The roasting time for a turkey depends on the size of the turkey. Most turkeys weigh a minimum of 8 pounds and go to 20 or more pounds. I don’t have a formula for time by pound but I generally allow at least 3 hours for an 8-10 pound turkey. Everyone has their grandmother’s secret for roasting the perfect turkey, mine is salting the turkey the night before and then roasting at 325° until the skin becomes the perfect color.
Tip : A very important step is to baste the turkey every 20 minutes to half hour while it is roasting. It will keep the turkey moist and will give you a chance to peek at how things are going.
Ingredients
- 8-10 lb turkey defrosted
- 2-3 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 recipe Bread Stuffing for Turkey and Chicken
Instructions
- Salt the turkey, inside and out on all surfaces. You should use enough salt so that you can see the salt on the surface, be generous,
- Place the turkey in a roasting pan and cover with cling wrap and place the turkey in your fridge over night.
- Pre heat oven to 325°
- If stuffing, prepare you stuffing and stuff the cavity at the neck and under the breast of the turkey.
- Stuff the cavity and then secure the skin with a couple of wooden skewers.
- Turn the turkey breast side up in the roasting pan.
- If you are not stuffing the turkey, just place breast side up.
- Add 1/4 cup of water to the roasting pan or enough water to cover the bottom of the pan and to come up about a half inch along the side of the pan. Add one banana pepper and one tomato cut in half.
- Place the turkey on the middle rack of your oven and roast for 2-3 hours, or until the skin becomes a dark golden color. If the pan looks dry, add a little water to cover the bottom of the pan, same as before.
Author Notes
This year we bought an 11 pound turkey. I removed it from the refrigerator around noon, having salted it the day before, and allowed it to warm to room temperature. I placed the turkey in a pre-heated 325°F oven at 2:45 p.m. and basted it every 20-30 minutes until the color was just right. In my judgement this was about 2 hours and 45 minutes later. Just to make sure, I tested both the thigh and the breast with a meat thermometer and both registered at the correct temperatures.
The turkey lets out a lot of juice while roasting, so no need to add water to the pan. But don't throw away those pan juices, they are the foundation for an incredible turkey gravy. Just pour about a cup and a half of the pan juices into a sauce pan. Skim the top to get rid of the extra fat, and then combine a couple of tablespoon of flour with water to make a slurry and add the slurry to the turkey drippings in the sauce pan. Bring to a boil and stir with a wire whisk until the gravy is smooth. If it looks too thin, add more slurry.
