The Greatest Turkey Recipe of All Time

I feel I can claim this title, as every year when it comes time to roasting my turkey and feeding my people, I get mountains of compliments. Many have even told me my turkey is better than their own mother's!!!

I'm not here to diss on anyone's mama's, but I figured I might be able to help some of you who either despise roasting the turkey, stress the whole time it's in the oven, or maybe you are going to attempt making one for your first time this year!

So let's head into my kitchen and make a turkey that everyone will love, for it's tender, juicy, crispy skinned and flavorful holiday turkey.

The first thing we worry about is, how big a turkey is big enough for my group? Most things I have found is to estimate 1 pound of meat per person. This doesn't mean each person is going to have a pound each of turkey, but we also must remember the turkey has some fat and bones amongst all the delicious meat which makes up it's total weight, so 1 pound per person is best.

For Friendsgiving this year we have 12 adults and 5 children attending, that's 17 people so Chris and I settled on 20 pounds total. We went with 2 13 pound turkeys to be exact as it was the closest to 10lbs we could find, Chris is smoking one and I'm roasting the other (to have a sort of turkey-off this year 😉)

The next piece is thawing out the turkey, this can feel really stressful because you want it completely thawed before the day of your event, but you don't want it to be completely thawed too soon, for risk of spoiling your meat!

I found this chart years ago and wrote it onto the back of my turkey recipe card:

Weight	Servings	Fridge	Cold Water
Up to 12 lbs	4 - 6	1 - 3 days	2 - 6 hours
12 - 16 lbs	8 - 10	3 - 4 days	6 - 8 hours
16 - 20 lbs	10 - 13	4 - 5 days	8 - 10 hours
20 - 24 lbs	13 - 16	5 - 6 days	10 -12 hours

If you feel that it still isn't completely thawed by the day before your event, put it in your sink at room temperature for the day or thaw with water for a few hours.

The day before the dinner is where half of the work is done, take it completely out of it's packaging and remove the giblets. Give it a thorough rinse and pat it dry with paper towel.

Then use a blended spice mix, mine will be provided below. Mixed altogether in a bowl and sprinkled all over the turkey, front and back, wings and legs and get underneath the skin so that all of that flavor isn't just sitting on top of the skin but is incorporated into the turkey breasts as well.

Place it in a roasting pan and cover it, placing it into the fridge over night.

Morning of, happy Holiday! Based on the size of our turkey we need to calculate how long this big boy is going to take cooking in our oven! We also account for resting time, that is a very important step and should not be skipped.

For my 13 pound turkey I roast for 3 hours or until the thermometer reads at 165 degrees when poked through the thickest part of the bird. (Both the Breast and Leg)

If I'm having guests over at 4 and serving dinner at 4:30 this means my bird needs to be ready and in the oven at 1pm.

Remember it's been in the fridge all night and needs to come down to room temperature for 20 minutes before roasting. This can also be the time when you pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees. Fahrenheit

Once you are ready, uncover the turkey, drizzle some olive oil over the top of it and optionally add a small amount of chicken broth and place in the oven. I don't do turkey bags or lids when roasting and it has never failed me in the last 7 years.

During the 3 hours I set a timer every 30 minutes to open the oven, baste the turkey all over and rotate my pan. This ensures an even roasting and prevents the bird from getting too dry. If it feels like your turkey is getting too dark

After it has cooked properly set out on a heat safe area and cover with foil for 30 minutes to rest.

Greet your guests, set the table with the rest of the meal and get everyone a drink while waiting for the carving.

You can carefully transfer your turkey to a platter and carve it at the table, or what we do is carve it in the kitchen and serve on 2 platters, 1 for light meat and 1 for dark meat