Although not just a classic American food, turkey is uniquely a North American food. They also enjoy turkey and dressing for Canada’s Thanksgiving Day celebration that occurs in October. Turkey is just not seen in the rest of the world. When I lived in Iran as a child, chicken, pheasant or wild prairie chicken were all Mom could cook at Thanksgiving.
Although I usually bake my turkey in my regular oven, as it has a built-in meat thermometer probe, I also love cooking my holiday turkeys in my roaster oven. I especially use this appliance during the holidays when I have company, as it gives me extra oven space for baking all those delicious sides. 🙂
Roaster ovens also do a great job on cakes, muffins, cookies, biscuits and other baked items just beautifully! So if you’ve never used one, You might like to ask Santa for one this year. They are getting so cheap, one can be had for sometimes as little as $29 during the holiday season sales. I paid $60 for my first one in the 60’s, when $60 was worth a lot more than it is today! I find a roaster oven to be the most useful and versatile small appliance in my kitchen after an electric mixer. I can carry it out onto the patio to cook for hours in summer, eliminating excess kitchen heat, as well. 🙂
You go about cooking turkey in a roaster oven pretty much as you would in a regular oven. The lid acts as a foil cover, but it get very hot at the top of the oven. Important note: be sure to buy a bird that will FIT in your roaster oven! 🙂 That lid needs to come all the way down to the oven base. 😉 I still cover my wing tips, drumstick knobs and breast meat with foil, as the bird sits so close to the lid where the oven is very hot. Don’t want to dry out or overcook those areas.
Turkeys consistently come out delicious, exceedingly moist and tender done in a roaster oven. I’m convinced they cook even BETTER than in my regular oven. The skin doesn’t get quite as crispy, but crisp enough for me to be able to consistently to get that level of moist meat.
Turkey is suitable for all phases of Atkins, Keto, Primal and Paleo diets alike. Here’s what a typical Thanksgiving Day feast looks like at my house.
INGREDIENTS:
1 12-13 lb. turkey, thawed (follow chart on wrapper for a larger bird)
4 T. melted butter
Dash each of salt and black pepper
some small pieces of foil
DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven or roaster oven to 325º. Open turkey wrapper and I like to remove bird to a clean sink. Remove the leg binding gadget. Remove giblets and set aside for making your gravy. I only use the neck meat for my gravy so I simmer it for an hour or so with chopped celery and onion. I like the innards OK, but my husband does not, so the dog gets those goodies added to her kibble for a few days. 🙂
I like to rinse out the inside of the bird. I then pat the exterior dry with paper towels. Melt the butter in a small saucepan or in the microwave. Sprinkle bird inside and out with salt and pepper. Baste skin with butter all over on the outside and inside with a basting brush, using half the butter. Place turkey, breast side up in a pan large enough to hold it.
I cook my dressing outside the bird as I like it to brown on top. You can shove some into the bird cavity if you like that. Alternately, you can place chunks of celery, onion and parsley inside cavity for flavor enhancement, but I do not, generally. Your call there, but be sure to add those carbs below if you do and they are consumed. Cover wing tips, leg knuckles and breast meat only with foil so they will not overcook or burn.
Place pan with bird into the oven and cook for about 1 hour. Lift oven lid just long enough to baste with any remaining butter. Close oven and cook bird for 1 hour. Check for doneness with a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the breast and around the thick hip joint (the hidden joint of the leg quarter) which is the slowest area to get done on a turkey. You want the thermometer to read 170º. Cook for another 30 minutes or so, checking with thermometer every 10-15 minutes now so as to not overcook/dry out the bird.
Remove pan from oven when thermometer has reached 170º internal temperature at the specified two areas. Set pan for bird to “rest” 10 minutes before attempting to carve. This resting period will prevent tearing up the meat as it is sliced and will keep all the juices inside the meat instead of running out onto your cutting board. You want those juices to STAY in the meat! Lift bird onto a cutting board and slice for serving. This turkey should be extremely moist. Cooking this size bird for 2½-3 hours in a regular oven should also render a juicy turkey.
NUTRITIONAL INFO: I can’t know what pieces or amount you will eat, so I’ll inform as follows:
4 oz. dark meat, skin eaten, contains: 250 calories, 13 g fat, 0 carbs, 0 fiber, o net carbs, 31 g protein and 269 mg sodium
4 oz. white meat, skin eaten, contains: 222 calories, 9.4 g fat, 0 carbs, 0 fiber, 0 net carbs, 32.3 g protein and 255 mg sodium
Buttoni's Low-Carb Recipes 