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.
(Excerpt) Read more at lifehacker.com ...
These days it hard to find a roasting pan to cook a 20+ pound turkey. My mom uses a 70 year old roasting pan lined with aluminum foil to cook pork ribs and turkeys. Turkeys can be rather greasy as well, so you need a catch basin to collect the grease while cooking.
He’s dead, Jim.
He’s dead, Jim.
He’s dead, Jim.
For those who didn’t read the article..
Last paragraph
**RIMMED BAKING SHEET** with wire rack!!!!!!
I have been using this for years...
better article
https://www.seriouseats.com/butterfiled-roast-turkey-with-gravy-recipe
Pics included
My sainted father gifted me a high end roasting pan with a turkey cradle that holds it above the sides so it gets airflow and catches all the drippings. Now I use just the cradle on my pitboss to smoke it. Really makes it easy to carry. Great for prime rib or ginormous pork butts.
I used to have a clay roaster that did a wonderful job of turning out a great bird with moist meat, a crispy skin and clean oven but it got broken in the last move.
I should try to find another one.
Bkmk
“My microwave sparked and flared today, for no reason I could figure. That’s never happened...”
The same happened to me last week. Eventually I noticed that the metal rack had dislodged and was in contact with the inside wall.
I fry mine. I haven’t suffered third degree burns yet.
I looked to see, and there was nothing out of the ordinary. I can only think that there may have been some sliver of something in the food. I couldn’t see anything, but the dish included refried beans from a can, and had been covered in foil in the fridge (???).
But I’m scared of stuff like that, so we’re just ditching the microwave and getting another.
bizarre!
Who wants to spend Thanksgiving Day evening cleaning the oven? I don’t care if you do put a drip pan beneath the turkey, the grease splatters will be all over the oven.
We have these threads every year and most of the advice is just ritual magic that makes no difference. There are many ways to make and eat a turkey. The only way Ive ever encountered that was a total failure was when some idiot thoroughly injected a turkey with hot sauce and deep fried the hell out of it. I have more than one technique depending on the time of the year, one has similarities to his. People worry too much about the turkey and not enough about the family they are with. Best wishes for your holiday.
Reminds me.... you know why they don’t have Thanksgiving in Athens? You aren’t supposed to cook turkey in grease.
Get it?
:)
Tip your waitress!!!
Hear, hear!
Buttered up, seasoned with sea salt, some pepper, and tarragon, with chicken broth on the pan.
Cover. Baste regularly. Tender, delicious bird every time.
We cook all day for a traditional Thanksgiving and do a big Italian meal for Black Friday while decorating the house for Christmas. Two days of feasting. Relaxed, family-oriented fun.
No extra cleaning for me, thanks.
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