How to Cook a Thanksgiving Turkey Testimonials Page 9

• Hi there, just writing to give a little feedback on your method. First time I’ve cooked a turkey that I didn’t deep fry. I have to say it was not only very easy but turned out great. Since I don’t roast turkey often, I didn’t really have all the proper gear, like a good roasting pot. I used a fairly shallow pyrex baking pan and covered it in tinfoil. I hadn’t read all the FAQs. So, I didn’t see you didn’t really recommend it. Needless to say, the bird turned out fine, the foil sped the process up a little, maybe shaved an hour off the time and the bird was still very moist. I seen you hadn’t had any feedback concerning roasting a bird covered with tinfoil so I figured I would let you know that it turns out just fine. And thank you for the recipe. Michael M., 11/24/11
• Oh my goodness!!! Every year, I go to the internet in search of a new way to cook my turkey. My goal is for it to NOT be dry. I now know that was a very low goal to set after trying your method of cooking a turkey.
  
  I followed the steps EXACTLY as you said - season, butter under the skin, high temp for 20 min and 250 for remainder. I have to tell you, I had a timeframe for TOM to be done and I was quite nervous that he would be done too soon or too late. He was perfect, on time and on the table at exactly the time I was prepared to have dinner ready.
  
  Not only was the timing exact, everyone ranted and raved on the flavor and how MOIST he was. I would have submitted a picture, but I only have bones left :) Normally I make extra gravy for the leftovers, but there is no need this year.
  
  At the table, I told everyone where I got the recipe from and how, right after dinner, I was going to write and tell you how wonderful of a dinner you helped me prepare!
  
  Have a wonderful Holiday Season - blessings to you and your family.
  Kymla B., 11/24/11
• We always have crab for thanksgiving. This year the crab fishermen are on strike! I had to cook my first turkey. Thank you SO much for your advice. My turkey came out perfectly. Everyone said it was the best they had ever had!
  
  I am very grateful for your detailed instructions. I'm not afraid to cook a turkey anymore!
  
  Sincerely, Jill G., 11/24/11
• Has to be the best way I ever cooked turkey, I rubbed butter and rosemary under the skin in the breast, put oven ay 500 and installed turkey in covered pan, turned down to 275 after a hour, cooked stuffing separate the first 2 hours then put stuffing in turkey, uncovered turkey to brown breast the last hour, cooked till done and the white meat was so tender i could not cut it, Wife was happy for once. thanks Bob Yummmmmm.
  11/24/11
• Hello! I made our 14 lb Thanksgiving turkey in the way you recommended and it went extremely well! I especially liked the herbs & butter under the skin (although getting them there was interesting for the senses) and not having to baste! Now I might even cook turkeys outside the holiday season, they're so easy! Amanda K., 11/24/11
  
  Comment: Yes, Amanda. Separating that skin from the breast is definitely a major Cody. But it's worth it!
  
• Turkey Master,
  We followed your instructions for our 24 pound bird and hands down it was the very best turkey that any of us all had ever had. I will admit because of the excessive weight of the bird we were a little concerned about the cooking time. From reading through the Turkey Recipe Disasters we thought that perhaps it would take longer to cook than the suggested 20 minutes per pound, but instead, it came out of the oven a whole hour earlier. The cause could either be that we do not know if our oven temp runs a little hot, our that being this turkey was too big for the roaster pan that we had to form an aluminum lid from heavy duty aluminum foil. But one thing is for sure, when it comes to turkey your superior cooking method is second to none and we were all completely satisfied. God Bless You, Rodney H. 11/25/11
  
  Comment: My wife calls me that too except she doesn't include the word Master.
  
• Thank you so much for letting me in on the secrets of cooking the moistest turkey ever! My family kept commenting throughout the meal about how delicious the turkey was! And talk about easy! I will follow this method from now on! The turkey is now the high point of the meal whereas it used to be more just the tradition and therefore tolerated. Thanks again! Kelly L., 11/25/11
• This is one of the best turkeys if not the best Thanksgiving Turkey I ever had... your receipt was so very simply on point... we winged it, and to our surprise we had fresh herbs in our garden ;) ..... it was like WOW ..... I will be passing this receipt down to generation to come ;), and I will be making this scrumptious delicious turkey again ...... your directions were perfect and you answered all questions, knowing, unknowing, and the ones not even realizing ;) ..... from typo error of temperature to tin foil cover, to calculation of how long to cook the turkey ;) ..... once again thank you for a perfect, moist Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner 2011.... Sincerely yours, Guy P., 11/25/11
  
• We followed your directions to the letter and our 17 lb bird was awesome. As the plate of white meat was passed around the table, one of our guests said, "this is usually the plate I just pass along while I wait for the dark meat, but not this time." The meat was perfect, and I mean perfect! So juicy with a great, great taste!
  
  Next time I might remove the skin at the end and broil it on a cookie sheet to a nice crisp. I wanted to try broiling a little at the end to crisp the skin but didn't want to risk drying the meat.
  
  Thanks for the great instructions and for sharing this! David H. 11/25/11
• This is absolutely the best turkey cooking method I have ever used. Mine for Thanksgiving was delicious. Thank you for telling me how it should be done.
  Ansie B., 11/25/11
• So I found your site by doing a search for slow cooking a turkey all day long. I had initially wanted to cook it yesterday while we were at my family's and then just come home to it. My hubby wasn't comfortable with that idea so I decided to cook it today.
  
  I read all your instructions and even though you said not to use over a 20 lb Turkey mine was 22lb. I started this morning at 9am and it was done by 5:30pm.
  
  I did everything that you suggested except for the foil. I used foil to cover my roasting pan and it worked out great. I only just placed it over I didn't saran wrap the bird.
  
  The skin was an amazing brown color in the first 20 minutes and then it just cooked all day long. I checked it at the 6 hour mark and the breast meat was 163 and the thigh meat was 172. I knew that I only had another hour or so till it would be perfect and it was. Total cooking time 8 Hours. Final temp 165 for the breast and 173 for the dark meat.
  
  I can't even begin to tell you how amazing this is. I have never seen skin just fall off the meat of a turkey before because it's so juicy. The white meat is so moist I can't even believe it.
  
  I'm not sure why so many others have had trouble but thanks for such an amazing recipe and next year I will be able to leave it and go with confidence.
  
  Trish - MD, 11/25/11
• Excellent directions and my turkey came out great.
  I added a few of my own twists and here's what I did.
  
  I melted butter in a small saucepan with rosemary and fresh ground pepper. I then rubbed that under the breast skin.
  The skin once released shrank up onto the breast exposing it so I pulled it back into place and tacked it with some plain wooden toothpicks. It held nicely. I added more rosemary branches inside the turkey and then after rubbing the entire bird with Montreal Chicken seasoning added some more freshly ground black pepper.
  I then sealed the skin at 475 for 24 minutes instead of 20...although 20 would've been plenty.
  I then added 1 cup water to the roasting pan to use for a little basting.
  I lowered the temp to 270 because I thought 250 was a little low in which given the planned timing of the meal ...would've been.
  I only basted the bird about 3 time during the entire cooking process. I followed the 20 min per pound rule.
  The overall cooking time took approximately 4.15 hrs this includes the 24 min "seal" time for a 10.6lb turkey.
  This turkey was the most succulent and tasteful turkey I have ever eaten.
  The guests tore it up!...everyone agreed it was simply the best they ever had!!
  
  Thank you for the tips... anyone that has ANY issue doing this did not follow the steps correctly or didn't have a completely thawed bird to start with.
  
  Dennis E - NC 11/25/11