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!
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
- 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).
- 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!
- Stick that margarine or butter where the sun don't shine (up the little gobbler's rear- sorry gobbler)
- Seal bag and cut a few small slits in the top.
- 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!!
- 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.
Yum 
H-E-L-P. honest to god i’ve searched ’til I no longer can for your blog about going out to dinner on thanksgiving where you ran into a stranger who overheard you talk about baking turkeys. That stranger told you “Honey, let me tell you how to bake a turkey” [paraphrased closely]. I wrote down what she told you and can’t find it now. I saw her wisdom of experience in the words. Is there any way you could revive that post or direct me to it? Pretty please with sugar.
Hey Sandy! I’m afraid you may have me confused with someone else. This is the method I use for oven turkey and I have two other recipes I use for the crock pot but that is how I’ve always made a turkey. I will try to find time to search around on google today and see if I can find what you are looking for 🙂
DISREGARD MY LAST POST FOR “H-E-L-P”. THE POST I WAS LOOKING FOR WAS RIGHT HERE BY MERCEDITH LEWIS ON 11/17/2012, EVEN THOUGH I LOOKED HERE BEFORE AND MISSED IT. AND IT WAS HER, NOT YOU, THAT WENT OUT TO DINNER (AT WAFFLE HOUSE).
Oh I’m so glad you found it!!!!
Sandy, Im in suspense—-what did the person say? Glad you found it
Linda, to answer your question on what the woman said at the restaurant to help the women that were in a conundrum over baking a turkey. A stranger over heard them and said, “Hunny, I’m gonna tell you how to cook that turkey.” [such authority I thought]. She tells them to put a stick of butter in its cavity. Pour 5 cups boiling water around the bird. With lid on bake one hour at 500 degrees F. Turn the oven off and DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR FOR 5-6 hours. Then turn the oven back on at 350 degrees F for one hour. That’s it.
It was in a post by Mercedith Lewis on 11/12/2012 here on southernplate.
P.S. I forgot to add that you rub outside of bird with butter and salt ant pepper it.
This sounds great and similar to what I’ve used before!! Definitely will be using this tomorrow!!!
What size turkey do you usually get?
Is the turkey breast supposed to turn out colorless (as in butt white) like mine did? But it was done per internal temp, not juicy either.
I was so excited to find a recipe for cooking a turkey in an oven bag overnight. I did this recipe and it worked out terrific! When I took out the turkey and opened the bag, the turkey fell apart. It was so easy to get it off the bone. This is now my go to way of doing turkeys in the future. I’m going to try to do this method with a chicken too.
I am so glad you liked it Linda. I hope you had a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Just completed on Heritage Turkey. Perfect instructions!! Thanks. Wish I could post a pic for you 😉
I am so glad you liked it Stacia!!! If you follow me on Facebook I would love if you posted the picture there so I can see 🙂
Christy,
I have a question about the size of the turkey used in this recipe. Do you cook it for less time if you have a 10-13 lb turkey vs a 20+lb turkey? I didnt know if a smaller turkey will dry out.
Thanks!!
I cook the same amount of time if I’m doing it overnight. If you are doing it during the day you could certain reduce the time by an hour or so but since it is in a bag it won’t dry out.