How to Roast a Turkey

Shopping List
Frozen turkey (about 1 lb per person, plus a few extra)
Turkey-sized baking bag
Seasoned salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Butter
Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon flour
Roasting pan (they sell disposable ones if you don't have room to store one)

(also ingredients for stuffing if you're planning on stuffing it - see previous post for stuffing info)

Start 24 hours before you need to cook the turkey as you will need to thaw it. To thaw the turkey, put it in your sink and cover it with cold water. Leave it overnight. Yes, you can thaw it in the fridge, but that takes several days and I've never had very good results trying to thaw them in the fridge. One year my turkey was still so frozen, even after 4 days in the fridge, that we had to use a hair dryer and hot water to try and thaw it enough to get the neck and giblets out of the cavity . . . makes for a great story, but a stressful holiday :) So use the cold water method. Leave it in the packaging while thawing it. Don't leave it in the water for more than 24 hours though - stick it in the fridge if you end up not cooking it the next day. And make sure it stays covered with cold water.

Drain the sink and cut off the packaging (leave the turkey in the sink while doing this). Pull out the neck and giblet bag (a paper bag that will either be in the large cavity or in the fold of skin at the other end). Throw away the neck (unless you are planning on using it to make turkey stock or something) and the giblets (unless you want to eat them or have pets you want to feed them to - in that case, set them aside).

Go over the turkey and pull off any feathers that were missed. Pat it dry with a paper towel.

Remove all but one tray from the oven. Move the last tray to the lowest position in the oven. Preheat the oven to 350*. Take out one of the turkey-sized baking bags. Put 1 T (tablespoon) of flour in it, hold the top shut, and shake it around until the inside of the bag is covered. Put the bag on it's side in the roasting pan. Have someone else hold it open while you put the turkey in the bag (or vice versa).

Spoon the stuffing into the turkey (if you're stuffing it - if not, skip this step). Once the turkey is full, shake seasoning salt, pepper, and garlic powder all over the skin. I don't measure this, so I don't know how much I use. I'd guess 2-3 tablespoons of seasoned salt, 1 tablespoon ground pepper, and 2-3 tablespoons of garlic powder. Squirt a couple squirts of lemon juice on the turkey. Cut up a stick of butter into slices and place on the turkey. Close the bag with the tie provided (usually inside the cooking directions in the bag).

Put the turkey into the oven and figure out how long to cook it for by weight - the directions inside the baking bag box will tell you how many mins per pound - note that the times are different if you stuff the turkey.

After the turkey is done, take it out and let it sit for about 15 mins. in the bag. This will allow the juices to drain to the bottom of the bag. Put a medium sized pot in the sink and have someone help you hold the turkey up using the handles on the pan (the bag isn't strong enough to hold the turkey on it's own). Angle the pan so one corner of the bag is down lower than everything else and the juices can drain into it. Position that corner over the pan and carefully cut a hole in the corner so the juices drain into the pan. Watch out because the liquid is HOT!

You can use the juices to make gravy. Add about 1/3 cup of flour to the juices and whisk until smooth. Heat over medium heat, whisking almost constantly, until it thickens. It will get thicker as it cools, so take it off the heat just before it is as thick as you want it. If you like thicker gravy, add more flour before cooking; if you like thinner gravy, add less.

After you're done draining it, set the pan back on the counter, cut open the bag, and scoop out the stuffing. Slice the turkey and serve it.