Cooking a large turkey?

[7costanza]

I think I may have made a huge mistake. We are hosting 20 people for thanksgiving, and I ordered a 28-30 lb fresh turkey, to be picked up Wednesday morning. Everything I'm reading online says its better to make 2 smaller birds but I'm afraid it's too late now. I was planning on brining it and using Alton Brown's recipe but it's for a 16 lb turkey. I have no idea how long it will take to cook! Have I ruined Thanksgiving?! Give me your best large turkey tips!

[ssmjlm]

I wouldn't stuff it and I would baste often and cover with foil until you're ready for the skin to crisp.

[dirtyred]

Call the Butterball hotline.  Those folks know everything and they can help you.

I have visions of you doing what my aunt had to do (she also cooked huge turkeys):  getting up at 4 a.m. to put the bird in the oven.

You can also remove the spine and lay the turkey out flat on a baking sheet to cook--it goes faster this way.  You don't get the nice presentation, but it gets the job done.

[LoveTrains]

That is a giant turkey. Definitely cover with foil, you are going to have to roast it for a while. I agree to keep the stuffing on the side - cook the stuffing in a baking dish as "dressing".

[mainelyfoolish]

We cook large turkeys in a deep fryer, but it's a bit of an investment (for the fryer and the oil).

[crashgizmo]

Nov 24, 2014 10:55:22 GMT -5 dirtyred said:

Call the Butterball hotline.  Those folks know everything and they can help you.

I have visions of you doing what my aunt had to do (she also cooked huge turkeys):  getting up at 4 a.m. to put the bird in the oven.

You can also remove the spine and lay the turkey out flat on a baking sheet to cook--it goes faster this way.  You don't get the nice presentation, but it gets the job done.

We are doing this- it's called Spatchcocking. Since we carve the turkey in the kitchen before piling the meat on the platter, we were okay with the presentation not being perfect. We have a 21 lb turkey and are planning on ~2.5-3 hours to cook. 

[jinkies]

My parents sell fresh turkeys for t-day and Xmas.

My mom always tells people to plan 15 min/ pound. It could be more like 10 min/lb if you don't stuff it.

[mbcdefg]

Cover it in foil so that the skin doesn't burn.

Definitely get a meat thermometer. Preferably a leave-in probe thermometer so that you don't have to keep opening the oven to check on it with an instant thermometer. I have this one, but I'm sure most large supermarkets or Target/Walmart will have something similar: www.amazon.com/CDN-DTP482-Programmable-Probe-Thermometer/dp/B00046YFHE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1416845336&sr=8-5&keywords=probe+thermometer

[perkyderky]

Make sure you have a place to store it until Thursday.  I got a 42 lber one year (and others that were in the 30 lb weight range) and figuring out a place to keep it chilled was one of the biggest challenges I found.  Hopefully you have 2 fridges.  Next, buy yourself an extra office trash can--that will likely be big enough to brine your turkey in.  (I would take some measurements before purchasing though to ensure it's a sufficient size.)  Just double Alton's brine recipe and you'll be fine--that's what we usually do at least.
Finally, measure your oven.  My big, fresh, boys (girls?  are Thanksgiving turkeys usually girls or boys?) frequently FILL my oven.  So the whole getting up at 4am was totally unnecessary.  The 42 lber was 1) too big for the butterball hotline 2) cooked in like 3.5 hours (i'm not joking) mostly because it was nothing but turkey in my small oven.  A bigger oven/more space might require a tad more time.  My rec though is to definitely use one of those thermometers that stays inside the turkey with the temp reading on the outside.  I started that puppy at 6am and by 9am I was calling everyone and telling them to come for brunch instead of lupper.
I hope you have the same wonderful experience as I have with the big turkeys.  I don't actually like turkey, but I've never had an issue of dryness, and the flavor is usually really good from my fresh, farm raised birds. 

[7costanza]

Thank you for all the tips! I'll pick up an in oven meat thermometer today.

[iheartbanjos]

We deep fry 2-3 15lb birds now, but we used to do one big bird.

I recommend a Rubbermaid bin to brine. If you need to, you can store the turkey in there in ice if you do not have fridge space beforehand.

We used a roasting bag, which always produced moist turkeys. A meat thermometer is a must, but I even use one when cooking meatloaf, so I'm biased.

Good luck!

[MixedBerryJam]

I've never cooked a large bird myself (biggest might have been 18#, max) but I recall my mom doing really big birds when we were kids and she cooked at a super low temp, for a really long time, in a brown paper bag. She'd start super early in the morning, like 6am, and the bird would cook for hours and hours. I wonder if that recipe is online anywhere? I'll look around and post if I find anything. Good luck with your bird; btw I'm sure you can still brine, just increase the ingredients. I brine in a cooler, and reduce the amount of brining liquid I need by filling in the empty spaces with water-filled tupperware containers and bottles and whatnot.

[MixedBerryJam]

www.cooks.com/recipe/ne4eo6gb/turkey-in-a-bag.html (15 min per pound at 325 according to this link anyway.)

[mlvmd]

I put butter and various spices between the skin and meat then on top of the skin and don't baste. It's very juicy and doesn't involve opening the oven. Our birds always cook faster than the charts say.