Roasting directions
The following are very successful roasting directions for a small (10-12 pound) turkey:
- Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Rinse the turkey.
- Put the turkey drumstick side down.
- Look at the wings. Imagine you were twisting someone's arm behind their back. Do this with both wings. Once you figure out the right twist, you'll find that the tips of the wings will stay firmly in place near the center of the back of the turkey (near its backbone).
- Turn the turkey drumstick side up.
- Tie the drumsticks closely together and closely to the tail.
The ideas of the previous steps is to minimize the amount that the wings and drumsticks stick out. Anything that sticks out into the heat of the oven is going to get done much more quickly than the core of the turkey. Additional steps that can be taken are to wrap the parts that stick out with foil.
This relates to the core challenge of roasting a turkey. By the time the interior meat reaches a don temperature, the exterior and especially the parts that stick out into the oven are overdone. However, the variations in doneness are also part of the wonderful roasted flavor (so don't try to avoid the challenge by doing anything drastic like wrapping the entire turkey in foil).
Next:
- Rub the entire exterior of the turkey with butter. The butter is needed to prevent the turkey from drying out while roasting.
- Place the turkey drumstick side down on a roasting tray (with slots to allow drippings through into a pan), or on a rack sitting in a pan. You will need a basting tool to get the drippings from this pan throughout the roasting process.
- Place the turkey in the oven.
Next (basting, timing and checking for doneness):