When it comes to holiday cooking, my father and I spend weeks deciding who is making the various side dishes. But when it comes to roasting the turkey, there’s no discussion. Of course that task falls to my mother.
Why? True, she has cooked our Thanksgiving turkey for over 50 years, so she knows what she’s doing.
But the real reason is that her roast turkey is always perfectly done, the breast never dried out, but tender and full of flavor.
How does she do it? She cooks the turkey breast-side down. While the turkey roasts, the juices fall down towards the breast, resulting in the most succulent meat. The breast is also more protected from the heat, which helps keep it getting too dried out.
She also uses a meat thermometer to take out any guess work of when the turkey is done.
Breast down roast turkey
My mother cooks the turkey stuffing separately, not in the cavity, which makes it easier to cook the turkey more evenly.
In the years since we first posted this recipe, my mother still cooks her turkeys breast-side down, and they’re still wonderful. When I’m cooking a turkey, if it is small enough, sometimes I’ll flip it over near the end to get the breast side browned, but usually like my mom, I’ll just roast it the whole time breast-down.
Not much has changed with our approach over the years, other than the USDA has finally officially lowered the recommended temperature for cooked poultry (it’s now 165°F), which means we don’t need to cook the turkey as long.
Cooking a turkey is pretty straightforward, but you do need to plan ahead, given that it can take several hours to roast, and needs time (days if you need to defrost) beforehand to lose the chill from the refrigerator.
If you don’t have a meat thermometer, please get one! Using one will make your life a lot easier, otherwise there’s just too much guesswork.
Breast-side up roast turkey, after the turkey has been turned over and broiled a few minutes to brown the breast
Recipe from the recipe archive for Thanksgiving, enjoy!
Mom’s Roast Turkey Recipe
Handle raw turkey the way you would raw chicken, with care. Use a separate cutting board and utensils to avoid contaminating other foods.
Wash your hands with soap and water after touching raw turkey and before you touch anything else in the kitchen. Wipe down surfaces with dampened paper towels.
Ingredients
- 1 turkey, approx. 15 lbs.*
- Juice of a lemon
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil or melted butter
- 1/2 yellow onion, peeled and quartered
- Tops and bottoms of a bunch of celery
- 1 to 2 carrots
- 1 bunch of parsley
- Several sprigs of fresh rosemary, thyme
* Need help figuring out how big a turkey to get? Butterball has a turkey calculator that helps you figure out just how many pounds you need. In general, plan for:
12-15 lb turkey for 10-12 people
15-18 lb turkey for 14-16 people
18-22 lb turkey for 20-22 people
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