You’ve made your Thanksgiving plans, reserved your turkey fresh from our farm and now you’re anticipating a wonderful meal with those you love.
This turkey was raised the way God intended - enjoying fresh grass, bugs and lots of sunshine.
You will love knowing where your food comes from and your taste buds will too.
Whether you’re confident in the kitchen or just starting to dip your toes into cooking, we hope this step-by-step guide will be helpful for you.
For us, there’s two key components to a perfect roast turkey:
Brine - this ensures that the turkey remains juicy, tender and the natural flavor of the meat shines through
Compound Butter - this adds extra flavor, richness, and juiciness to the meat
Your Perfect Roast Thanksgiving Turkey
Ingredients:
2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves
1/3 cup fresh sage
1/4 cup fresh thyme
whole fresh turkey
sea salt
black pepper
optional for stuffing turkey: homemade stuffing, onion, celery, carrot, lemon or apple
Steps:
Monday evening:
Note the weight of your turkey and if you’re stuffing it. Check the estimated roasting times below so you know when you need to get it into the oven on Thursday.
Remove turkey from bag onto a rimmed cookie sheet and save the bag. Pat turkey dry with paper towels.
Measure out a tablespoon of salt for every 4lb of turkey. For instance, you’ll need roughly 4 tablespoons of salt for a 16lb turkey.
Loosen skin over breasts, thighs, & drumsticks if you can.
Rub half the salt under the skin and half on top of the skin and in the cavity.
Place turkey back in the bag fastened with another zip tie, twist tie or close pin and place breast side up on a large plate or cookie sheet in case of leaking.
Tuesday evening:
Turn the turkey over so the breast is facing down.
Wednesday evening:
Remove turkey from bag and place just on large plate or cooking sheet breast side up to allow the skin to air dry. Place back in fridge.
Combine olive oil, garlic and herbs in food processor or blender. Mix with softened butter in a separate bowl. Cover and store in the fridge.
Thursday morning:
Remove the turkey and compound butter from fridge to allow it to come to room temperature, around 1 hour before roasting.
Prepare your stuffing (if using) & preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place the turkey in a shallow roasting pan, breast side up and stuff.
Spread half of compound butter under the skin and the other half on top of the skin. Sprinkle all over with salt and pepper.
Tie legs together with baking twine or a rope made of aluminum foil. Tuck wings as close to the body as possible and cover turkey loosely with foil and place in the oven.
After two hours, begin using a meat thermometer to test for doneness. Place into the thickest part of the breast. We love using the one you can keep inside the meat in the oven with the temperature gauge outside the oven.
Remove foil once the temperature is up to around 130 so the skin will get crispy.
Remove the turkey from the oven once the temperature is up to 160. It’ll continue to cook once removed from the oven, up to the recommended 165 degrees.
Let rest 15-30 minutes before carving, click here for a helpful carving resource.
Make sure to save your scraps and bones for a delicious bone broth or soup!
Roasting time estimates:
*should take approximately 10-12 minutes per pound, but every turkey and oven is different, so we suggest using a meat thermometer. Add another minute or two per pound for a stuffed bird.
8-12 lbs: 1.5-2.5 hours
12-16 lbs: 2-3 hours
16-20 lbs: 3-4 hours
Here are some of our other favorite dishes for Thanksgiving:
Homemade Pumpkin Pie with Lard Crust
If you’re interested in reading more about reserving a fresh turkey from our farm, click the button below
We’d LOVE to hear from you! What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving traditions? Did you learn something new from this post either about the benefits of pasture raised turkey or the ways you can prepare them?