Damn, I'm getting called for dinner right now, so I'll have to come back and rant against ever doing stuffing. Oh, and how to get the proper skin. For those of us who could dine on nothing but the skin, it matters. :-)


[Edit] Okay, back now.

First, the stuffing. If you're going to the trouble of roasting a turkey, your main goal should be that the turkey is good. Stuffing it increases cooking time, which increaeses the chances the meat will be dry.

While I admit that given the choice I'll take the stuffing from the bird before the dressing from the casserole, it's difficult to tell the difference if the casserole is done right. IOW putting it in the bird makes it easier to get good stuffing, but harder to get good turkey.

If you absolutely must have "stuffing" with the drippings soaking in while it cooks, trim the flaps of skin from aroung the main cavity and the front opening. The places where the stuffing would go. This skin is normally quite fatty. Drape these pieces over your dressing. No one will ever notice the difference ... except that the "stuffing" will not have that characteristic greyish color it gets cooking inside the cavity.

Now for the skin. The soy sauce rubdown is good for color, but I'm all about the flavor and texture. The problem with doing it as Andrew suggests is that the fat layer under the skin may not render out, and you'll get fatty skin. Start the oven at 500 degrees for the first half-hour. (Make sure the drumsticks and wings are wrapped in foil.) This will brown the skin and render out the subcutaneous fat layer. While the oven is heating, give the bird a rubdown with vegetable oil. Then a generous helping of kosher salt and coarse-ground pepper.

Depending on how close your bird gets to the heating element it may brown faster, so start checking at 15-20 minutes. This step is not about temperature or time, it's all about how it looks. When it looks like it's done, turn the oven down to 325-350. (As per Andrew's chart.) Pull it out and place a double layer of heavy-duty foil over the breast -- not tented, right against it. This is your one chance to baste. Basting is a waste of time, but a coating of butter will keep the foil from sticking.

Take your digital thrmometer probe and stick it right through the foil into the thickest part of the breast. Set it for 160, or 165 for smaller birds. You want it lower than the USDA guidelines, as the internal temperature will continue to rise for about a half-hour after taking it out. And salmonella dies at 145 anyway.

Then put it back in the oven and walk away. Resist all temptation to peek. Smack anyone you see in the kitchen with a baster. When the alarm goes off, pull it out and place the rack with the bird still on it on your cutting board. Separate the foil from the breast so it doesn't stick when it cools, but leave it on. Go make the gravy.

This method won't make the skin on the bottom as nicely browned as Andrew's method, but it sits on that while you carve anyway. A friend who has done deep-fried turkeys says that by the time he's done carving the skin from the bottom is ruined anyway. I just use everything on the botton for soup.

And plan on trying it with my next one. BTW I'm glad I read your comments about not brining a kosher bird, as that's the one I've got in the freezer now. (Okay, one of the two.)

The thing is I just had Thanksgiving at my in-laws' house. I brought over my digital thermometer and had to fight with my mother-in-law to let me pull the bird at 165. I always leave the probe in while it's resting, as the hole it leaves behind leaks huge amounts of juice if you don't. This one kept going to 173 before it peaked.

But as good as the meat was, the skin was limp and fatty. A good 1/8-inch layer around the entire bird. I almost couldn't eat it. Yes, almost. I skinned the fat layer off with a filleting knife.

I've heard there's a recipe for taking the skin of before cooking and just frying it up, but believe the breast would be ruined if I tried.

Not to mention unsanitary in the extreme. A USDA inspector would have a coronary just thinking about it.