Essential Tips for Roasting a Turkey from the Experts
Foolproof advice for turkey roasting at any skill level.
For some reason, each Thanksgiving we tend to endlessly fret over one thing that won’t really matter in the long-run, but feels like the make-or-break in the moment: the turkey. I tapped a few of our friends who know what the heck they’re talking about to learn the have-to-know essentials for roasting a full bird: the brains behind Good Eggs Dinner Kits, Chris Chapman, the roasting virtuosos at Zuni Café (have you seen their drool-worthy T-Day sides?), and the tom of all turkeys at legendary BN Ranch, Nicolai Matthies.
Their tips and expertise are all compiled in this handy guide, broken down into steps so you’re equipped to tackle your turkey.
Prepping the Turkey
The best thing you can do for your bird (with the least effort) is to brine it — everyone I talked to suggested a dry salt brine. It’s a surefire way to flavor the meat all the way through, and get super-crispy skin and succulent meat. Chris says that it’s way easier and less involved than a wet brine, which requires a brine bag full of liquid or huge brining vessel that takes up pretty much all the space in your fridge. No, no — a fistful of salt and a platter is all you need for a successful dry brine.
Zuni’s technique has you salting the inside and all over the outside — you can add any flavoring you want to the salt, from herb to citrus to spice, but Matthies from BN suggests that you stick to simple flavors so the natural flavor of the turkey comes through. After salting the bird (use a rough ratio of 1 tablespoon of salt per 5 pounds of turkey), leave it in the fridge on anything big enough to hold it for two days covered with plastic wrap, and one day uncovered for extra dry and crispy skin.
Heritage birds will have an extra fatty layer under the skin, which will make it super crispy when roasted. Matthies suggests you encourage that even further by rubbing butter under the skin — it’s Thanksgiving, after all.
Cooking the Turkey
Chris suggests you let your turkey come to room temperature before roasting, and to make sure your turkey’s skin is very dry. He also recommends you don’t put stuffing in the cavity — just a few aromatics like herbs, garlic, or citrus will impart flavor without preventing hot air from circulating through the bird.
The team at Zuni notes a dry-brined turkey will cook a smidge quicker than an un-brined bird, so make sure to check the temperature a little bit earlier than you normally would. Speaking of which, Chris’ biggest tip for this whole process is to get yourself a thermometer. For a 12–16 pound dry-brined turkey, you’re looking at about a 2 ¾ hour cook time, but start checking the temperature around the 2 hour mark to get a better sense of where you’re at. Chris says you’re looking for 160 degrees in the legs and breast — after resting, the bird will continue to cook about 10 degrees more. Since you dry-brined, it’ll be hard to overcook and dry out this one.
Nicolai Matthies suggests separating the breast and thigh of heritage turkeys because they have such a light breast, meaning the breast could dry out by the time the thighs are cooked.
Resting and Carving
Chris says to let your bird rest for at least 20–30 minutes covered in foil. Then use a long serrated knife or carving knife on the breast. You can take the dark meat off with your hands.
Pour the pan drippings into a saucepan and add a squeeze of lemon, knob of butter, maybe a splash of wine, and salt and pepper for the best gravy. Save the carcass and make a big vat of the tastiest turkey stock for soup, rice, curry, or pretty much anything else.
If you want to skip the whole thing altogether and try again next year, you can still order a fully-cooked turkey from our Kitchen. Reheat, serve, win Thanksgiving.
