It was about this time last year that I was looking for how to cook a turkey. We decided to do a meal at the new house with all of the children and well I wanted to cook a huge meal for the family. Then it happened, I had no clue how to cook a turkey. I researched, how do I cook a turkey. I asked my elders. Finally we had a plan and we cooked a moist, delicious turkey for the family. Here is how you cook a turkey for Thanksgiving …
Make sure that you thaw the turkey out completely – they say about 24 hours per pound of turkey is needed. Mine was a 16lb turkey and did take between 7-14 days to fully thaw out.
Once your turkey is thawed out and the dinner day has arrived, wake up early, this will take hours to cook.
Remove all packaging to include the bag of gizzards, check the neck cavity and anywhere there may be hidden packaging.
Move rack to bottom half of oven and preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Get a roasting pan out to place turkey in, I purchased a cheap throw away roasting pan.
Rub a stick over butter all over the turkey, cover it in butter.
Grab your favorite seasonings and sprinkle the turkey with seasonings.
Make sure you have broth or water in the bottom of roasting pan, I put water about 1″ or so of it, remember you need to leave room for the turkey juices to come out.
Cover the turkey completely with tin-foil.
Cooking time will vary, it took us about 4-5 hours to cook the 16lbs turkey. They say rule-of-thumb is 13 minutes per pound.
You should turn oven down to 350-400 degrees F about 30 minutes in to cooking time.
Be sure to have a meat thermometer and check turkey about half way through the estimated cooking time to make sure you are not over cooking.
Cook the turkey to a full 165 degrees F on that thermometer, check three places: the breast, the outer thigh, and the inside thigh. All should read at least 165 degrees.
Once the turkey has reached temperature, you are ready to serve! Be careful, oven, turkey and pan will be hot! Use gloves and let turkey cool down before carving/cutting.
**As always, I am not a professional, I am simply sharing how we cooked our turkey last year, please be careful and know that I am in no way responsible for your actions while using my tips/suggestions for cooking a turkey. Always consult multiple sources before trying my tips, and adjust ingredients based on any allergies you may have. **
I’ve never actually cooked a whole Turkey before! I am scared that I will mess up “lol”, but I guess I just have to follow steps by steps, or I can just let my husband do all the dirty work!
Hard to believe that Thanskgiving is right around the corner!! My first year cooking the turkey I was so scared I was going to mess up the whole dinner!
This is a good guide! Turkey isn’t too hard to cook but it can take a long time to prepare and learning to plan your use of the oven is helpful.
Thankfully I never have to do the turkey! Im all about the sides.
I’ve only made the turkey in a bag when it’s just my immediate family. Can’t believe it’s almost Thanksgiving already.
I love cooking the Turkey! I came across a recipe years ago and have edited a bit since! But it always turns out wonderfully!
We always have Thanksgiving dinner at my in-law’s about an hour away. Either my mother-in-law or my husband’s aunt cook the turkey and ham so I haven’t had to do it yet. Not looking forward to the pressure that I’m sure comes with it! haha Thanks for the recipe!
My sister is always the one responsible for cooking the turkey for Thanksgiving. Her recipe is our mom’s own recipe and it always comes out perfect every year. BTW, we do use butter too. 🙂
I guess it’s never too early to start thinking about and planning a Thanksgiving meal. These tips will help those who roast their own turkey.
I guess it’s never too early to start thinking about and planning a Thanksgiving meal. These tips will help those who roast their own turkey.
I wonder why turkey is so hard to make right–well you just told me! I wasn’t doing it correctly-figures. Maybe this year I will attempt it again using the above directions!!
I remember making my first turkey!! These are great tips, it can be so hard to gauge if you are doing it right or not.
Once you’ve cooked a turkey, you realize it’s really not that hard. Just make sure to remove the bag of gizzards first! I think I forgot to do that one time although the turkey still turned out fine!
I wouldn’t even know where to begin if I had to prepare the turkey for Thanksgiving. I much rather enjoy eating it than cooking it.