Talking Turkey!

This recipe forgets to mention that the turkey/cheesecloth needs frequent basting with the butter wine mix!!! Very important!

Will this work in a convection oven? I'd be concerned about the cheesecloth sticking to the skin.

Heard you on the way back from the cottage and I have to try the turkey basting trick. I will let you know after Christmas.

Thanks

heard your comments today and immediately went out and bought the cheesecloth, but, what's the basting trick EL refers to?

My family uses an even easier method for roast turkey, NO basting required.

Place thawed or fresh turkey in the roasting pan on wire rack breast side down.

Cook with no lid on roasting pan for approximately 2 hours or until the bottom of the turkey is starting to turn golden

Using turkey lifters or implements of choice, lift turkey and flip over so that it is breast side up. Continue cooking without roasting pan cover until appropriate temp as per meat thermometer.

This method cooks/seals the bottom of the turkey first which seals the bottom skin and lets all the juices run to the breast meat. Flipping the turkey back to breast up allows the top to cook/seal. We've NEVER had a dry turkey this way.

(I never have understood basting. The skin is cooked and sealed so all it does is run off the outside anyway)

Do we cook this turkey in the pan covered or non-covered? If covered, does it need to be a foil tent, or will the roasting pan lid suffice?

I have used the cheese cloth method for years- soaking it in butter and placing it over the turkey- works like a charm. I will try adding wine this year to see if it makes a difference. If it doesn't, I'll just drink the wine while roasting the turkey next year!! By the way, I never baste the turkey using this method. There is enough butter in the cheese cloth to keep it moist and well basted.

I have used this technique and it is as fabulous as Marion says it is. DITTO to Anne's comment about basting. Every 20 minutes or so. Cloth won't stick to skin if it has been well soaked in the butter and wine. Yum!

Anyone knows where to find cheesecloth?

For those that like less sweetness than provided by the jam, try substituting into the stock a half cup of apple juice and two ounces of dry sherry, (or one ounce of Calvados) let it thicken with the stock --- ohh you will not regret it!

what is the purpose of the cheese cloth exactly?

I too am interested in the temperature to use in a convection oven. I don't think the cheesecloth will stick because it has so much butter in it.

My family has always followed my mother's recipe which stipulated 20 minutes a pound. Thus the cooking time would be 6 1/2 hours instead of four for a 20 pound turkey. Have we been wrong for the last half century?

Too bad Ms. Kane didn't include a recipe for stuffing.

In response to questions:
A Convection oven is fine. Just monitor cooking time as it may be slightly less.

Roast turkey uncovered (except by cheesecloth).

Yes, 4 to 4 1/2 hours is correct for a 20-lb bird. Use meat thermometer to test for doneness, as per my recipe.

Check recipe on Q blog for basting info - you use the butter/wine mixture for this.

Cheesecloth is sold in most cookware stores and some supermarkets.

You wind up using nearly all the wine/butter mixture using my method, including basting every 20/30 minutes.
The cheesecloth insulates and keep the turkey moist while allowing enough aeration for the bird to brown perfectly.
Trust me - this recipe works.

Can you offer a printable version?

I found the cheesecloth at the Metro grocery store (Mississauga) in the baking section. Wil try the method on the 25th.

what a great public service you are doing! one trick that we have always done in our family (from NF originally) is to cover the turkey in thick bacon.
Replace the bacon as it cooks and curls and try to keep other peoples hands off the bacon as you baste. We also roast our turkeys at a much higher temp (400) for an hour or so and then back to 325/350.
I think the reason we all need such TLC with our turkey recipes is that we cook them so infrequently we can't remember from year to year.Cheers! and drink all wine!

I don't ever baste my turkey either. I cover the whole bird, breast side up, with a single layer of streaky bacon and foil and cook as usual until all but one hour of time is up. Remove foil. Half an hour later remove the crispy bacon and return bird to oven for the last half hour. By then it should be golden brown and the bacon is delicious with a glass of dry sherry before dinner!

If Marion is still logged on, would you please advise as to how much time should I allow for a stuffed 18 pound turkey? Thank you.

Cheesecloth can be found in the Dollar Stores.I will be trying this recipe tomorrow.

I too place bacon on the breast, cook bird on high heat for an hour, covered, then @ 350 til done. I find resting the cooked turkey for an hour b/4 serving ensures a tender bird. This method also frees up the oven for roast potatoes and other favourite dishes.

Would it be possible for Marion to give us a time per pound as not everyone needs a 20lb. bird?

To print the receipe, Highlight it, and go to print and print selection. It is a little small but you can at least take it to the kitchen to consult.

To answer the question about how long to cook an 18-lb stuffed turkey, it's 4 to 4 1/2 hours. Most people cook their turkeys too long. You can the check the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line's web site for roasting times. Use the thermometer, as described in my recipe on this blog, to test for doneness - this is important.
Stuffing is done when it registers 165F on a thermometer inserted deep into it.

No-one has mentioned if the cheesecloth method gives you a crispy skin; that's what I am trying to achieve - because a browned turkey is not necessarily crispy.

Dear Don....yes, your family has eaten overcooked, dried and crumbly turkey for 50 years....too bad!

I heard this on the radio while I was on the way to the LCBO. Immediately bought an extra bottle and will try this today - it sounds awesome!
Cheers,
Cheryl

I'm going for it, but could not find cheesecloth. I have substituted it for a thin white cotton. I'm going to keep my eye on it in case it does not brown as well. There are no real "holes" in the cloth. Fingers crossed, it's always risky to try a different recipe on Christmas.

We've a 19 lb (8.7 kg) turkey and we've also a temperature probe in the thigh. We've been basting every 30 minutes. I guess I'm a bit concerned that the oven door is open too often but I'm not sure that would delay the doneness this much? After 4-1/4 hours we've got a thigh temperature of 125°F.

Maybe we'll be looking at 5 to 6 hours after all?

I wonder if perhaps Debbie need not baste as often because she uses only butter on her cheesecloth? The wine tends to be the part that needs replenishing (and I'm trying to capture the butter that has separated to the top with the basting).

For future reference for others we got our cheesecloth at Canadian Tire. :)

This was FANTASTIC! One of the best turkeys our family has ever eaten. Rich, moist and a lovely shade of golden.

Will never go back to other ways :-)

Thanks!

Basting every half hour or so cools the oven and consequently, increases the cooking time. Not worth the trouble. I have used the tented foil method for years and will continue. The biggest difference in the taste of the bird is how it is raised. I buy grain fed free range birds from Winter Farms. Fabulous!

We tried this recipe last night with an 11kg well-stuffed organic turkey. Reached 180 degrees in just over six hours.

Best turkey ever. Seriously. And Easy!

Thanks Marion, & Happy Holidays

A missing, and important, recipe direction is that yours is for an UNSTUFFED bird. With stuffing, this same bird takes 6-6.5 hours. Like previous commentors, I have cooked many, recording times/weights over the past 30 christmases.

Also, the pan drippings are excellent for gravy, once the butter is skimmed off. I use some of the slightly-burned emusified butter for colour and rich flavour.

Also, hauling in-out of the oven to baste cools down the bird and oven, and adds to the cooking time.

A good recipe and yummy results. I'll do this again.

Tried this method for the first time this Christmas. I also put butter and sage leaves under the skin on the breast. It worked beautifully. Best turkey I've ever had.

I also cooked the turkey on a rack of roughly chopped vegetables - onions, potatoes, parsnips, carrots and celery. I then mashed the vegetables into the turkey drippings, strained the juices through a sieve (removing the veg) and then returned the drippings to the roasting pan to use for the gravy, following Marion's recipe. Mmmmm... the most flavorful gravy you've ever tasted.

Always looking for different ways to cook the Christmas turkey I tried this recipe for our dinner yesterday. Next year I will return to brining the turkey before cooking! It had no taste! You would think with a full cup of butter and a bottle of white wine, it would be good but it was bland, tasteless, even my usual stuffing did not seem as good as usual!

Also, 4 hours is not enough! My turkey was 18 pounds and I cooked it 5 full hours before it was done!

Well I tried this method and had to abandon it after 2hrs. The cheesecloth kept getting so brown it was ready to catch fire even though I was basting every 20 -30 mins and I had no basting liquid left by the 2 hour mark. I ripped off the cheesecloth and covered it with some foil and all was well.

We normally do our big Christmas dinner on boxing day. Seems a bit less harried and more pleasant that way.

Tried the recipe and in the midst of some renovations, couldn't find our meat thermometer and had a turkey that wasn't quite "done". However, the pieces that were...YUM!

Thanks for the recipe...a meat thermometer is definitely a "must"!

My son and husband were listening when you were talking turkey and they persuaded me to deviate from my tried and true turkey technique. I am a convert. The cheesecloth/basting with the wine mixture produced the moistest white meat ever. I should confess that I used a mixture of wine and olive oil, since we had some dairy allergies to deal with, but it worked just fine. I was afraid it wouldn't brown as nicely without the butter, but it was a beautiful bird. I'll never go back to the old way!

This recipes is great. Tried it and the cheesecloth browned but so did the turkey skin beneath, and the cloth came off easily. Excellent moist meat, and great gravy from the drippings too (I omitted the fruit jelly).
Recipes come from the most surprising sources, but who'd have thought Q?Thank you.
Kate Cottrell

This recipe was fantastic! Everyone thought the turkey was as moist and tender as it has ever been!
Thank you.

This recipe sounds very interesting and I will try it next time I roast a turkey. In the gravy recipe, where does the turkey stock come from? Can you buy it?

Thank you for this great recipe Marion. I have been cooking turkeys for the past 12 years and this year I tried your recipe. It was definately the best yet!

What was most amazing to me was how the fat basically disappeared and I didn't even have to pour any off when making gravy. Can anyone explain that!

Thanks for sharing this treasure!

Jennifer

Hi, I'm going to try to cook the 20lb turkey in a 18 quart portable electric roasting oven using the cheese cloth. Are there any tips or things I should be aware of? Will it work as I'll have to cover it while cooking.

Decadently wonderful! I couldn't find cheesecloth in the stores so I bought a new white cotton T-shirt and washed it repeatedly in scalding hot water, then cut it up and draped a piece over the bird. I called it "Wet T-Shirt Turkey." It was fun, and the wine gave the meat an extra bit of delicate flavour. I'm doing it again for Thanksgiving.

Our family is small, so I look for a 12-lb turkey. Since a bird this size dries out easily, I brine it (1 cup of kosher salt to 1 gallon of water) for 4 hours and then broil roast it, a Julia Child technique that cooks a 12-lb turkey in 2 hours. It's moist, the flavour is superb, and we aren't eating turkey leftovers for a week.

How many layers of cheese cloth do you put over each breat and leg? 4 layers on each or one layer on each? I used four, and it browned really rapidly, however the turkey did not!! It took longer to cook than the 4and1/2 hours but was delicious anyway!

Time for some Turkey Humour, with a message. Many years ago as newly minted single parent I offered to cook Thanksgiving dinner for some dear friends. I had just purchased a huge convection microwave (big enough to hold a 20lb turkey).It was in the early days of microwaves and we had all heard how "fast" microwaves were. Dinner was at noon, it was Sunday. I placed the FROZEN BIRD in the microwave at 8:30 and went off to church all the while praying it would not burn to a crisp in the amazing new microwave. I need not have worried, when we returned an hour later, there was still a sheen of frost on the still frozen bird. What to do? - I cranked up the regular oven, completely encased and sealed the Bird in tin foil and about 2 hours later took out a moist, well cooked, albeit very pale Turkey in time for Thanksgiving dinner.