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How to and how long to cook a Perfect Roast Turkey

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Follow our steps on How to cook a Moist Roast Turkey. And a chart on How long to cook a Turkey and Turkey Cooking Time per lb for a perfect Roast Turkey.

Moist Roast Turkey, perfect roast turkey
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My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. This day is about being together as a family, thankful for the blessings received and plenty of great food.
And I am a traditionalist when he comes to Thanksgiving, the star of the table has to be a beautiful moist Roasted Turkey.

 

 

Cooking a perfect roast turkey is not that hard.  We have a few tricks up our sleeve to help you have a perfect roast turkey.      We start by preparing the bird by removing the giblets and neck from inside the turkey.  Save these for giblet gravy is that is on your menu.  We rise the bird and fill the cavity with onions and celery and springs of rosemary and place on a roasting pan with a rack. 
The legs are tied with bakers twine for a prettier presentation.  We use melted butter to cover the entire turkey for a moist roast turkey.      Generously salt and pepper and sprinkle on plenty of dried sage.   Place in a 325 degree F oven and tent with foil to prevent over-browning.

How Long to Cook a Turkey per lb at 325 degrees F:

How long to cook a turkey
Bake according to the timetable on the turkey or use the chart above for how long to cook a turkey per lb. Begin checking on the turkey 30 minutes prior to it being done using an instant-read thermometer and remove the foil to brown.

 

 

How to Roast Moist Turkey
I don’t need to mention leftover Turkey, that’s a given.  I have been known to roast a turkey just for the leftovers.
Leftover Turkey Recipes from this Moist Roast Turkey include Turkey Cranberry Sliders and Turkey Noodle Casserole.
Print Recipe

How to cook a Turkey

Follow our steps on How to cook a Moist Roast Turkey. And a chart on How long to cook a Turkey and Turkey Cooking Time per lb for a perfect Roast Turkey.
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time4 hrs
Total Time4 hrs 15 mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: How long to cook a turkey, How to Roast a Moist Turkey, Moist Roast Turkey, Turkey Cooking time per lb
Servings: 10
Author: Evelyn

Ingredients

  • 1- 15 lb Turkey
  • 1 stick of Butter
  • 1 onion quartered
  • 2 stalks of celery cut into thirds
  • sprigs of rosemary
  • sage
  • salt
  • black pepper

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees.   Check that the bird is completely thawed out. 
  • Remove the neck and giblets (gizzard, liver, and heart) from the cavity of the bird.   Rinse the thawed turkey and pat dry with paper towels.
  • Place onions, celery, and rosemary in the cavity of the turkey.   Pull the legs of the turkey together and tie with kitchen twine.  Place turkey in a turkey roasting pan with rack
  • Melt butter on stovetop or low power in the microwave.  Brush the entire turkey with the melted butter, season with the dried sage, salt, and fresh ground pepper.  
  • Place the turkey in the preheated oven and roast according to the above chart. (Approximately 15 minutes per pound for an unstuffed Turkey).  Tent with foil to prevent the turkey from becoming overly brown.
  • Use an instant-read thermometer to check the temperature of your turkey about 30 minutes before being done. Continue to cook until the thickest part of the thigh is 185 degrees, and the breast is 170 degrees.
  • Remove from oven and let it rest at least 20 minutes to redistribute the juices before carving.

If you enjoyed this recipe on How to Roast Moist Roast Turkey

 

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Comments

  1. Jen

    November 25, 2013 at 12:14 pm

    My husband and I will be doing Thanksgiving on our own this year, and this post was definitely well timed! You make it look so easy, so hopefully I cannot mess it up too badly 🙂

    Reply

  2. Cranberry Morning

    November 25, 2013 at 2:38 pm

    We will be at a friend's home for Thanksgiving, so I won't be roasting a turkey this year. But I do love doing it, and that turkey looks so good I can almost smell it. I want to snitch a bit of that crispy skin and meat!

    Reply

  4. Deb (dubbage42)

    November 25, 2013 at 11:56 pm

    Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday too – and I LOVE turkey. 🙂 I also love the stuffing/dressing/whateveryoucallitinyourneckofthewoods. And the cranberry sauce. And… well, you get the picture. 😉

    Reply

  13. cooking with curls

    November 27, 2013 at 4:53 pm

    We are breaking with tradition this year, and celebrating ThanksChristmas instead. That means no turkey for us, at least not this week 😉 I love your tip about baking it upside down, I will definitely give that a try!! Maybe I will do a full on Thanksgiving spread in the dead of winter, so I can be prepared to blog about it next October, lol Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Evelyn – Lisa xx

    Reply

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