Roasted Turkey

I know it is a little late for Thanksgiving, but I am going to show you how I roast my turkey.  Maybe it will come in handy for Christmas or some other time of the year.  Whole turkeys are available pretty much year round and we like to cook them several times a year.  The next thing I want to try to cook are roasted turkey legs like they have at Disney.  So if you know where I can find large turkey legs let me know.

It doesn't take much to make a good juicy turkey.  I use the oven bags and have never made a bad turkey.

First step. Thaw your turkey in the fridge.  It will take several days to do this.  The butterball web site has a calculator that will tell you how long to thaw and how long to cook.  Check it out.  Open up the bag on your turkey.  Notice the with plastic.  You will want to remove that.  Common mistake with first time turkey cookers are to leave one or both of the bags in the turkey.

Now give the turkey a bath.  Inside and out.

See there is the second bag in the back of the turkey.  Take it out too.  Now if you are making gravy you will want those but if not throw them away like I do.

Pat the turkey dry.

Butter him good.  You can put some spices under the skin or you can inject some juice in him now.

Salt and pepper him.

The bags need about a tablespoon of flour.

Shake the flour around in the bag.

Since I had a large turkey I bought a disposible roasting pan.  I set it on a cookie sheet so it will be sturdy.  Place the bag inside the pan.

You might need a little help putting the turkey inside the bag.

Tie the bag up and pull it off the turkey.

Cut about three slits in the plastic bag.

Then put him in the oven.  You will probably have to take out the second rack in your oven.

After 4 hours the bird is done.

Cut the bag away.  Steam will come out so be careful.  You will want to get it out of the juice and let it set for a while before cutting.

Pretty good looking bird.

This is my favorite part, the pieces you sneak and pull off.

The bird is being picked clean.

Most of the meat cut off the bone.

This was our Thanksgiving feast.

And one of our desserts.