Baking a roast turkey or cooking a roast chicken is not hard. Our recipe for baking a turkey is a classic with an Eric spin on it. Mayonnaise.
GardenFork.TV Roast Turkey Recipe How-To
Buy the best turkey you can afford. The uber-organic ones are pretty pricey, I found a mid-range fresh turkey at the local chain store.
Remove the neck and giblets from the turkey, and rinse the turkey inside and out. Place on a platter in the fridge for a day. This dries out the bird, which I think is a good thing .
A few hours before roasting, turn the bird upside down in a roasting rack, and slide an ice pack under each breast. Keep the bird in the fridge until ready.
When ready to roast the turkey, preheat your oven to 425F.
Use a medium sized jar of grocery store mayonaise, 1/2 cup mustard, and a large handful of herbs all mixed together. The herbs can be thyme, parsley, rosemary, oregano, marjoram, etc.
Spread the mayonnaise-mustard-herb mixture over the skin of the bird, also coat the interior of the bird. If you like, you can also lift up the skin of the breast and slid the mix under the skin. A rubber spatula works well for this.
Put a thermometer in the thigh of the bird, and place it on a rack in the oven.
Roast at 425F for 30-45 minutes, until the skin is nicely browned, then turn down the oven temp to 325, roast for another 45-50 minutes. The USDA temp for cooked turkey is 165F. I usually pull the turkey out when it is 160F, as the temp will continue to rise.
When the bird is done, pull it out, cover it with foil and let it rest for 2o minutes, then carve. yum.
Tell us your secret to great baked turkey or chicken below:
Rick the Mouseherder
We’ve used the weber charcoal grill for the last couple of decades. It’s particularly nice because it gets the bird out of the kitchen, which frees up a lot of space to cook other dishes. the recipe is simple & is found on their site.
Oil the turkey skin, I use olive oil, salt & pepper.
Start 30 charcoal briquettes
When they “gray”, divide in two & slide up against the sides
Put a drip pan between the two piles of coals
Put the top grill on & add the turkey
Cover with the lid, vents open top & bottom
Every hour add 8 fresh briquettes to each side
Cover & open a beer
This is usually a 3 or 4 beer process, depending on the size of the turkey. Watch the thermometer.
Amy
Great video. Y’all are too fun to watch (and hear) especially the “de-ground” the herbs part.
And I’m totally loving that oven.
Sandra Langwell
Hi Eric, Loved this HHHHHHHHaaaaaaaa for such reinventing we should be Vewwy Thankful lol. My eldest daughter likes mayo mustard. And I know she can relate to young persons in the kitchen, learning .Not oging there lol. I have some recipes If I get brave enough to send to you via Gmail. But it will take some time as I have a lot I haven’t condensed and put into journals as they are prepared In order. saves double wording. I hope you don’t already have them similar and hope you will enjoy them lol Be in touch.~ Sandra Langwell
nelson marasco
HI There is two things you might try.One the pan fram is ok but you have to grab both handles for safety, but a cookie sheet work better.You may want to try injection turkey broth or chicken works or italion salad dresing minus all the particals .Keep up the good work. TTFN nelson
Tonia Moxley
Love the mayo idea! It would work well with Mark Bittman’s technique — spatchcocking the turkey and roasting it for 45 minutes in a hot cast iron pan.
Tonia Moxley
Oh, and if you air dry in the fridge after brining, you remedy that soggy skin problem.
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Sandra
Another way to keep your breast moister is to bake your bird breast-side down the first hour and then turn over and finish cookng breast-side up til the end.
Love your videos. So true to life with your funny side radiating thru with its slip-ups here and there. Love it.