Holy crap, this recipe worked! We had a 22-lb. turkey and it was one of the sweetest and juiciest I’ve ever eaten.
It’s the Safeway 2-hour turkey. In a nutshell: high heat for 2 hours, and let it rest 30-45 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 (10 lb) whole turkey (if frozen, fully thawed)
- 1-2Â tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- pepper and salt
Directions
- Remove and discard truss that holds turkey legs together. Pull or trim off and discard any excess fat in neck or body cavity. Remove giblets and neck.
- Rinse turkey inside and out with warm water. Pat dry with paper towels.
- Place the adjustable V-shaped rack in a 13 x 16 x 3-inch roasting pan (set rack sides so the bird is a minimum of 2 inches from pan bottom).
- Rub turkey skin generously all over with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set bird breast-side-up on rack. Pull wings away from body, then firmly twist them to push the wing tips under the bird.
- Using aluminum foil, form caps over the tips of the end of each drumstick. If any parts of the turkey extend beyond pan rim, fashion a foil collar underneath to make sure drippings flow back into pan. Do not tie legs together, add stuffing, or close body cavity.
- Insert an oven-safe meat thermometer near the center of the breast through thickest part until the tip touches bone, which is most accurate spot to check doneness
- Verify oven temperature and set pan on the lowest rack in a 475° oven. Roast according to time chart at right, checking as directed during cooking, until thermometer reaches 160°. Halfway through roasting time, rotate pan in oven to assure even cooking and browning (Tip C). If areas on turkey breast start to get browner than you like, lay a piece of foil over the dark areas.
- Remove pan from oven, set in a warm spot, and loosely cover pan with foil to keep it warm. Rearrange oven racks to accommodate potatoes and dressing. Decrease oven temperature to 400º. Let turkey rest 30 to 60 minutes. The resting period will allow the internal temperature to reach 165°, the USDA safe cooking temperature for poultry.
- Drain juices from body cavity (often plentiful in unstuffed birds) into roasting pan. Transfer turkey to a platter or rimmed cutting board. Set aside juices for gravy.
- Cut off turkey legs at thigh joint . If joint is red or pink, return legs to the oven for 3 to 5 minutes (at 300° to 475°) or heat in a microwave oven for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Carve the rest of the turkey. Carving juices may be clear to pink or rosy; both are fine. Save juices to pour into gravy if desired.
- Time Saving Tip. If you have a frozen turkey, place it in the refrigerator to thaw 4-6 days before Thanksgiving. Take it out an hour before cooking to bring it to room temperature.
- Helpful Hints.If there is any smoke, check pan and wings for drips into oven; adjust foil under wings, or slide roasting pan onto a larger shallow rimmed pan. Wipe drips from oven bottom.
“If there is any smoke….”
Dude, my mom used to cook all the ducks I shot at that temp, and the smoke was heavy. It was before smoke detectors, so we just opened the windows, but you WILL get smoke cooking anything at that temp in an oven.
The problem is that such temps cause the surface of the bird to sizzle really hard, and the sizzle produces a fine oil mist which the red-hot oven element converts into smoke.
This sounds like a great system, but first, I would practice with kitchen ventilation until I could get the smoke out of the house as fast as the oven generated.
I’ve used that recipe twice, both times the bird was 20# plus. It works, and in my experience, it’s not THAT smoky. Duck has a LOT more fat in it than Turkey does, pound-for-pound.
Huh. We didn’t notice any smoke at all. We used a convection oven with internal fan, so maybe it all got sucked up that way.