from bubbling up, but we can help you make sure your turkey is golden, moist and delicious.

Here's our guide to roasting the perfect turkey.

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What you'll need

• Turkey. Plan on about one and one half pounds of uncooked turkey per person. Much of that weight is bones, so the final portion works out to more like 8 to 10 ounces per person. When in doubt, use an online calculator. Not all turkeys are sold equal -- for the best flavor, avoid the frozen birds and go with a local meat shop if you can. Ask your butcher about freshness and buy organic if that's important to you. Also consider a kosher turkey. While they're typically more expensive, they also tend to have more flavor.

• Large roasting pan and V-rack. Make sure you have something that's big enough to hold your turkey, but that still fits in your oven. If you don't have a V-rack, just line the bottom of your roasting pan with a dozen or so carrots.

• Meat thermometer. Forget those pop up thermometers that come pre-packaged with some turkeys and get a real thermometer.

• Turkey baster. Yes, it's more work to baste the bird as it cooks, but the results are worth the effort.

• Kitchen twine. For tying the turkey's legs together.

• Stock pot or brining bag if you want to brine your turkey, which we'd recommend. It's juicier and tastier that way.

Brine it

To bring out the flavor in your turkey, brine it before you cook it. Brine is simply a mixture of salt water with some spices and herbs added. Brining the bird helps ensure the salt penetrates into the flesh and brings out the full flavor while keeping the meat moist and juicy.

Ideally, you'll want to prepare your brine a day or two before the main event. You'll need a large stock pot big enough to totally submerge your turkey in the brine, or just use a turkey brining bag. You have to keep the bird chilled while you brine it overnight, so which method you use will depend on whether or not your stock pot will fit in your fridge.

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Make the brine

Tip: To add a sugary snap to your brine, add a cup of brown sugar. For a little heat, add a teaspoon of red chili flakes.

In a large stock pot, combine two gallons of water and two cups of kosher salt. Add about a tablespoon each of black pepper, rosemary, sage, thyme, savory, bay leaves and whatever other herbs or spices you'd like and bring the whole thing to a boil.

Once the salt is dissolved, remove the pot from the heat, and let it cool to room temperature. Move it into the fridge overnight, or for at least an hour or two to get it cold.

Dunk the bird

To get the turkey ready, remove the gizzard, neck and any other extras included with your turkey. Wash the bird both inside and out.

Drop your turkey directly into the cold brine and put the stock pot in the fridge.

If your fridge isn't big enough, use a brining bag. Put the turkey in the bag, fill up the bag with brine and place it in a cooler or large bucket. Pack ice around the bag and put it in the coolest spot in your house, like the garage. Just make sure the temperature stays around 40°F (4°C).

If your turkey is of average size (around 10-12 pounds), 12 hours in the brine should do it. A bigger bird (around 16-20 pounds) should soak for 18 hours.

Roast it

Pull your turkey out of the brine and place it breast-side down on your V-rack inside the roasting pan. Pour a cup or two of water into the roasting pan underneath the turkey.

Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and move the oven rack to its lowest position.

If you aren't worried about fat, brush a bit of melted butter over the turkey. This will help ensure crispy, golden skin. Alternatively, you can smear it with a garlic-herb butter. If nothing else, rub the bird (inside and out) with salt, pepper and any other seasonings you want.

If you're making stuffing, now would be the time to stuff it inside the bird. You can also stuff it with coarsely chopped root vegetables. Once stuffed, tie the back legs together using your kitchen twine.

When the oven is hot, place the turkey inside. Cook the turkey for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350°F (175°C). Roasting it for a short period at the initial higher temperature helps make the skin crispy.

There are all sorts of formulas for how long your should roast your turkey. The rule of thumb is 90-120 minutes, but every bird and oven are different. The best way to do it is to use your meat thermometer. Cook it until the breast temperature reaches 165-170°F, and thigh temperature reaches 175-180°F. In Celsius, that's 75°C for the breast and 80°C for the thigh.

Every half hour or so, use your baster to suck up the pan drippings and pour them onto the back and the legs.

Rest it

When the breast and leg temperatures are where they should be, pull your turkey out of the oven and cover it with an aluminum foil "tent". Let the turkey rest at least twenty minutes before serving.

Carve it

Once your turkey has spent 20-30 minutes under the tent, carve it up. You'll need a carving knife and a carving fork, a big cutting board, and a big platter.

Here are a few different approaches from some of our trusted sources:

The New York Times

HowCast

Whole Foods

This page was last modified 22:41, 18 November 2010 by howto_admin.

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