Posted on 11/09/2022 11:42:39 AM PST by mylife
After years of hosting, cooking, and writing about Thanksgiving dinner, I have a confession to make: I have never used a roasting pan to cook my turkey. I don’t even own a roasting pan big enough to cook a turkey, nor a roasting rack to set it on. I roast my birds on a wire rack set over a baking sheet, and the bird has never suffered. In fact, the bird is the better for it.
Roasting pans are quite deep. When you set a turkey down inside one, the sides come up around the lower parts of the body, blocking the flow of heat and air. You still get the crispy skin on top of the bird, but the skin on the bottom is flaccid, pale, and wobbly. According to Meathead Goldwyn of AmazingRibs.com, when cooking a bird (be it a chicken or a turkey), trussing and roasting pans are two of the main sources for blobby bird skin:
I am always surprised at how many chefs tell you to truss the legs. You want the dark meat to cook more than the white meat. If you truss the legs, you’re basically pulling it in so that it becomes a part of the thermal mass of the body, and the legs aren’t going to cook as much, and you’ll get way overcooked breasts. If you let the legs fly, you’re going to get better air circulation around them and they will heat faster and cook more. Even Thomas Keller—all these guys—they’re always trussing the bird, and they put it in these roasting pans.
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Was about to post the same…. I smoke mine low and slow and then everyone stuffs their face and then sleeps.
How about the oven?
Would this work for a chicken?
Best way I ever did it was on a V shaped roasting rack breast side down. Use slices of bread between breast and rack to protect breast meat.
Dark meat cooks through thoroughly and white meat doesn’t dry out.
Worked well for me.
For the past couple years, wife and I have carved our Turkey up by parts (breaking down the Turkey), dry salt and sugar brine in refrig overnight, place on roasting pan with wire rack and cook it that way.
Where do all the juices end up after landing on a cookie sheet? And the excess stuffing? I’m keeping my awesome roasting pan lined with foil.
But unless you are enamored of the look of a roasted bird I would go with spatchcocking for chicken.
You can also use this for ducks and turkeys.
Dead turkeys tell no tales.......
Spatchcocking is sooooooo delicious, chicken or small turkey. Makes a mess of the oven. But, oh, well.
Yes. I always let the fat splatter all over the oven instead of staying in the pan. That way, I get to clean the oven the next day.
I like my roasting pan thank you very much.
Baking bags.
The secret to a delicious turkey is an ancient one - stuff it with the dung of a cow before you cook it. Cook until done. Cool. Take the cow shit out and throw the turkey away. Eat the cow shit.
Dude, I smoked one and used jerk seasoning
Took that to work and 1 guy cried cus it reminded of his mama.
I do the same except in a paper bag (no bread slices). Every part of the Turkey is cooked correctly and the white meat is tender and moist.
For 43 years, we’ve done ours in a Weber BBQ Kettle and on the wire rack. Use the indirect method so there’s no heat right below the bird. The skin always comes out crispy as can be on the entire bird. My wife always grabs a knife and sneaks a slice of skin as soon as I take it off the grill.
In my opinion, there’s no better way to cook a turkey!
Your are certainly living up to your screen name, my friend.
That’s what I wondered; but I guess you could put a deeper pan underneath.
Well except for that time it got knocked unconscious with an electric stun gun so they could cut it's jugular to bleed it out.
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