The Perfect Turkey: Do You Need to Baste?

Dribbling hot pan juices over a roasting bird has always been one of the quintessential images of Thanksgiving. But in recent years, we've noticed some recipes for roast turkey are leaving this step out. That makes us wonder how necessary basting really is. What do you think?

The main point of basting is to ensure moist and tender meat. It's usually done with a broth-based mixture made separately or simply with the pan drippings themselves.

Either way, the fat melts into the skin and the meat closest to the surface, preventing it from drying out in the oven's dry heat and adding flavor. At the same time, the liquid in the basting mixture evaporates and keeps the surface slightly cooler. This helps the meat cook evenly.

But there are a lot of other methods that can also ensure moist and tender meat, some of which supplement and some of which replace traditional basting. Brined turkeys often don't need to be basted as heavily since the salting process already ensures a moist turkey. If you're cooking a smaller turkey that doesn't need as much time in the oven, you can also simply rub the outside with butter or lay a few pieces of bacon over the quick-cooking breast meat.

Turning the turkey during cooking or tenting it with foil partway through cooking also help to prevent it from drying out. These techniques protect the meat from direct oven heat and regulate cooking speed.

Honestly, this is one time when we just tend to follow the recipe! We tend to be wooed by a new recipe every year, so we haven't yet settled on a favorite method. All of them work with some pluses and minuses - basting is fussy and ties us to the stove, turning a turkey is unwieldy, rubbing the outside isn't always reliable.

How do you make sure your turkey stays moist?

Related: Food Science: Resting Meat

(Image: Flickr member eleaf licensed under Creative Commons)

Comments (19)

I do baste, even if it's wrapped in bacon & I turn the turkey. I like a still moist breast and an even browning on the whole thing. I think this year I will skip the bacon & use butter to coat the bird. Start with breast up & then flip after an hour, making sure to baste every 20-30 minutes or so. Flipping isn't the hardest thing, it just gets 2 kitchen towels incredible dirty! Since I have a 12 lb turkey, it's pretty easy. I don't think I would try it with a huge 20 lb one though.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Watch the recent Alton Brown talk given at Google headquarters - he specifically addresses this question. His answer - basting is completely unnecessary, and actually detrimental if you want the skin to get in any way crispy. Skin is designed to keep liquid out, so all basting does is let heat out of the oven every time you open the door.

I slather the turkey with butter at the start, and if it seems to be getting too brown, I tent it loosely with foil. Otherwise, I baste maybe once an hour, with butter, and later with drippings.

I haven't basted in years.

Honestly, the best turkey recipe I've used is Alton's brined turkey recipe. Very moist, no basting, although I do set the smoke alarm off every year with the initial high heat called for in the recipe. This year, I'm brining the turkey the Zuni way (dry brine) to try something different. Hopefully it turns out as good as Alton's!

I agree with charise - no basting required, just brine the turkey first.

I've been reading that a lot of people use Alton Brown's recipe - and let me tell you, it works!

@charise - I also had a smokey kitchen while cooking the turkey! =)

I don't think basting is necessary if you brine. Brining is seriously the best thing ever!

No basting here, either. We also use the Alton Brown recipe. Last year, our first Thanksgiving dinner, we actually had the laptop out while dressing and making the brine. And in the morning, the fact that it just goes in the oven and you don't have to worry about basting makes my dinner so much easier!

Basting does more harm than good. Use something like Alton Brown's method. Don't open the oven to baste the turkey - you'll just cool your oven down. That's counterproductive.

If you want to make sure your turkey gets extra moisture during roasting, I've figured out an alternative to basting.

Soultion:

1. Lather bird with butter herb compote.
2. DO NOT STUFF, stuffing it means more time in the oven and higher odds of it drying out.
3. Start with the turkey upside down (dark meat up!) and flip halfway through cooking.
4. Invest in an instant read thermometer. This little baby gives me the perfect bird every year for $10.

Haven't had a dry turkey in years.

What does everyone brine their turkey in? I don't have a bowl that anywhere near big enough for an 11 pound bird.

Brine, air dry in the fridge for 24 hours (the way Zuni Cafe does their chickens for roasting), then roast without basting -- juicy turkey and with the crispiest skin (if there's moisture on the skin it steams rather than evenly browning).

I baste, but I also rub with butter and shove my baster under the skin and into the joint areas and in the cavity to steam. But seriously, better living through butter. I cannot stress this enough.

You can buy bags to brine in (I also don't have enough room in my fridge for a bucket) at kitchen and housewares stores (I got one at BB&B. Just put it in bag, add the brine, and put it in a pan so in case it leaks a little you're covered.

I am also with Alton Brown - basting is bunk.

I buy a brining bag at the grocery store. The bird goes in the bag, the brine goes in, close the bag, then the whole works goes into a cooler with ice. Voila - no space needed in the fridge. Woot!

I use olive oil instead of butter and baste a few times. If I'm feeling lazy, I just pour a little more olive oil on it. I've been doing it this way with chickens and turkeys for a few years and it works.

i just buy a pre-brined turkey from trader joes then use barbara kafka's roasting method on her website. easy, fast, yummy. i've also tried to start breast side down for the 1st part but if you brine, you don't need to.

Alton Brown changed the way I bake turkey and I thought I made a pretty good one prior to using his method. I brine in a container purchased at a restaurant supply store. Just a big plastic container with a lid. You can also use a cooler. Then you don't have to refrigerate. I don't baste. I put it in in the oven, check to see that it isn't browning too much - tent with aluminum if need be - and leave it alone until it reaches the desired temperature. I don't usually like The Food Network because I think the shows are mainly aimed at people who don't know how to cook, but I do like Alton Brown and his methods. Cooking and teaching.

I'm not sure how to brine a turkey but my method for keeping the breast moist is to use an injector. I fill it with melted margarine and inject it into the breast. Any that spills out I just rub it over the skin. I've never had a failure doing that way.