1) Don't try and warm it with your body heat, and then put it in the dryer.

Easiest method: cook it breast down in a paper bag. No basting, no checking in until the thermometer reaches its goal temp. So easy.

@Melizza- I done the upside down method but not in a paper bag. How do you check the temp if it's concealed inside a bag?

Second the paper bag method. Don’t stuff the bird anymore either, bake separately. Not kosher, but a kosher bird has been prepared in such a way that the result is much like a brined bird.

I like using a roasting bag, the skin doesn't get as beautifully golden as your method, but the meat is always very moist and delicious.

Do you recommend a v-rack like you used, or is a flat rack OK?

@bodicegoddess OMG! yes! haha love that you said that.

@dakman - I think either is fine. A V-Rack is nice for keeping from sliding around as you take it in and out of the oven, but the main goal is just to lift the turkey off the bottom of the pan.

* That is to say, "...for keeping THE TURKEY from sliding around..." :)

I know it sounds heretical, but I don't baste. I do put some butter and herbs under the skin, or olive oil and herbs on top, but I do not baste. The turkey is still wonderfully moist. I think the real secret is tenting it with foil. If it isn't brown enough, take the foil off for the last hour.

Another super easy method: use a clay baker. Perfect bird, no basting, quick and easy.

Everyone shouls at least once, debone the bird , stuff it and roll it. It is not the most easiest but certainly is the most memorable and has a few bonuses, such as no bickering about the white Vs. Dark meat and more room in the refrigerator. I used the Martha Stewart recipe with Todd English.

Excellent instructions. Actually, in my opinion, the turkey is the easiest part of the Thanksgiving meal.

Commercially brined poultry has more than salt and water in it (mystery chemicals, too), and can taste really awful if it accidentally processed through more than one brining cycle. Last brined turkey I had did not render the fat out in the roasting as the brining chemicals created striations of stinky bee bee sized fat lumps in the breast meat. Absolutely disgusting and ruined a thanksgiving dinner. I'll have a natural free range turkey henceforth. And something like 15% of turkey weight of these chemicals are allowed in US poultry by law. Shudder.

I think it's very important to give the turkey a day, two days, three days if you can, to dry out (uncovered) in the fridge... I also swear by brining, and most importantly NOT overcooking the bird! I use a digital meat thermometer that stays in the bird. I baste with butter every 20 minutes, and never cover the bird. In my experience, the skin does not overcrisp if you're cooking at a low temperature.

I also don't use broth or anything in the pan because I would think that would create steam in the oven and I'm all about the crispy skin.

I don't have a nice roasting tray, so I use a "vegetable trivet" to lift the turkey (or any meat I'm roasting) from the pan. I loosely pile carrots, skin-on onions, whole heads of garlic, and celery, and I think the "vegetable trivet" flavors the pan drippings for gravy.

Also, I roasted the turkey neck the day before (I had to celebrate Thanksgiving early this year) and used it to make flavorful turkey stock for gravy... Not only was it delicous, but I was also able to control the saltiness of the gravy that way, since the turkey was brined and canned stock has so much sodium in it.

I also use a bag and it's always delicious. However for those of you who use bags -- how do you make gravy? All instructions say to drain off the drippings and make gravy in the roasting pan, but obviously there's no "delicious brown bits" to make gravy out of in the bottom of my pan -- it's all in the bag. Suggestions?

In the past when I cooked a brined turkey, I always rinsed the salt off afterwards, and then followed that with an immersion in apple cider. With commercially brined birds, I like to soak in cold water for a few hours to try to remove more brine. Thanksgiving is salty enough.

I've just converted from a committed briner to an even more committed "no baste". I had the chance to be on a photo shoot recently where they did a recipe for a no baste. I was expecting it to be dry and disappointing. Hardly. It was best turkey ever. I think it was the low temp and foil. Here is the video of the recipe, in event you want to try.http://plainvillefarms.com/recipes/recipe-videos/roasting-a-turkey-with-meryl/

Q for @All the Calories: Planningwise, do you brine for a day THEN dry out in the fridge for several days? I am also all about crispy skin but we get ours only two days before T day.

Another general Q - we're getting a free-range, heritage blah blah turkey for the first time this year. Should I adjust my expectations for it to be less juicy, quicker cooking or anything like that that might adjust my cooking methods?

Did my Thanksgiving today: followed the instructions (except for the basting, couldn't find the baster) and thought that the turkey was best ever! Did notice that some of the slices were on the salty side, but it wasn't a deal breaker. A guy on NPR today recommended a dry brine, might try switching next year.

Is it mean that I gave my mom some helpful hints on how to make her Turkey more juicy this year?..I'll have to forward her this article. If you're not cooking your turkey this year and want to help contribute with some easy to make sides check out my Trader Joe's list>> http://www.skinnyscoop.com/list/claudia/thanksgiving-sides-your-trader-joes-cheat-sheet

@tasterspoon - I use the dry-brine method, and I dry out the turkey the night before. Try to put it in by the fan in the fridge. If you're wet-brining, you may need more drying time. Then again, last year I forgot the drying out process, and we did it with a hair dryer (set on cool) the morning of Thanksgiving! That made for some good pictures.

If you want to get a turkey - or anything else - brown, use butter. Butter browns better, at a lower temperature, than oils.

Use unsalted butter if you want to avoid having the turkey or gravy become too salty (especially if you're cooking a brined turkey).

Putting water in the bottom makes it a huge battle to create decent gravy.

#1 no need thaw. Don't buy a frozen turkey. Unwrap your fresh bird a day or two ahead of time and let it rest in the fridge, to dry out the skin, the better for browning.
#2 no need to brine: Buy a Kosher turkey which has already been salted and soaked. They have been doing it for centuries and know how.
#3 no need to baste. Every time you open the oven door you are lowering the heat. We tuck unsalted butter UNDER the skin with sage leaves and also some on the skin.
#4 no need to stuff. We put a cut onion, some fresh sage and parsley and a lemon half in there.

Have been doing thanksgiving for a quarter of a century. Our turkeys are usually 16-20 pounds and are done in about 3 1/2 hours in an electric convection oven. We have dressings, cooked in separate dishes (I have three ovens). I think the "trouble with Thanksgiving" is that many people are trying to cook a big meal when they don't cook much during the year. I see them buying those flimsy aluminum pans; sheer disaster. For one thing you can't make gravy in one of them, they are so thin they burn the juices and 7 times out of ten, they will buckle when you're trying to carry the bird to the counter. People: invest in a good shallow roasting pan (and of course, not one of those things with a cover - unless you want a potroasted bird). You can use it all year - to make lasagna, or big batches of cornbread, spareribs, or even a turkey "out of season."

I remember as a child my mother would get the turkey in the oven at something like 4 a.m. and most of my family now says they don't like turkey because "it's dry." Really? our turkeys are juicy, and there is no pink at the thigh bone ever.

And before Thanksgiving I start buying turkey parts whenever I see them: wings, necks, backs, all the bits the butcher has left when he's making all the turkey breasts for small families, I guess. We don't like giblet gravy so those go to the cat. I roast the parts with some aromatics until brown, then dump them all in a stock pot with water to cover, and half a lemon and let it simmer for hours. Strain, chill to remove fat, then reduce the stock to a demi-glace.This is what goes into the pan to make gravy, along with water from the mashed potatoes - that thickens it without a lot of starchy flour.

Our Thanksgivings are legendary!

I have a friend who brines then deep fries his turkey. No other turkey will ever taste as moist and delicious. He says that deep frying is faster and less fussy than having to baste the bird in the oven.

I have used the plastic oven baking bags for years, and it's basically "no-fail turkey time." I brush butter over the bird, under the wings, etc. Just at the end of baking, I split open the bag to reveal the bird, and turn on the broiler for a few minutes. The turkey comes out beautifully golden. I use the exact same process when I roast a chicken. You don't have to be tied to the kitchen monitoring and basting...just pop it in the oven and forget about it until the timer goes off. This process is such a sure thing that I've been confident enough to make turkeys for our free community Thanksgiving dinner. No stress and no sweat.

Agree with Happy Carnivore, those plastic roasting bags work great, and broiling for a bit at the end is all that is needed to crisp the skin. I used to brine, I've tried the salt crust thing, stuffed, not stuffed, etc. These days it's either the roasting bag with butter and salt, or even easier, cut turkey parts (breast meat in one pan, thighs and legs in another). That way, you can cook each portion for the amount of time needed. The turkey just needs to be moist and have good texture, but the meal is really about the dressing, cranberry and gravy.

I'm with CeliaD and All the Calories. Loosen the skin up using your fingers or the handle of a wooden spoon. Then put the bird in the refrigerator (uncovered) for at least a few hours, or preferably overnight. Combine some chopped sage and thyme with soft butter, and tuck it under the skin. Use lots of Kosher salt and pepper inside and out. Squeeze a lemon onto the skin, then put more unsalted butter on top of the bird. No need to baste, and you get nice crispy skin and delicious meat!

I really appreciate the comments above, since I'm still pretty much a novice to the whole turkey prep thing. (Usually, I go to someone else's place for Tgiving and am bringing a pie or other dessert.)

For me, the best part about making a turkey the few times (extremely few times!) I've done it is in the days after, when I make a gumbo out of it ...

... but based on some of the comments above, I will SKIP the basting, and go with the butter under the skin with some herbs. Sounds easier, faster (no wrestling the pan in and out of the oven or letting lots of heat out of the even while bending over the turkey and basting it while it's still on the oven rack) and just as tasty.

Thanks for the original post, and for the reader tips! :)

Can anyone recommend the best oil to use if I want to do the no basting business but slather oil under the skin instead of butter? I understand that because of cooking temps, butter is probably preferable, but my husband is deathly allergic to dairy. Can I still do this method without butter?

Do not cook turkey in a brown paper bag unless it is one that has been approved for food use. The chemicals used in manufacturing these bags could leach into the turkey and cause health problems, and the plastic roasting bags are made of nylon.

As for the plastic roasting bags, well I think you just have to decide whether that is something you want to cook in...

When heated this is what nylon releases:caprolactam, volatile oligomers, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, nitriles, ketones, and I am sure a variety of other organic compounds.

I know people will say they've been using them for years and their BPA approved, but I personally don't feel right about baking something in extreme tempuratures with that wrapped around it. To each their own though!

This I learned from my french monther-in-law - wrap the turkey in bacon. Cook as normal, but no need to baste. We tent our turkey in foil until about the last 45 minutes, then let it crisp up. Finally, remove the bacon before carving, crumble it, and add it to the stuffing. Everything is better with bacon.

Thank you. I found many different information like baste the Turkey. I will try that. I also put some butter pieces under the breast skin before I put it to oven. It's make more tender. Also I glaze turkey one night before with some oil olive, salt, pepper, little rosemary and little Oregano. It's look beautiful brown and delicious.

This recipe was my safety net for a "Friendsgiving" dinner I hosted yesterday. My variations: I didn't brine, I seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika; stuffed half a lemon, two onion halves, and a few pieces of garlic in the cavity; covered the turkey with foil for the first and last hour; and basted only every hour. It came out PERFECT. Absolutely use the melted butter to get that crisp reddish-golden skin. So happy :)

@thorndale: Sure thing. Try olive oil or a neutral oil like grapeseed oil.

mmm...it looks soo tasty!

Here is another recipe: Sue Selasky shows how to think outside of the oven this Thanksgiving holiday. She grills a dry and wet-brined turkey. take a look:
>> http://bz9.com/turkey

bodicegoddess... we need that entire story, unabridged! haha!

Hysterical!

Just tip the juices and brown bits out of the bag into a pot or the roasting pan to make the gravy at the end. I always dust the inside of the roasting bag (I'm talking about the clear oven bags not a paper type) with flour and salt and pepper first before cooking, shake it to coat the inside of the bag, place the bird in it, and shake again to coat the bird, Then tip the excess out. Then I put a big lump of butter on top of the turkey and squish it on so it sticks and melts down while it cooks. I like to put an onion and herbs into the cavity as well. If I want it browner I rip open the top of the bag towards the end of cooking to let it get brown and crispy. This always seems to work well. And the vege juice from boiling the peas and carrots gets used as stock to make the gravy. Yummy! This is what I find works for me.

I got this turkey roasting tip from an antique (1835) cookbook. "To keep the breast juicy, cut the fat and skin from neck and lower openings and place the skin and fat over the breast while roasting. Remove from breast 30 minutes before taking turkey from oven.

This both bastes the turkey and adds another layer from the heat. It has worked well for me for over 20 years.

Does the same thing that placing bacon over the breast does.......except with turkey fat.....and who wants a turkey that tastes like bacon?

Simplest? Easiest?

(1) Season (salt + pepper will do) & place in roasting pan
(2) Tent with foil, place in oven, set timer & walk away
(3) Remove tent last 30 min IF you prefer crispy skin

When you're facing your first bird & shakin in yer boots at the prospect, this is the place to start... if for no other reason than to prove [to yourself] beyond the shadow of a doubt *it's not rocket science*. If you can scramble eggs, you can do this.

One perfect bird will give you the confidence to experiment with various options afterwards with.....(wait for it, wait for it) ....NO STRESS. Once you build your confidence, you can tweak the rest to suit your personal taste without fear.

Our 20 pound bird was done in 2 hours 15 minutes in electric convention oven. No basting, no foil, no "cooking bag", no stuffing, no stress. Did anyone see an article last year in the NYTimes magazine titled "Alice Waters cooks her Turkey too Long?"

Holy crap... cooking a turkey is soooo much harder than cooking a chicken due to the sheer size of a turkey!

I heartily agree! EVERYTHING is better with bacon... ok ok, maybe not cake, but everything else!

The really simplest way to cook a turkey is stick the whole thing in an oven cooking bag.

The simplest and best way to cook turkey:

1. Don't bother brining. You can get moist and tasty breast meat without this.

2. Don't stuff the cavity: salt, pepper, onion, lemon and/or herbs are fine, or just salt, really.

3. Make stuffing, but slip it under the breast skin to a thickness of about 1 inch. The butter and herbs approach others have describe above works well for chicken, but your turkey will cook a long time and it can take an inch of stuffing over the breast. The breast shielding also lets the legs cook fully for a period of time that would dry out an unshielded breast. The breast meat will be moist, full of flavour, and when you peel off the skin, you get a chunk of stuffing stuck to it. Win-win!

4. Don't baste. Basting can help the skin get to a pretty colour, but it doesn't add moisture to breast meat. Shield the turkey breast with any kind of stuffing you like and you will get GREAT holiday turkey.

I like a dark covered roasting pan, breast down doesn't brown as nicely but few eat the skin anymore. I usually carve and remove all the meat before plating since I can have a nice presentation without the whole bird. I can make stuffing with the sautéed giblets, onion, celery and a little ground turkey or pork add dried bread cubes and broth. Then microwave or bake. Just as good as in the bird. BUT if you'd like to stuff the bird line the cavity with cheesecloth first, it just pulls out. A really neat trick from a 50's cookbook.

I don't use a rack. Instead, to keep the turkey elevated, I toss a bunch of cut-up carrots, onions, celery, and an apple in the roasting pan and set the turkey on top. This creates some delicious pan juices and amps up the flavor of the basting liquid.