I get off work late tonight and need sleep! This turkey has to be ready by 11am!!! Can I start it tonight at a low temp, then when I get up turn the heat up? I’ve searched and searched.. some say yes, some say no, but I can’t find the right temps/times!! I really need to get it started tonight. Help!!!!! It’s thawed and ready to go, I just don’t know how to cook it.
P.S. this turkey needs not be dry at all.. I’ve never done this before.
you could but a less moist bird,,,,might be more tasty though, sandwich style and all that,,,,i am serious,,,,,please write if you do,,,,
phllipe b | Nov 24, 2009
325 is the lowest you can go safely. Otherwise the turkey spends too long at warmish temperature and bacteria grows out of control Here’s a resource: http://www.livescience.com/health/091124 -kitchen-turkey-myths.html?utm_source=fe edburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_cam paign=Feed:+Livesciencecom+(LiveScience. com+Science+Headline+Feed)
A 22 lb turkey at 325 it should take 5-1/2 – 6 hours unstuffed, 6 – 6-1/2 hours stuffed. As soon as you get home from work, get the turkey all ready to go in the oven. Out of the package, set up with whatever seasonings you will use, etc. Don’t stuff it yet, but you can get stuffing ready in a dish. Put everything in the fridge, take some butter out to get to room temperature, set the alarm for 4:00 am.
At 4am, get up, preheat the oven, put stuffing in the turkey if that’s your plan, rub butter on the skin, put the turkey in the oven, then go to sleep for a few more hours. Baste it when you get up.
christnp | Nov 24, 2009
season it, put it in the pan and have it ready to go. set your alarm for 4:45am. get up, put your turkey in the oven and go back to bed for 2 hours, get up at 7 and flip it over, cook breast side down for 2 hours, (go back to bed if you want), get up at 9, flip it back over and start fixing everything else.
If you want a moist turkey, i wouldn’t recommend cooking it all night.
Live and Learn | Nov 24, 2009
Yes you can …..but you never said what time you got out of work or what time you were going to put turkey in oven? To Save your self trouble get hefty oven baking bag…..You will have to do nothing else but bake it no basing…Just seasoned turkey in the bag with a little butter on top place turkey in oven let’s say 12:00 midnight on 225 cooking it at temp will cook it slow and will keep it moist around 8 check to see if it is brown enough if not cut bag open spread apart and place back in oven on 350 for about 45 min -1hr until golden brown ..take out of oven let it at least 1/2 before cutting ..Good Luck to you.
tweety | Nov 24, 2009
If you want it hot, you have to put it in at 2 or 3 am. Baste it with olive oil, and salt and pepper, take giblets out and stuff. rinse thoroughly i agree you dont want it at a low temp 4 too long! If you dont need it hot at 11 am, cook it now and wake up at 2 and 5 and baste it and check it and go back to bed! About 2 hrs before its done put loose foil ontop so it doesnt brown too much! its 20-30 minutes per pound. You will cook it about 6 – 9 hours! go to allrecipes.com just in case, or you tube it, they will show u a video on how to cook and cut a turkey! Good luck
Happy thanksgiving
KAT | Nov 24, 2009
All you will get is a dried out turkey if you cook it for that long and at a low temp you run the risk of not killing any nasty bacteria in the turkey and ending up with food poisoning on the menu.
Get the bird all washed and in the roasting pan tonight. Season the skin with salt, pepper, dried thyme and a little butter or oil to make the skin crisp. Put the entire thing in the fridge. Go to bed, set the alarm for about 6am, get up, turn the oven on to 350F with the rack in the lowest position in the oven. Put the bird in there and go back to bed for a couple hours.
When you get up, check the turkey. If the top is browning too much you can certainly cover it with a bit of foil. I don’t baste until the last hour if the skin needs to crisp or color up more. The more often you open the oven door, the longer it takes to get the turkey done. Every time you open that door, the cooking temp drops significantly.
Rule of thumb for an unstuffed turkey is 20 min per pound. 6 am gives you nearly an hour of resting time during which you will take the turkey out of the oven, cover it with foil and allow the bird to sit and rest. Do not carve, touch, jostle for at least 1/2 hour. During the resting time, the fibers in the meat will relax (think tender) and the juices pushed to the surface by the heat of cooking will go back into the deeper tissues of the meat (think juicy).
This also frees up your oven for an hour for any dishes that need to be cooked/baked.
M M T | Nov 25, 2009
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