How to Roast a Turkey

For the unbelievably best juicy roast turkey, start off with a simple brine. This juicy turkey recipe will walk you through everything you need to know about the brine, aromatics and roasting.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword Thanksgiving turkey

Servings

Calories 864kcal

Author Ang Paris

Equipment

Ingredients

14 lb turkey
1 cup canola oil
1 cup of water
1 large apple quartered
1 large pear quartered
1 large onion quartered
1 large orange quartered
large bunch of fresh thyme
sea salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 500-degrees while you prepare the turkey to roast. Remove the top racks if needed before the oven is hot. Move the turkey to a roasting pan.
In a large measuring cup, combine the water, apple, pear onion, and orange. Microwave for 5 minutes on high to steep the aromatics.
1 cup of water, 1 large apple, 1 large pear, 1 large onion, 1 large orange
Taking care not to burn yourself, add the mixture to the cavity along with the fresh thyme. Be sure to alternate so you’ll have variation in flavor. Now tuck the wings under the bird and rub the canola oil all over the skin. Sprinkle with sea salt.
large bunch of fresh thyme, sea salt, 14 lb turkey
Add the canola oil all over the outside of the turkey.
1 cup canola oil
Slide the turkey into the oven on the lowest rack. Cook for 30 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350-degrees. Cooking time will depend on the size of your turkey, ours 14+ pound turkey took about 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Remove the turkey from the oven and let the turkey rest, covered with tinfoil, for 15 minutes before carving.

Notes

As always with raw meat, you want to follow http://www.foodsafety.gov/blog/thanksgiving_cook.html guidelines for proper handling and food safety.

Check for your cooking time http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/turkeyroastingchart.html. Dark meat lovers typically enjoy that meat cooked to 170 degrees whereas white meat should be cooked to 165 degrees.

Remember that your turkey will continue cooking a bit when you remove it from the oven.

You can check the temperature using a meat thermometer - be sure to stick it in the thickest part of the meat, and not next to a bone.

If your turkey is browning too much on top, slide a piece of tinfoil over the top.

Nutrition