The Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey

My advice this Thanksgiving is to keep it simple… and relax. All will be well. Serve the dishes your family cherishes. Eat them with joy. And, above all, remember to offer thanks for the special blessings you have gathered around your table!

A golden skinned Thanksgiving turkey entree roasted to perfection.

The Controversy

I’ve heard it all, especially when it comes to cooking a Thanksgiving turkey. The high overhead of passing trends, like deep fat frying or brining the holiday bird, don’t impress me. I don’t worry about ordering our turkey fresh, organic or free range and I don’t serve Tofurky. The issues and ideas involved are interesting but they don’t make it to the top of my list of priorities at this time of year.

That does not, however, mean that I am immune to the controversy. I remember the great Thanksgiving Turkey debate as I was growing up. Aunt Hen and Dad each had their own opinions about which brand of frozen turkey was best. They also had opinions as to whether or not it should be “self-basting.”

My aunt was a brand name kind of lady and she wanted nothing but a self-basting Butterball. My dad was less particular and he was the one who cooked our Thanksgiving dinner every year. He tried all of the brands, usually buying the one that was the best value. While known for cooking a variety of wild game, he never ventured beyond the realm of frozen turkeys for our Thanksgiving dinner.

Back where I come from our Thanksgiving preparation went something like this: about a week in advance, Dad brought home a large frozen bird. Then it thawed in the refrigerator until Thanksgiving Eve. That evening, when Dad got home from work, we gathered in the kitchen to ready the turkey and do all of the chopping for Dad’s Plain Bread Stuffing. We unwrapped the turkey and made sure it was fully thawed. We removed the giblets, set them aside, and settled the turkey on a rack and roasting pan. Then we cubed the bread and toasted it, if needed. We chopped the onions and celery, measured and mixed the spices, and gathered what we wanted to include on the relish tray. Finally we stopped for a coffee break and discussed the plan for the following day.

Nudging it to Perfection

The next morning Dad rose early to put together his stuffing. Then he filled the turkey and nestled it in the oven to roast. After that, he watched it carefully, basting it every hour or so, nudging it to a perfect finish around noon.

I always woke on Thanksgiving morning to that iconic scent of turkey roasting in the kitchen. It was a delight to the senses. As my dad readied the rest of the meal we watched parades on TV until our guests began to gather. Then, after my grandmother arrived with the Pumpkin Pies, she and my aunts made the gravy in our big cast iron skillet. Finally the turkey emerged from the oven. Browned and crispy it was transferred to the turkey platter, ready to be sliced with the beautiful carving set from my mother’s silver flatware.

It was always perfect… no matter how the turkey actually turned out. Sometimes the meat was juicy and sometimes a little dry. Sometimes it cooked on schedule and sometimes it was slow. Whatever the details the turkey made a beautiful centerpiece for our celebration. It reminded us, through all of our senses, that we had reason to be truly thankful. And Dad always found a turkey that was large enough to provide ample leftovers to keep reminding us into the week to come, in soups and sandwiches for school lunches. It really wasn’t the brand of turkey or the method of cooking that mattered. It was the holiday, the gathering and the guests, those parades and the warm conversation wafting in from the kitchen. They surrounded me with tradition and fond memories and a sense of belonging.

A Vintage Turkey Platter for the Thanksgiving roasted turkey.

The Next 28 Years

When I married and moved away from home I continued to buy a frozen turkey for Thanksgiving. I made plans to get up early and roast the bird for a noon-time meal but my new husband had different family traditions. In his family they cooked the turkey in an oven roasting bag. He remembered the first time, when his dad was sure the bag would melt all over the turkey and ruin the dinner. Despite his concerns my mother-in-law persisted and triumphantly cooked the turkey in a fraction of the time required to roast it as my father did. My husband encouraged me to try it his way, assuring me that the turkey would be juicier and quite delicious.

I complied with my husband’s wishes. Why not? The turkey turned out fine. It wasn’t golden brown and its skin wasn’t crispy but it still smelled wonderful. It still produced leftovers for those sandwiches I loved and it still framed the meal just fine. Fine enough, in fact, that I continued to cook our Thanksgiving turkey in an oven roasting bag for the next 28 years.

How Things Change

Then, last year, something happened. I got an extra turkey for free from the supermarket. It was not my first time to have an extra frozen turkey but it was the first time I totally ignored it for most of the following year. I just wasn’t desperate for the freezer space until a few weeks ago when the guys went on a frozen pizza buying spree. Suddenly my freezer was awkwardly overcrowded. It was time to take action.

My free bird was a plain store brand turkey of about 16 pounds. There was nothing special about it. It had a little pop-up temperature probe in it but was otherwise just a basic bird. As I considered cooking it something about it sitting there reminded me of my childhood and those Thanksgivings long ago. In a fit of nostalgia I decided to forgo the oven bag and roast it old school, much like Dad would have done.

After it thawed in the refrigerator, I prepared the turkey. Then I placed it on a rack in a roasting pan and tucked it into the oven. Several hours passed as I went about my business. Little by little that wonderful smell of Thanksgiving mornings began to waft through the house. Then I checked once in a while to see if the probe had popped to tell me it was done.

Checking, I couldn’t help but be impressed by how beautiful it was! What had I been doing all these years cooking a moist but anemic turkey? But the proof is in the pudding or, in the case of turkey, in the breast meat which is often dry. Finally it was done. I took pictures, then carved it and took a taste. The breast was wonderfully herb scented and moist. I’ve never had better.

Thanksgiving Advice

I know that not every turkey will be like that. Like relatives and friends, some are tough or temperamental while others are laid back and forgiving. Of course that is more about the individual turkey than the brand or technique you employ, whether the turkey is fresh or frozen, brined or basted, cooked in a deep fryer or an oven bag. Still this turkey, a store brand frozen turkey thawed and simply roasted, was perhaps the best turkey I have ever cooked. It’s skin was crispy, its meat tender, juicy and flavorful.

So my advice this Thanksgiving is to keep it simple… and relax. All will be well. Serve the dishes your family cherishes. Eat them with joy. And, above all, remember to offer thanks for the special blessings, both past and present, you have gathered around your table!

Herb Roasted Turkey

Course: Main DishCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Prep time

20

minutes
Cooking time

3

hours 

30

minutes
Total time

4

hours 

10

minutes

Just a basic turkey, bought frozen, then thawed and simply roasted with citrus and herbs, might be the best Thanksgiving Turkey you’ve ever cooked.

Ingredients

  • 1 whole turkey, fresh or thawed

  • 1 fresh lemon or orange, halved

  • salt

  • freshly ground black pepper

  • Several large sprigs of fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley)

  • 1-2 Tablespoons olive oil

  • 1 onion, peeled and quartered

  • 2-3 ribs of celery, roughly chopped

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 400F.
  • Unwrap the turkey and empty the contents of both cavities, removing the neck, giblets and whatever else you find in there.
  • Rub one half of the lemon or orange over the turkey, inside and out. Season the cavity with salt and pepper. Squeeze the juice from the other half of the lemon or orange inside the turkey and tuck the rind inside the cavity, along with the onion, celery and several large sprigs of fresh herbs.
  • Settle the turkey on a rack in a large roasting pan. Rub the olive oil all over the skin of the turkey. Season with salt and pepper. My turkey came with a gizmo that allows you to easily tuck the legs into place. Without that you can tie the legs together with string, if you like. Then scatter more coarsley chopped herbs over the turkey and lay a few sprigs on top to crisp in the oven.
  • Place the turkey in the middle of the oven to roast for several hours, until the little plastic thermometer pops up or until a meat thermometer placed in the thickest portion of the thigh reads 180F. For a 16 pound turkey this will take approximately 2 1/2 – 3 1/2 hours.
  • When the thermometer indicates it is time, remove the turkey from the oven. Tent it loosely with aluminum foil and allow it to rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
  • Serve and enjoy!

12 Comments

  1. lovely bird!

  2. the southern hostess

    Great post. You fully covered the great turkey debate!

  3. Vikis Kitchen

    Very nice post. Thanks for reminding the essence of Thanks Giving in a more traditional manner. I am reading this post again and again. Happy Thanks giving dear.

  4. This is the perfect looking turkey…I simply love turkey and cant get enough of it this time of year.

  5. Awe, what a lovely holiday message. You're so special and I love reading your blog. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. 🙂

  6. Lisa-
    Dear friend:you have encouraged me to relax with the turkey I choose for the 6 grandchildren, their parents, our other daughter and a friend (By my count that adds up to 12.) So I will buy my frozen turkey this week, let it thaw in my "garage refrigerator, and cook it with the herbs and everything.
    I think I want to try the cheesecake, too!

    Joan O.

  7. Alanna Kellogg

    I remember the turkey platter, how fun to see it again! Your turkey's beautiful! And I must be in total turkey mode because I roasted one in October for Canadian Thanksgiving and have three on order for American Thanksgiving. But the turkeys at Trader Joe's look so good I almost bought one of them too, and would have, except I already had two chickens in the fridge to roast last night. But I still might get a turkey!

    Hope G likes the 'new' turkey too!

  8. I absolutely adored this post, it was written beautifully and I could smell your father's turkey. May you ahve a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

  9. we’ve never had much hoopla surrounding our turkey—it’s always been prepared by my mom in her rotisserie oven. i’ve enjoyed reading about your traditions and experience with the fowl, lisa—thanks for sharing!

  10. I have a turkey in my freezer from last year that I never got around to cooking. I wasn't sure if I should cook it or not. So thank you for cooking yours 🙂 BTW I have always cooked my turkey in a bag, it makes cooking the turkey a lot easier. And thats what I need on Thanksgiving day.

  11. Beautifully written, Lisa. I've tried every way but deep frying and we all are usually very happy with the results no matter how I prepare it. Its all about the family gathering around the table and giving thanks for being there.

  12. The Cutting Edge of Ordinary

    Isn't it funny how we all have our turkey traditions? I've been brining my bird for the last 8 yrs and I can't begin to tell you how juicy and delicious it is. I suppose that will be my tradition to pass down to my kids. Beautiful bird you have there!

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