- I followed your recipe exactly and read on your site that you appreciate feedback, so here's mine. Unfortunately, it did not work out well at all. I suspect that the size was the issue, as my turkey was 19.5 lbs., but your site did say "up to 20 lbs." You might want to do some tests yourself and amend that. My oven is pretty accurate, and if anything, tends to run a little hot - so I know that low temperature wasn't the issue. (And I am at sea level.)
It took an hour longer than your recipe said to get to the proper temp (170 in the breast), and then the bird wasn't actually cooked through - although the breast was delicious and juicy, the legs and wings were all red inside! So far nobody's gotten sick (we only cut off the breast at dinner), but with the contamination present in today's factory farming methods, that *is* a legitimate concern and is probably the reason for the recommendation of cooking at 325 degrees.
Which reminds me, when I cooked a turkey for Thanksgiving at 325 degrees, it was also excellent and juicy (I was careful use my thermometer and not overcook it). Although, I do like some of your ideas, so I think I will try your method again with a smaller (12 lb. or so) turkey and see what happens. I'll let you know how that one turns out! Best wishes, Sarina M., 12/29/08.
Note: I have cooked turkeys much larger and never had this problem. This lady obviously knows what she's doing. I have no idea what went wrong.
- I followed your instructions to the letter. The result was an undercooked turkey. I had to leave it an additional hour just to get the outer layers of the breast to the minimum temperature. No left-overs this year. Very disappointing.
Chris, Novato, CA, 12/25/08
- Have high end new stove and temp is correct
After cooking 9.5 lb turkey for 20 min at 475, 3 hours 15 min at 260 (I went up a bit from your instructions), the breast was only 140 degrees.
Oh well....I will just keep cooking until I get the right temp.
Thanks anyway. J.S., 12/25/08
- I don't know what possessed me to try a new recipe for Thanksgiving, especially one I found the night before Thanksgiving on the Web, but I did...
So I just uncovered my turkey, expecting it to be done. It is mostly raw. It is indeed quite moist -- the cavity is still full of bloody juices! I don't know if you made up all those testimonials or what, but I can't believe they were real. So now to try to finish cooking my turkey in a way that will work... Shirley V., 11/27/08
- I had one I can't re publish because this is a family website. The gentlemen referred to parts of his anatomy and my anatomy. It was a cornucopia of colorful words delivered with the skill and aplumb of a an enraged drill sergeant. The kindest word in the email was when he called me a hack. I was left with the distinct impression that he was unhappy with his turkey.
My response to that gentlemen: I have no idea why your turkey didn't come out right. I'm very sorry you had a problem.
Publishing a recipe does not always result with a pat on the back.
- While I let this turkey cool before putting it in the fridge I wanted to respond with my results. Poor - too well done - overcooked are adjectives that come to mind. I'm disappointed as I was so looking forward to turkey this year as I am single, older, and got this on a fabulous sale. I followed your instructions but did not use foil - which is perhaps the method of destruction. I used my grandfathers roasting pan. I will not give up as your recipe does sound simple and should give good results. I will do this again - obviously not right away - and I will use this turkey in various recipes - just not necessarily the way I wanted to. I can't even eat the skin as it is just too dark/crisp even for me. As I said - I will try this method again - just a different pan and foil instead of the old roasting pan. BTW - this is the first time I have ever overcooked a turkey! *sigh* Katrina, 11/19/09
Note: This is the first problem reported where the turkey was overdone. It may be that the older roasting pan used was made of thcker metal and held the 475° temperature from the initial cooking phase way too long. But that's a guess.
- My son and I used your recipe for our Thanksgiving turkey. The breast was cooked perfectly but the legs and thighs were still raw. Because of that my son tossed the entire turkey away. We did eat some of the white meat, but no one could touch the rest. So...needless to say we will not be using this recipe again next year! Diana, 11/29/09
- I decided to use your recipe but I had not really read ALL of the reviews yet until halfway through cooking it.. So anyway, I followed all directions and used maybe two cups of butter total soaking underneath the skin. I think it was good I went overkill with the butter because it saved me in the end. I did not know how accurate my oven is/was and therefore it took eleven hours (and the last 3 I cranked the heat to 325). I still liked the recipe but the cooking time was the real "disaster" . Liisa M. , 12/2/09
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