Roast turkey for Christmas dinner

-a foolproof way to fix a moist and juicy Christmas roast turkey.

Grams always had a moist and wonderful tasting roast turkey. Of course, she was able to kill her own the night before, clean it and soak it in salt water overnight. That sounds kind of yucky to me, I'm glad we have the local supermarket or turkey farm!

She always baked the dressing separately. That way, the turkey cooked evenly.

Remember to buy the turkey or remove from freezer three days before cooking to insure the turkey is thawed. Thaw the turkey in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Wash out the turkey with water. Coat the inside with the juice of half a lemon. Take a half handful of Hawaiian or sea salt and rub all over the inside of the turkey.

Preparation time: 5 hours or less.

1 turkey, approx. 15 lbs.
juice of a lemon
salt and pepper
olive oil or melted butter
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and quartered
the tops and bottoms of a bunch of celery
2 carrots

For flavor, put a half a yellow onion, peeled and quartered, a bunch of parsley, a couple of carrots, and some tops and bottoms of celery inside the turkey.

Rub salt all over the outside of the turkey (that is, if you didn't soak it in salt water). Rub olive oil all over the outside of the turkey. Sprinkle pepper over the turkey.

Place turkey BREAST DOWN on the bottom of a rack over a roasting pan.
This will make the breast meat very juicy!

Add thyme and rosemary to the outside of the turkey. Just a few sprinkles.
Close up the turkey cavity with either cotton twine or metal skewers.

Chop up the turkey giblets (gizzard, heart, liver).
Put into a small saucepan, cover with water, add salt.
Our family gives the cat the cooked organ meat. We are hooked on Stove Top stuffing, that's why.
(Sorry, Gramma.)

Put the turkey in the oven.
We use a cooking time of about 15 to 20 minutes for every pound.
For the 15 lb turkey, start the cooking at 400 F for the first 1/2 hour.
Then reduce the heat to 350 F for the next 2 hours.
Then reduce the heat further to 225 F for the next hour to hour and a half.

If you use a meat thermometer,the dark meat in the thigh should be about 185 F.
The white meat in the breast should be 165 F to 170 F.
If you don't have a meat thermometer, slice the breast with a knife.
The fluid should be clear and colorless.

To make roast turkey gravy, loosen all the drippings in the bottom of the roasting pan.
Skim off excess fat.
Heat the roaster on a top burner on medium.
In a separate small bowl take 3 Tbsp of corn starch and add just enough water to dissolve the corn starch.
Use a spoon to remove lumps.
Slowly add the cornstarch mixture to the drippings, stirring constantly while the gravy thickens.
Add salt, pepper, sage, thyme, or other seasonings to taste.

When you are finished with your roast turkey, save the bones from the carcass to make a delicious turkey soup.

Roast turkey prepared by this method is better shredded, or cut up in the kitchen. As you can imagine, it doesn't look as lovely as a picture. (but the taste more than makes up for that!


Here is a delicious recipe for leftover roast turkey