I've known people who cooked their turkeys this way. It does make the meat more moist, but it also prevents that gorgeous mahogany brown turkey presentation on the table. If you carve in the kitchen and serve on a platter, it is a great idea. It doesn't provide a nice showpiece for your table, though.
Brining a turkey also keeps the meat very moist, but still allows for the golden-brown turkey presentation. Alton Brown has a brine recipe, but there are many out there. I've had both brined and unbrined birds, and the brined turkey is so much more moist and flavorful!
ETA: I like to stuff my poultry with chopped onions and citrus slices (oranges and lemons). It is really tasty and the evaporating liquids from the veggies also help to keep the breast moist.
Last edited by mandalinn82; 11-14-2007 at 02:53 PM.
I have always cooked my turkey breast side down. I make 'BLACK' turkeys. They are coverfed in seasonings, they taste wonderful and we don't eat the skin anyway.
Every year we have deep fried turkey at my aunt and uncle's for turkey-day. If you don't eat the skin, it actually isn't much higher calorie/fat than regular turkey (eating the skin is another issue, of course), and that also keeps the turkey very moist. As long as the oil stays above 350 degrees, there is very little difference in the amount of fat/calories. And its soooo good.
My mother cooks the turkey breast-side-down, then she uses those miniature pitchfork-looking things to turn it over at the end -- so it still looks very pretty.
My mother cooks the turkey breast-side-down, then she uses those miniature pitchfork-looking things to turn it over at the end -- so it still looks very pretty.
That's probably what I'll end up doing for the last 20 minutes or so I really don't care what it looks like as this turkey meat will be used for sandwiches and such, but still.... I want to make it look pretty
My husband (a former chef) makes an amazing turkey. He starts the bird upside down on a rack, and half-way through the cooking time he flips it over (he puts on heavy oven mits, slips plastic bags over the mits, and just grabs the bird and flips it over). He then bastes the bird again, covers it with foil and continues to cook it. Then half an hour before it's done, he removes the foil and lets the skin brown.
His bird isn't the lowest calorie way to make a bird, as he rubs a mixture of melted butter olive oil and seasonings under and over the skin of the bird, and bastes it with the pan juices (seems like every 15 minutes).
It is SO wonderful, it tastes almost like rotisserie chicken. I always tease him that I ENVY the amount of time he spends with the bird while it's cooking. I'm more the "throw it in a cooking bag and forget it" type myself.
I started the turkey at 400 for the first 30 minutes. Within in the first 20 minutes, I noticed that the drippings were burning to the bottom of the pan (I have the turkey up on a rack). I ended up throwing half a can of beer into the bottom of the roaster pan lol. OMG it smells so freaking good in here now LOL.
Every year we have deep fried turkey at my aunt and uncle's for turkey-day. If you don't eat the skin, it actually isn't much higher calorie/fat than regular turkey (eating the skin is another issue, of course), and that also keeps the turkey very moist. As long as the oil stays above 350 degrees, there is very little difference in the amount of fat/calories. And its soooo good.
I was looking to see if anyone mentioned this. Deep fried turkey is the most MOIST turkey I've ever had. And extremely tasty.
I cooked a turkey this way one time and honestly, I didn't taste a difference. DH's mom always used those bags and I had never tried it so did and I will not cook one any other way now. The bags really keep the bird moist and it does brown nicely...so good!
We always brine ours. My DD's both want it that way now. Too bad they are going to miss it this year. I'm not changing Thanksgiving because they both made other plans after telling me they'd be there.
We always put water or something in the bottom of the roasting pan so the drippings don't burn and start smoking. Besides, it keeps some moisture in there as well.
I let it sit overnight in brine (okay just very salty water). Rinsed it and patted it dry the next day.
I stuffed the turkey with a couple of carrots, a couple of celery stalks, a sprig of thyme and half an onion.
I tied it up (legs and wings etc), rubbed it with olive oil and sprinkled a little bit of pepper on it, and placed it on a roasting rack breast side down. I tucked fresh rosemary and thyme into the little crevices between the folded wings.
I started it at 400F for the first half hour... ended up tossing in a can of beer in the bottom to help from burning.
After 30 minutes, I turned it down to 350F for 2 hours. Then down to 250 for the last hour. Then I flipped the turkey onto it's back and set the oven to "broil" to brown the top of the turkey.
keep in mind the rule of thumb for cooking turkey is 15 minutes per pound at 350F.
I took it out of the oven and covered it for an hour before "cutting". The meat practially slid off the bones.
The white meat was impossible to carve because it was too darned moist. The brown meat was NOT (I reapeat) NOT greasy, because it was not on the bottom of the pan (as I usually do). The turkey is much leaner this way.
I did not use the drippings for the gravy... but if I had, it would have been the best gravy EVER!!!!
I will never cook a turkey the traditional way again... ever
My kids HATE (HATE HATE HATE) turkey... they both ate so much their bellies were bloated!! LOL
Last edited by tamaralynn; 11-14-2007 at 08:52 PM.
My sister cooks a turkey very similar to that, but stuffs the cavity with something else. It is to die for. The gravy doesn't really taste like regular gravy, more like roasted vegetable sauce. I don't know how else to describe it. We can't get enough of it.
Cookin a turkey - upside down
Same brine
