Holiday Turkey Cooking Guide

If you have the time and want a challenge then try Turdunken! It's a turkey stuffed with a duck and a chicken---Warning---I hope you have patience to tackle this one! When you're done only one word will describe it, Wow!

Preheat oven to 350° F. Remove the neck, liver, and other body parts from the turkey. Rinse the turkey inside and out twice with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Place on several sheets of aluminum foil to season. Discard the paper towels and wash the area you were just working in with disinfectant soap to prevent cross-contamination of the work area.

Brush the turkey with oil, margarine or melted butter and season with salt, pepper or your favorite seasonings inside and out. Cut off the tips of the wings and save for a stock. Truss the turkey (tie with string) or use the plastic or metal clamps supplied with the turkey. Place the turkey breast side down on a wire rack in a shallow, uncovered roasting pan. Discard the aluminum foil you seasoned it on and once again wash the area you were just working in with disinfectant soap to prevent cross-contamination of the work surface.

Roast at 350° F for birds up to 18 pounds, over 18 and up to 24 pounds roast at 325° F. Start the roasting on one side, turn to the other and finish breast up tented with foil. Note that a 16-18 pound bird will take 4 1/4 hours. You need to take into consideration that you will be turning the bird and opening the oven door several time and this will lower the oven temperature and increase the cooking time. This is why my time is longer than the 3 1/2 hours the other recipes call for a similar size bird, this is because they all pretty much cook it in one position and basting may or may not occur.

Roast back-side-up for 1 ½ hours, then remove from the oven. Turn over and add (mirepoix) 2 quarts total of; 2 each thinly sliced onions, 4 stalks of celery, 3 carrots and 3 cloves of garlic to the pan. Cover loosely with foil and then baste every 45 minutes with the pan juices. Remove the foil during the last 45 minutes of cooking and baste one more time. To check for doneness: internal temperature should reach 165-170° F. when a thermometer is inserted in to the turkey’s thigh at the thickest part, or the turkey’s timer should pop up. Remove the turkey and let stand 30 minutes before carving.

Oven temperatures vary greatly from oven to oven so it is highly recommended to buy a good quality oven thermometer to check you oven and become familiar with how to adjust the oven's dial to correspond with the desired temperature. You may also call a service technician from your stove's manufacturing service center to calibrate the oven's controls.

Opening the oven door and turning of the turkey reduces the oven temperature. Do this quickly or even better yet take the entire bird and pan out of the oven, closing the door to maintain the oven's temperature. Turn the turkey over and return it to the hot oven. When basting, do it quickly, once again not to reduce the oven temperature. My time chart takes all of this into consideration.

Good Cooking’s Turkey Roasting Time Table

Weight in pounds	Temperature	Cooking time in hours (Unstuffed)
10 -12	350° F	2 ¾ - 3 hours
12-14	350° F	3 ¾ - 4 ¼ hours
14-18	350° F	4 - ¼ hours
18-20	325° F	4 ½ - 5 hours
20-24	325° F	5 - 5 ½ hours

Now that dinner is over, what are you going to do with all of the leftovers?

Never fear, Good Cooking is here! Here are six easy recipes that will help get out of the leftover holiday turkey rut.

Good Cooking's Turkey Page!

Good Cooking’s Turkey Roasting Time Table