Overnight Turkey (Easy, Delicious, and Always Moist!)
Many of us are getting ready for our big dinner tomorrow and most of those will be starring our favorite bird! I thought y’all might be interested in how we cook our turkey. Mama actually took photographs of doing this for this post, but she high tailed it off to Gatlinburg and forgot to send them to me! That’s okay, y’all have good imaginations and these instructions are easy anyway!
There is no one right way to cook a turkey and I’m not saying my method is better than any others. Feel free to post under this and tell me how y’all do it, it would be a great reference for everyone who reads this! This is just how I cook my turkey and how I like my turkey cooked! Its awful easy and your entire bird will be moist and juicy, even the white meat! Whats more, the bird is done first thing when you wake up so you can use that super rich broth and some of the meat to put into your dressing and gravies for the big meal!
Overnight Turkey
1 Turkey, thawed
1 Tablespoon Flour
1 stick butter or margarine
1 oven bag large enough for turkey to fit in
Roaster pan or other large pan with depth to it (so broth won’t overflow – it always seeps out of the bag anyway)
Look in cavity of the turkey and make sure there are not giblets (bags of anything). If there are, remove those. I am a bad little Southerner, I throw my giblets away. Grandmama always saves hers for giblet gravy. You do what your heart tells ya to do (my heart says giblets are a wee bit on the gross side).
1. Put one tablespoon of flour in oven bag, shut it and shake it. Place turkey breast side down in oven bag (oven bag should be sitting in your roasting pan). Breast side down is key here for moist white meat. It may look funny but trust us!
2. Stick that margarine or butter where the sun don’t shine (up the little gobbler’s rear- sorry gobbler)
3. Seal bag and cut a few small slits in the top.
4. Turn oven on 250 and cook overnight.
I don’t put mine in until ten thirty or eleven and I get it out by six in the morning. You want to cook it about seven hours, but no more. When you wake up, your entire house will smell like turkey and the broth will be SO RICH and wonderful!!
5. Slice turkey and place on platter. Spoon a little broth over if you like. Cover with cling wrap or foil and refrigerate until time for your meal.
We always have turkey for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning because it is fresh and ready!
Turkey biscuits are great!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!! I’m sorry there are no photos on this but I wanted to post it in case any of you needed an easy way to turn out a moist bird!
Gratefully,
Christy
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Christy, I use this method – just no bag. At the very end I flip the bird (no pun intended) and let it brown under the broiler.
Now….do you make giblet gravy? I make it and put a sliced up boiled egg (white only – just my preference) in it. Makes good gravy, yo!
FYI, the chopped up hard boiled egg is to signify good luck and thanks. My Grandmother and Mother never served holiday gravy (Thanksgiving and Christmas) without the egg in the giblet gravy. Of course, Zorkler was hatched from an egg so it makes it kinda cannibalistic.
I am obsessed with cooking my turkey in a turkey bag! It’s the best way imho. However, I get to spend many TG with my family and they do not use this method. It takes a lot of gravy to swallow it…That’s all I can say. ;0>
I have always made my roast chicken breast side down…I guess now’s the time to try it with the turkey!
Thanks and Have a great TG!
I have always roasted my Turkey breast down. It really does make the breast more juicy.
My husband and I also roast our turkey breast down and we wonder why you hardly ever hear it recommended by the “official” turkey advisers. Oh well, we know it works!
I have a question about your recipe: What size turkey are you using for these instructions? I’m guessing the time in the oven would vary for a smaller or larger bird.
Thanks so much and have a GREAT Thanksgiving!
Hey!! I do make giblet gravy…only umm..I don’t use the giblets! LOL I love a boiled egg in mine as well, just the whites like you said!
As far as size goes, this will work for just about any size bird. We’ve done it for up to fifteen pounds, beyond that you might want to give it another hour or so but won’t take much more! Just a good slow cookin’ way of makin’ your turkey!
now i’m off to make thanksgiving pies!!!
Gratefully,
Christy
I just wrap the turkey in aluminum foil, stuff the inside with lemon, butter, rosemary, onion and garlic cloves.. then set a neighbors house on fire and toss it in….
Giblet gravy is awesome. I usually boil the giblets with chicken stock, celery, onions then slice up an egg as well. Thicken it with a cold water slurry of flour and water. Easy peasy. If I want the gravy and I have a chicken without giblets. I boil chicken liver and gizzards instead, the same way as above. Comes out the same.
I like your turkey idea .. very clever to use a neighbor’s torched house .. lol!
I want to try this but I have no bag. Can I use foil and do it the same way?
Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
My mom used to cook her turkey this way except no bag. It was always great. I use a bag but don’t turn the turkey upside down because the bag usually keeps it moist. I can see why using both methods would really make the turkey moist – I just may do that tonight.
I am in total agreement with you about the giblets – my cats get them! We don’t like eggs in the gravy either – just nice plain turkey gravy for us.
When I make turkey for Christmas I also cook it breast side down, and I don’t turn it over at the end. I know some people like to so that the breast is browned, but I find that with the long cooking time it’s always brown enough.
I also like to put some pieces of butter in between the meat and skin. I stuff the cavity with herbs and onions, and vegetables like celery and carrot. I prepare it on Christmas Eve night and tie it up all with the string, so that in the morning it’s ready to put in the oven.
Happy Thanksgiving! I tried brining my turkey this year, but this overnight turkey sounds good too! I might have to try it this way next year.
http://theadventuresofheather.blogspot.com/
This sounds like a really simple idea – I love this!
-DTW
http://www.everydaycookin.blogspot.com
Hey hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving!! Thanks for the recipe. Next time I will have to try this.:) Thanks:)
Sharon:)
My turkey came out very moist (including the breast) just from doing an overnight brine and without turning it breast side down, but I will have to try this recipe out one day. I did Alton Brown’s turkey recipe…
I have never made a turkey, but I need to. One day everyone will be coming here for Thanksgiving. Better start practicing now!
I use Alton Brown’s method of brining a turkey. The night before I plan to cook it, I make a brine of water (Alton says vegetable broth, but I use water), kosher salt, brown sugar, black peppercorns, and a few other spices. You cook the brine for awhile, then put it in the fridge to chill. When it’s cold (you don’t want to precook the turkey!) place the turkey in a large container and cover in the brine.
This year I “cheated.” I put my turkey in a clean garbage bag, inside of one of the pull-out bottom fridge compartments. A 15lb turkey fit perfectly. Turkey went back in the fridge until Thursday around 11 am. I took it out and rinsed off all of the brine. I stuffed the cavity with quartered oranges and lemons with a little bit of butter. I put more butter under the skin of the breast, and everywhere on the outside of the skin. Salt and pepper on top of the skin.
Turkey went into a roasting pan as normal. Alton Brown says to cook for 30 minutes at 500 degrees (I preheated while I was rinsing and preparing the bird), then dropped it down to 350 until it was 161 degrees.
After the bird was done, my husband actually said “This isn’t turkey! Everyone knows turkey is supposed to be bone dry, not juicy.” Our turkey came out more juicy and full of flaver than I have EVER had in a turkey.
On Friday evening, I made Southern Plate’s chicken noodle soup, slightly modified. I took our turkey carcass, vegetables, and seasonings, and threw it in the crock pot, covered with water, and placed on low until Saturday afternoon. That broth turned out WONDERFUL! I really liked the noodles, too
My son absolutely went crazy over it… you know you’ve got a good dish when a picky 2 year old eats it!
Wow, I have not cooked my Turkey from Thanksgiving yet, but I sure am
going to try it. I hate the white meat because its dry, well I hope this does the trick. Thank you so much for all of your tips, I just joined here and love it already. God Bless.
I never thought of cooking it upside down. Ha. Clever. We brined our turkey for the first time ever this thanksgiving and oh MY! It was yummy! I can’t wait to try it with chicken. I’m going to try cooking it upside-down next time. I guess we all get so set on trying to make it look like the pretty perfectly browned birds you see in all the pictures out there – but it always comes to the table already sliced up on a platter anyway…. so why are we so pressed anyway? lol
The slicing of the turkey is always a big part of thanksgiving around our family, everyone surrounds the carver waiting to get their hands on a sample while it is being carved…kinda like a pack of starving animals..hehe. So, everyone sees the product before it is sliced in our family–guess that is why it has to be “pretty”.
I tried this last weekend! It turned out so moist and tender! I had a baking bag that said it fit up to 12 lbs and a 13 lb turkey! I held my breath and it just fit!
My husband said I could teach my mom a thing or two about cooking turkey now! That would take some diplomacy! LOL!
Thanks for the idea!
WHEN YOU REHEAT TURKEY PUT WET ICEBURG LETTUCE LEAFS ON TOP AND WARM IN A 300 DEGREE OVEN YUMMY AND STILL MOIST FROM THE WET LEAVES HUGS SALLY
this is a great idea.i cook pork roast up side down as well fat up yum yum!!!
That’s a fast (well because it is cooking while you sleep! lol) way of cooking a turkey. It sounds yummy. I’m not cooking the turkey this year, but maybe I’ll get a turkey anyway and try it. I usually use a recipe that uses olive oil and cheesecloth. Succulent and pretty but you have to babysit it a bit.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE will somebody tell me how to make that yummy stuffing in the pan, that everyone but this poor Yankee seems to know how to make. I will be eternally grateful. Those little squares of stuffing are totally beyond my comprehension. (thank you for the dixie cornbread recipe) LOVE IT!!
Dressing recipe- I boil a chicken and use the broth from it and the meat in my dressing. I make 2 pans of corn bread(10-12″ skillet), 6 biscuits, 4-6 slices of white loaf bread. Crumble these together. I usually do this a day ahead and put in gallon storage bags. Chicken cooked day before also. The morning of I mix breads, box of stove top stuffing(for seasonings) together. Add 2-3 eggs, 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning, l large finely chopped or grated onion, chicken shreaded, and start with 1 cup of broth. Mix with hands in large bowl. Keep adding broth until you get it as moist as you like it. I like it almost mushy. Spread large pan with cooking spray. I cook mine 375 degrees for between 30 – 45 min. It depends on how deep your pan is and how you like it cooked. I have to cook several pans. Some like no onions, very dry and very moist. I try to please everyone. Hope this helps.
Jodi, I forget that some folks like celery, etc. in it also. Add what every you like. Since it is almost all cooked anyway. I taste on seasonings etc. Probably salt and pepper as you like. I usually put enough in my chicken that I don’t add very much. You might want to start with less poultry seasoning until you taste it. Hope you enjoy as much as we do.
I am so greatful to you for this recipe, I can taste it already. Maybe my in-laws will forgive me for all my yankeeness when I serve this with dinner
Jodi
My sister used to cook a turkey like this and it was delicious! However, the turkey council or some other food police came out and said it was not safe to keep your bird at that temp for so long. I am always scared now of killing my guests or giving them food poisoning. Have they changed their views or should we just take our chances?:D
My mother-in-law cooked her turkey like this, with this exception: She placed the turkey in a preheated 500 degree oven for an hour or so (don’t rememer exactly how long), then turned the oven off and let the turkey sit in the oven overnight. I think that’s the method that the experts were talking about. I never ate her turkey because I was afraid to….especially after the Christmas when it ran blood when we sliced it!!! I think this method (oven heated all night) is o.k., but I might check it out with my local agriculture extension agent before I try it. I’ve slow-cooked turkey breast in a crock pot, so I don’t see why this wouldn’t be o.k.
[...] Overnight Turkey: Always Moist, Easy, and Delicious [...]
[...] Overnight Turkey: Always Moist, Easy, and Delicious [...]
Just wanted you to know I tried this method for our Thanksgiving meal and it was FABULOUS! This will be the ONLY turkey cooking method this household will use from now on. My husband raved about how tender and easy to carve it was. Besides that, it was so nice to have the mess cleaned up before the guests arrived. I also made your Pecan pie…to die for…and crock pot cornbread stuffing…all going in my arsenal of tired & true Thanksgiving recipes. Thank you for sharing these with the rest of us. Keep ‘em coming too.
Thank you!!! It was my job to make the turkey this Christmas, my first ever and it was for my in-laws. I was feeling the stress… The smallest turkey I could find was 19.5 lbs… After being in the fridge for 4 days it was not near thawed Christmas eve. Thankfully, my SIL helped thaw turkey in the bathtub.
So at 2:30am I put the turkey in, no oven bag, just the butter in the bumm, a cup of water in the pan and turkey upside down on a rack in the roasting pan and I lightly covered turkey with foil.
I started checking the temperature at 9:30am and it was not near done. I checked ever 30 minutes. I was worried it would dry out.
I cooked that sucker until 12:45 and it came out moist and delicious. I am commenting in case someone else ends up with an obscenely large bird and wonders if this method will work… it does.
Thank you soooo much for the wonderfully easy way to cook at turkey. Why doesn’t everyone cook them this way? Merry Christmas!