My first Turkey!

An 18lb. turkey is probably a bit much for 2 adults and an infant, but who doesn’t love a leftover turkey sandwich?

It was a bit nerve wracking baking my first turkey because I didn’t want to waste a perfectly good bird. I threw on my apron and threw caution into the wind. I was bound and determined to start some traditions for our babe and having his Momma bake a turkey was going to be one of those traditions.

Here is the step by step process I took to bake our delicious Thanksgiving bird

-I removed our 18lb. bird from the freezer and let it thaw in our refrigerator for 3 days.

-The night before he went into the oven, I stuck him in the sink and gave him a bath. At this time, I removed the packet of gizzards and giblets that were stuffed inside him. After drying off the clean bird, I rubbed olive oil over the body. I sprinkled Black Pepper and Garlic Powder over the bird. My rubber gloved hands massaged the oil and seasoning into the birds skin. (I tossed the packet of innards in the trash as I was not interested in using those parts of the bird). Back into the fridge the bird went for the night with the seasonings soaking into his skin.

-The next morning, I put a stick of butter into the cavity of the bird, poured a can of chicken broth over the body, and draped an aluminum foil tent over the turkey breast. Into the pre-heated oven at 325 degrees it went. Since there was not stuffing inside our bird, I set the timer for 3 hours.

-As the bird cooked, the skin went from pasty white to a golden honey color. At exactly 3 hours, I pulled out the bird and inserted the thermometer. The red line hit the section that said “Poultry” and our bird was done!

Not to pat my own chef’s hat, but the turkey was darn good. Scott was shocked that my first attempt at baking a turkey was so easy and the results far surpassed our expectations. We took the extra meat (and there was plenty) and placed it in freezer bags in our deep freeze. I will use this recipe again next year!

A few key facts I learned:

-Turkeys, especially 18lb. turkeys, take time to thaw. By time, I mean days.

-Baking and roasting a turkey is basically the same thing.

-The turkey needs to bake/roast in a roasting pan, not a baking sheet.

-Leave the oven door closed while you bake. No opening and closing and opening and closing.

-Once you pull the turkey out of the oven, it is going to be hot and steamy. Don’t burn yourself.

-Your roasting pan will have some discolored stains in it. Nothing you do will get the pan clean.

Until next year!

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