For years I wrestled with brining the holiday turkey. Yes it definitely produces a tasty, absolutely delicious bird but it’s a hassle finding the room to brine it. If you have the space in your fridge to brine the turkey I highly recommend you give it a try at least once. Check out how to Brine Your Turkey For The Best Ever Oven Roasted Bird. If you are in the same conundrum as me and there just never seems to be enough room in the fridge for everything you may want to give this cheesecloth method a try. There’s no need to get out an ice chest, make a late night run to the market for a bag of ice, or set anything up to brine the turkey overnight; yet another thing to do on the long list of things to get done before the holiday meal. When my girlfriend Sabrina told me she had an easier method to roast a turkey that produced a perfect, magazine cover gorgeous, juicy, oven roasted bird I knew I had to give her method a try! And there’s no brining required!
Wrapping the turkey in a flavorful basting liquid soaked cheese cloth is the secret. There’s some serious magic that happens in the oven underneath that cheesecloth. It produces perfectly browned, crispy skin on the outside with the juiciest turkey breast meat you’ve ever served up! Keep reading to find out how you can do it too.
The night before:
Remove thawed turkey from the fridge. Remove all the plastic packaging and the neck and giblets from the inside cavity of the bird. Set aside.
Rinse turkey under cold running water in the sink. Pat the bird dry with paper towels. Season the entire bird with Kosher salt, both the inside cavity and the outside of the bird.
Place the salted turkey in a large pan. Tie the legs together with twine, tuck the wings underneath the bird and pull the loose skin down over neck opening.
Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge overnight. Step one…DONE! That was easy!
The day of:
Remove turkey from the fridge and set it on the counter for 1½ hours to allow it to come to room temperature.
Place a roasting rack, carrots and celery in the bottom of a roasting pan.
Helpful TIP: If you’re using a disposable roasting pan, place it on a cookie sheet to give it more stability.
Prepare the seasoned broth.
In a large saucepan heat chicken broth, onion, garlic, thyme, and butter. Bring mixture to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer mixture for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to come to room temperature. I do this first thing in the morning while I’m brewing the coffee so the mixture cools off by the time I need to get the turkey in the oven.
When you’re ready to get the turkey prepped, place oven rack at lowest position in the oven and preheat to 425℉.
Remove plastic wrap from turkey and drain off any excess liquid that has accumulated overnight. Transfer turkey into prepared roasting pan, on top of the carrots and celery.
Season the turkey liberally with pepper.
Dip cheese cloth in the cooled basting liquid until it’s fully saturated.
Drape the cheesecloth over the entire bird tucking it in along the legs and down the sides of the bird.
Pour the remaining liquid over the cheesecloth onto the bird.
Place the turkey in the oven and roast it for 45 minutes at 425°.
Reduce the oven temperature to 375℉, and continue to cook the bird until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°. Roast bird for approximately 15 minutes for each pound of meat, about an hour for every 4 lbs. Start checking temperature about 60 minutes prior to when you think it should be done. We don’t want to overcook the bird.
Remove the cheese cloth during the last 10 minutes of cook time to brown the skin.
Remove bird from the oven and tent loosely with a lenght of aluminum foil. Allow bird to rest for a full 45 minutes before carving it.
This gives you plenty of time to cook up all the sides you will be serving with your bird like this delectable family favorite, Pecan, Brown Sugar, Sweet Potato Casserole. It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without this dish. No overly sweet marshmallows on this one, just a topping of brown sugar and crunchy pecans. Utterly delectable!!! This is my personal favorite Thanksgiving side dish! It’s oh so very good!
Are you tired of peeling 10 pounds of potatoes on Thanksgiving day? There’s so much going on in the kitchen and having this Holiday Mashed Potato Casserole that can be made ahead of time and ready to pop in the oven will streamline all the last minute finishing touches that need to happen to get that Thanksgiving meal on the table. This casserole is a family favorite and it wouldn’t be a proper Thanksgiving without it on the menu. My boys are mashed potato snobs, and this gets a double thumbs up from everyone!!!
A HUGE shoutout to Amy at mynameissnickerdoodle.com for this absolutely fantastic method for cooking a picture perfect holiday, oven roasted turkey! I’m never going back to the hassle of brining my holiday turkey ever again. This method is so much easier and produces a Norman Rockwell picture perfect holiday bird. Not only does it look lovely, it’s juicy and delicious too! Give this method a try, you can thank me later!
Be sure to check back after the Thanksgiving holiday for delicious, easy meal ideas on what to do with all those turkey leftovers in your fridge. Enjoy spending time with your family this holiday creating good memories and remember to focus on all the blessings God has graced us with.
This post was originally published December 2023 and republished with updated content November 2024.
Picture Perfect Holiday Roast Turkey
Equipment
- cheese cloth
- roasting rack
- large roasting pan
Ingredients
- 20 lb turkey
- 1 tbsp Kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 32 oz chicken broth
- 1 medium onion, cut into 1 inch chunks
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 6 stalks celery, cut into chunks
- 4 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
- 6 stems thyme
- 1 stick butter
- cheesecloth
Instructions
The night before:
- Remove thawed turkey from the fridge.
- Remove turkey from plastic packaging and remove neck and giblets from the inside cavity of the bird. Set aside.
- Rinse turkey under cold running water in the sink.
- Pat dry with paper towels.
- Season the entire bird with Kosher salt, both the inside cavity and the outside of the bird.
- Place the salted turkey in roasting pan.
- Tie legs together with twine, tuck wings underneath the bird and pull skin down over neck opening.
- Cover pan with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight.
The day of:
- Remove turkey from the fridge and set it on the counter for 1½ hours to allow it to come to room temperature.
- In a large saucepan heat chicken broth, onion, garlic, thyme, and butter. Bring mixture to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and allow mixture to come to room temperature.
- Place oven rack at lowest setting in the oven and preheat to 425℉.
- Remove plastic wrap from turkey and drain off any excess liquid that has accumulated in the bottom of the pan, and discard.
- Place a roasting rack in the bottom of a large roasting pan.
- Place carrots and celery in the roasting pan and place the turkey on top.
- Season turkey liberally with pepper.
- Dip cheese cloth in cooled basting liquid until fully saturated.
- Drape cheesecloth over the entire bird tucking it in along the legs and down the sides of the bird.
- Pour the remaining liquid over the cheesecloth on the bird.
- Place the turkey in the oven and cook for 45 minutes at 425°.
- Reduce heat to 375℉, and continue to cook bird until it reaches an internal temperature of 165° F when pierced at the breast.
- Roast bird for approximately 15 minutes for each pound, about an hour for every 4 lbs.
- Remove cheese cloth during the last 10 minutes of cook time to brown the skin.
- Remove bird from the oven and tent loosely with a lenght of aluminum foil. Allow bird to rest for 45 minutes before carving.
Wishing you a joyous and blessed Thanksgiving!
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Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
John 6:35
Remember…Jesus ❤️’s you!