visual is really needed. So here's the video we watch.

Arrange the various parts of the Ultimate Classic Roast Turkey so that the white meat and the dark meat are separated.

It's a great idea to leave the drumsticks intact, because there's always somebody who will enjoy a drumstick.

I won't lie: making the Ultimate Classic Roast Turkey is a production, but it's SO worth it.

You'll get tons of stock out of the carcass and have lots of meat left over to use in a variety of dishes.

Have a wonderful Holiday Season!

—xoxo Michelle

For a load of ideas about using up leftover turkey and more, check out Using up Leftovers!

Linkies

I am linking my Ultimate Classic Roast Turkey recipe up with:

• #CookBlogShare, a great food blogger recipe-share at Hijacked by Twins.
• #CookOnceEatTwice, for recipes that are just as good left-over as they are when you made them, hosted by Searching for Spice.
• #RecipeOfTheDay hosted by A Mummy Too.
• #BrillBlogPosts, a link party with a variety of lifestyle reads hosted by Honest Mum.

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Related:

Perfect Meal-Prep Creamy Mashed Potatoes: great for busy weeknights or big events where you want to work ahead as much as possible. Peeling and pre-soaking ahead of time removes a lot of the hands-on work from go-time.

 

Orange-Ginger-Spice Cranberry Sauce: this will make you wonder why you ever ate store-bought. A fantastic condiment for Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey and more! It’s easy to make a few days in advance and keep in the refrigerator until your big event.

 

Make-Ahead Green Bean Casserole: made with fresh green beans and a homemade cream-of-mushroom soup that is delicious enough to be eaten on its own.

 

Easy Sausage Stuffing: a vintage recipe that has been a fixture on the Thanksgiving/Christmas Day table for decades. Perfect for any festive occasion involving turkey, duck, or Cornish game hens.

 

Easy, Rich Turkey Gravy: a low-fuss, no-frills, lower-stress method for delivering fantastic gravy for a crowd on Thanksgiving or Christmas. It starts with a flavorful turkey stock and delicious pan drippings from your roasted turkey.

Work-Ahead Thanksgiving Dinner Meal Plan: all you need to deliver Thanksgiving (or Christmas Dinner) like a pro. Complete with free printable game plan and shopping list!