The Simple Secret to Juicy, Flavorful Turkey (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to a moist turkey? ›

When your turkey is ready to go in the oven, place it upside-down in the oven tray first. Placing the turkey, breast side down, on a roasting rack for the first hour or so of roasting essentially allows it to baste itself. Any marks left by the rack will disappear once you flip the turkey over and finish roasting it.

Baste the turkey with fresh beer, wine or juice every hour. The natural sugars will help caramelize the outside of your turkey, giving it a nice crispy and flavorful skin. Injecting with butter or apple juice will add flavor, moisture and help penetrate down into the meat, which will make the turkey more flavorful.

Stick with salt and pepper, put herbs like rosemary, thyme, and sage to work, or take spicy Cajun seasoning for a spin for some kick. Whatever blend you choose, spread it all over the turkey—on top, underneath, between the body and wings and legs, under the skin, and even in the cavity of the bird.

To achieve a perfectly golden, juicy turkey, let the bird spend time both covered and uncovered in the oven. We recommend covering your bird for most of the cooking time to prevent it from drying out; then, during the last 30 minutes or so of cooking, remove the cover so the skin crisps in the hot oven.

Turkey is a relatively lean bird, particularly the breast meat, meaning that it doesn't have a lot of fat to help keep the meat from becoming dry and tough. By giving your turkey a dunk in a luxurious saltwater brine, you can coax more moisture and flavor into your meal before it's ready to roast.

Fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, and sage along with a half lemon go a long way to add flavor, and stuffing it into the bird takes almost no time at all.

Covering a turkey with butter (under and over the skin) serves to flavor and moisten the meat, as well as help the skin get crispy and golden brown.

Add flavor to a bland turkey.

Turkey needs to be generously seasoned. But if the meat is still under-seasoned after cooking, carve the turkey and place the slices on a serving platter. Sprinkle all over with sea salt and a few grinds of fresh black pepper. And be sure to properly season the gravy.

Try a Marinade

Try marinading your turkey in a mixture of broth, spices, and lemon juice, like in our Marinaded Thanksgiving Turkey for a roast that's flavorful through and through. Similar to brining, your turkey should sit in the marinade for a few hours to soak up all the delicious flavors.

Because turkey breast is especially lean, I like to rub softened fat beneath the skin just before roasting. It melts and gives the meat extra flavor, richness, and moisture. Duck fat is wonderful for this, and it fortifies the poultry flavors, but unsalted butter works well, too.

Why is there no juice coming from my turkey? ›

If you let the turkey rest a bit, the juices reabsorb into the meat rather than running out of the bird and landing on the cutting board. Carve it to order.

Since there's no water, salting doesn't increase the amount of water in the turkey to start, but the salt diffuses into the muscle tissue and breaks down some of its proteins, which helps it retain more water during cooking and seasons this seasonal treat.

Impart rich flavor and add moisture to your Thanksgiving turkey by adding a layer of butter under the skin before roasting. Learn how to do this simple (but genius) technique for a delicious Thanksgiving turkey.

Oven-Roasted Turkey

We recommend starting the turkey in a 425 degree oven for 30-45 minutes before tenting the pan with foil and lowering the temperature to 350 degrees until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the bird.

Place turkey (breast up) in your roasting pan. To ensure that the bottom of the turkey is crispy, place it on a roasting rack in your pan; or do what I do, and fill the bottom of your pan with a combination of the chopped apples, celery, onions, and carrots used in the step above.

Time To ROAST THE TURKEY!

Add the lemon, onion (reserving a quarter), fresh rosemary, thyme, sage, and parsley into the cavity. Overlap skin at cavity opening to cover as much of gap as possible; use toothpicks or small skewers, to hold skin in place.