Juicy Roast Turkey
This can be quite simple with just a bit of early preparation and the right tools. It will still take time (about 15 min per pound, or around 4 hours), but most of that is in the oven, so you’ll be quite free to do other things.
The challenge of cooking a whole turkey is that the breast meat cooks much faster than the dark meat, so it tends to get dry and overcooked. We keep it moist and juicy in two ways:
- By covering it with foil to slow down cooking at the beginning
- By uncovering it later and using a meat thermometer to know when to take the turkey out
Ideally, your thermometer should have a probe you can leave in the meat/oven, so you don’t need to take the turkey out to check, and an alert to tell you when it’s reaching the desired temperature.
Juicy Roast Turkey
Equipment
- Timer
- Roasting pan
- Meat thermometer with probe/alert
- Pastry brush (optional)
Ingredients
- 16 lb turkey
- 32 oz oyster sauce (or something similarly salty)
- honey (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°
- Put the turkey in the roasting pan (breast up), and cover the breasts with foils. You can also cover the winglets and drumstick ends to keep them from burning.
- Pour the oyster sauce into the cavity of the turkey after removing the giblets.
- Bake halfway (about 2 hours) and remove the foil, inserting the thermometer probe deep into the breast.
- When the breast hits 125°, you can brush honey over the skin to make it a nice glaze.
- Remove the turkey when it hits 145°. The dark meat should be much hotter (around 170°)
- Use the juices to make gravy or soup.