Roast Turkey with Herb Butter & Roasted Shallots Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Is it better to use oil or butter when roasting a turkey? ›

Add Fat if You Want To

It melts and gives the meat extra flavor, richness, and moisture. Duck fat is wonderful for this, and it fortifies the poultry flavors, but unsalted butter works well, too. You really don't need to baste the meat with more fat as it cooks.

To achieve a perfectly golden, juicy turkey, let the bird spend time both covered and uncovered in the oven. We recommend covering your bird for most of the cooking time to prevent it from drying out; then, during the last 30 minutes or so of cooking, remove the cover so the skin crisps in the hot oven.

What Temperature to Cook the Turkey? Cook your turkey at 325 degrees F for most of the cook time; in the final 45 minutes, remove the cover or foil tent from the turkey, increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F and baste the bird with butter. The initial lower oven temperature cooks the turkey through evenly.

"Often, consumers will inquire about adding water to the bottom of their roasting pans. We do not recommend adding water to the bottom of the pan. Cooking a turkey with steam is a moist heat-cook method and is acceptable, sure, but is not the preferred method for cooking your turkey."

Spread the butter under the skin, pushing it in as far as you can, then smooth the skin back into place. Halve the lemon and orange and put in the turkey cavity along with 2 onion halves and the bay leaves. Rub turkey all over with oil and sprinkle with salt.

Impart rich flavor and add moisture to your Thanksgiving turkey by adding a layer of butter under the skin before roasting. Learn how to do this simple (but genius) technique for a delicious Thanksgiving turkey.

The United States Department of Agriculture advises to cook a whole turkey breast side up during the entire cooking time. Turning over a large, hot bird can be dangerous and it's very easy to tear the skin, making the finished product less attractive.

The government recommends cooking turkey breast to 165°F (74°C). I prefer my turkey breast at 150°F (66°F), at which point it is far, far juicier (especially if you dry brine it!).

By using a V-rack set in a rimmed baking sheet, not only do you fully expose the legs, you also leave plenty of room for hot air to travel around the entire surface of the turkey, maximizing the amount of crisp skin you can get out of it.

Oven-Roasted Turkey

We recommend starting the turkey in a 425 degree oven for 30-45 minutes before tenting the pan with foil and lowering the temperature to 350 degrees until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the bird.

How long should you let a turkey sit out before cooking? ›

Your turkey will cook more evenly and faster if you start it out at room temperature so remove the turkey from the refrigerator 1 hour before roasting. If you plan to stuff your turkey, wait until you're ready to put it in the oven before putting the stuffing in the turkey.

According to a study by the food safety experts at the USDA, washing or rinsing raw turkey can put you at risk of foodborne illness. There's only one time you should wash a raw turkey, and that is after brining. Otherwise, do not wash a turkey before cooking.

Rub the skin with fat

Fat is going to help the skin get brown and crisp, and contrary to what most might think, butter isn't better. Butter does an okay job, but because it contains a lot of water, oil is a better fat to rub on the skin to ensure it gets extra crispy.

The two best materials for a roasting pan are stainless steel or copper. While enameled cast-iron roasting pans are beautiful to look at, they can also be incredibly heavy. Add a 20-pound turkey to the mix, and you're going to need some extra muscle to maneuver it.

Basting a turkey is to spoon, brush, or pour liquid over it throughout the cooking process to keep it moist. The liquid can be drippings from the pan, or chicken/turkey broth. If you don't have drippings to work with during the beginning of the roasting process, use some broth at first, the switch to pan drippings.

In the baking department, oil can give cakes a moist crumb and "may even allow cakes to stay moist and tender for longer than those made with butter," says Fiona. To help you find the perfect oil for what you're cooking, check out our cooking oil guide.

It couldn't be easier to substitute butter for oil using a 1:1 ratio. This should work with olive, canola, vegetable, and coconut oils. Simply melt and cool the butter to room temperature, then continue with your recipe. (If the recipe calls for ½ cup oil, use ½ cup melted and cooled butter.)

In the last hour of cooking, you can baste the turkey in additional melted butter or olive oil instead of the pan juices to really make sure that skin turns golden brown.

The best way to cook ground turkey is with a bit of oil in the pan. Since turkey is quite lean, you'll need to add oil to prevent it from sticking to the pan.