METHOD
1 Defrost the frozen turkey in the refrigerator . Allow approximately 5 hours of defrosting for every pound. So, if you have a 15 pound turkey, it will take about 75 hours to defrost it in the refrigerator, or around 3 days.
Most store bought Turkeys will have a thermometer pierced into yhe thickest part of the breast.When the turkey is cooked, the thermometer will pop up !
Remove the neck and giblets (heart, gizzard, liver).
Note that if your turkey comes with a plastic piece holding the legs together do not to remove those plastic ties for cooking . If you do, you will need to use kitchen string to tie the legs together.
2 Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
3 Wash out the turkey with water. Lather the inside of the cavity with the juice of half a lemon. Take a small handful of salt and rub all over the inside of the turkey.
4 In this method of cooking a turkey, we don't make the stuffing in the turkey because doing so adds too much to the cooking time. For flavor, put in inside the turkey a half a yellow onion, peeled and quartered, a bunch of parsley, a couple of carrots, and some tops and bottoms of celery. You can place an aluminium foil over it.
You may also tie a string around the turkey body to hold the wings in close. (optional)
The neck cavity can be stuffed with parsley and tied closed with thin skewers and string.
5 Rub either melted butter or olive oil all over the outside of the turkey. Sprinkle salt generously all over the outside of the turkey.Sprinkle pepper over the turkey.
6 Place turkey BREAST Up on the bottom of a rack over a sturdy roasting pan big enough to catch all the drippings. You will be able to see the thermometer.
Cover the bird and tray with a tent like aluminium foil
7 Put the turkey in the oven. Check the cooking directions on the turkey packaging. Recommended cooking time is about 15 minutes for every pound. For the 15 lb turkey, start the cooking at 400 F for the first 1/2 hour. Then reduce the heat to 350 F for the next 2 hours.
Remove the foil. Then reduce the heat further to 225 F for the next hour to hour and a half. Baste the bird with butter for the browning effect.
8 when turkey is cooked it will be a golden brown colour and the thermometer pops up.
Making Turkey Gravy
Tilt the bird up and the juice will drip out from the inside cavity.
Scrape all the drippings off of the bottom of the roasting pan. Pour drippings into a smaller skillet. Ladle off excess fat with a gravy spoon. In a separate small bowl take a quarter cup of corn starch and add just enough water to dissolve the corn starch. Beat cornstarch with a spoon to remove lumps. Slowly add the cornstarch mixture to the drippings, stirring constantly. You may not end up using all of the cornstarch mixture. Only add as much as you need to get the desired thickness. Allow time for the cornstarch to thicken the gravy. Add salt, pepper, sage, thyme, or other seasonings to taste. (See gravy recipe for step-by-step photos.)
Save Bones for Stock
When you are finished with your turkey, save the bones from the carcass to make a delicious turkey soup.
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