Upside-Down Turkey

This was my first turkey. It turned out great!! So juicy and tender! I usd aple juice instead of water, and I made a rub of 1 stick melted butter, salt, pepper, rubbed sage, garlic powder, and poultry seasoning. I also stuck little pices of butter between the breast and the skin. It was delicious. My husband cant get enough of it.

Cooking the turkey upside down does help keep the meat moist. I like to use a cooking bag too because it cooks faster and seems to retain more juice.

Made this for an early Thanksgiving with the in-laws....they were surprised. I didn't use as much butter as the recipe called for....but wow what a difference. I also added a sprinkling of poultry seasonings to the skin....which made it delicious. Also, I rubbed some butter between the skin and the flesh. I have found that really makes a difference. Thanks for helping me to impress my in-laws....appreciate it.

Very moist, tender and flavorful. I cooked the turkey upside down until the last hour and then turned it right side up to brown the top. Very good and easy. Although mine did take an extra hour and a half to cook completely.

I haven't tried this exact method yet, but I'm embarrassed to say that the first time my husband and I had a Thanksgiving Dinner at our house, we accidently cooked our turkey upside down. It turned out so moist that we do it every year now! If' you're careful, you can actually turn the bird over for the last 45 minutes of cooking and get the nice brown skin too!

I will never go back. This is the only way to cook a turkey! My guests were very impressed and we fought over the leftovers. I've made it four times and we never have to throw out any leftovers. It all always gets eaten. I've noticed you don't have to use all that much butter: 1/4 cup is fine. I also add veggies to the cavity and the roasting pan. Brining the bird gives the thighs great flavor, so I do that too. Even without those changes, though, this a delicious turkey.

This was super. The only thing I changed was to cook in a cooking bag, salt & pepper inside and outside of turkey and stuff butter in between skin and meat.

We BBQ'd our turkey upside down this Thanksgiving for the first time. We usally just BBQ it the "regular" way. The turkey was so tender it almost fell apart. It was wonderful! We will never cook turkey any other way again. Only change I did was I made up some Herb Butter. I mixed chopped fresh sage, rosemary and tyme and garlic with melted butter the night before. I then separated the skin and stuffed the butter between the meat and skin. I put fresh sprigs of the Herbs in the cavity with butter. Rubbed the turkey with olive oil. And on the grill he went. Upside down. I will make this again! Thanks!

I had to work untitl 430 one Thanksgiving, and I left my friends in charge of cooking the turkey that year, I came home to find four men standing around the turkey wondering what they had done wrong. I could tell right away that they had cooked it upside down. To everyones suprise it was the best turkey we had ever eaten!!! I now only cook the bird upside down and in a cooking bag. The bag really speeds up the cooking proccess. You can have 25 pounds cooked in a bout four hours. The turkey does not look as pretty sitting in the middle of the table so I usually carve it and put the slices on a big platter and just leave my guests guessing how I get it so moist.

Yummy! We had our Thanksgiving Dinner yesterday and I followed some of the ideas from this. I have cooked a turkey breast down before and it makes the breast meat so much juicier. But I flipped it over this time with about 45mins left and got that beautiful crispy skin that others in my family love. I used only 1/4 c butter with a 18 lb turkey as we are trying to reduce fat and calories. I seasoned the butter with sage, pepper, thyme & garlic then rubbed some under the skin, on the outer skin and inside the cavity. Wow, it was the best turkey I have ever made and I have made ALOT of turkeys! I felt the reduced amount of butter was just fine and the drippings made a wonderful gravy. Thanks for the recipe and for the reviewers suggestions.

This is the only way to make exceptionally moist turkey! Besides cooking breast side down, I also brine my turkey overnight~12 hours, and use a turkey bag when cooking. Helpful hint: for out of this world gravy, simply stuff the bird with 2 apples halved (I use Granny Smith) 1/2 an orange (skin and all), 1/2 and onion, 1 stick of butter and celery sticks. Discard stuffing after turkey has finished cooking. It's hard to explain, but the apples add a hint of sweetness and overall fresh taste to the gravy-try it, you won't be sorry you did. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I had to add a can of chicken broth as well, but the upside down idea made the entire turkey really moist!

I substituted the water with apple juice and it was the best turkey I've ever made. Everyone at the table commented after thier first bite. It just melted in our mouths! I will never cook a turkey right-side-up again! The only complaint I had was that there was no crispy skin, but the meat was great!!

I saw this method on a cooking show and used it when I cooked my first turkey several years ago...The only difference's were and is what I did...stuff the bird with two apples, onions and garlic cloves with the tops cut off and add butter and any other desired spices on them before putting them in the bird. And It's true! this is the BEST way to cook a turkey so that the juices and/or spices cook into the meat. It may not look very "pretty" like the "normal" way but your taste-buds and guests will love you!

Whats funny is I mistakenly put the bird in upside down. Best thing I ever did to a turkey. The meat was so moist I am a fan. I basically smear the much butter in and around the entire turkey. Be sure to separate the skin from the meat and place butter in there as well. Salt and pepper to taste. Place uncovered in oven, wait for 40 minutes then cover lightly with tin foil, then every 25 minutes soak up juices with a basters and spread over turkey generously.

Turning over a hot turkey isn't the easiet job so be sure you don't get much bigger. I did 1/4c olive oil/butter blend inside & only olive oil on the outside. Used 1c water, 1c apple juice in the pan. Also 2T Kosher salt, 1T freshly ground black pepper, 1T poultry seasoning, 1/2T sage. Yummy coating & it didn't need covering.

I did it on 350 with no additional water other than what leaked out of the turkey after washing it. I rubbed it with olive oil first, then mixed all the spices with a stick of butter and threw a bay leaf inside. I also chopped up a small onion, 3 carrots, and minced one clove of garlic and threw those all over around the turkey just for flavoring. Cooked it upside down for 2.5 hrs and right side up for 1.5 hrs (after I turned the temp down to 300.) It was perfect. The best turkey ever! Spices I used: Onion powder garlic powder celery salt seasoning salt black pepper savory Italian seasoning bay leaf

The method works great, however this recipe itself doesn't produce a flavorful enough bird for me personally. I miss the usual herb rub when using this recipe, so now I just go ahead and do an herb rub too. I flip it for the last half hour, spritz with PAM spray, and reapply a sprinkling of herbs so it gets pretty. The only problem I run into is that it's quite hard to flip the bird at the end -- some birds, it's impossible for me due to how hot the grease is, just too dangerous for large turkeys. That's not a fault with this recipe at all, just a caution to those of you who also plan to flip the bird to get a pretty bird - you will need help and you will need good strong utensils. Thanks for the recipe! (P.S. I had a 13.25 lb frozen turkey, which had been thawing in the fridge; the neck was still frozen and the inside of my turkey was icy when I removed the neck. It took slightly less than 3.5 hours to get completely done.)

Upside down turkey is the best. I did the following adjustments. Stuff the cavity with onions, carrots, celery and parsley (not to eat). After rubbing the turkey with butter, place (breast side down) it on a raised folding rack in the roasting pan. Crack fresh sea salt and pepper on top. Leave throw the giblets and neck in the bottom of the pan and pour a whole can of beer into the bottom. Cook 30 minutes at 400 F Lower temperature to 350F and cook an additional 2 hours Lower temperature again to 250 and cook another hour to an hour and a half. (you can flip the turkey over during this last part to brown the breast). Use a thermometer to check to see if it's done. Remove turkey from oven and cover with foil until ready to carve :) I followed the same gravy technique - but the beer makes the flavor explode in your mouth!

I have roasted many turkeys over the years the usual way of breast side up, but after seeing the recipe for roasting breast side down I thought why not give it a try. Fantastic! The turkey was soooo moist and tender. I basted the bird every half hour. I flipped it breast side up for the last hour. I had to let it roast for about an extra half hour or so to get the breast skin brown. The only disappointment was that usually we have a house full of family, but this year it was just my husband and me and I had no one to show it off too.

This was my 1st turkey, it was a lttle dry but still very yummy. I will definately try this recipe again.

I forgot this was an upside down recipe when it was time to cook. My 13.5 lb bird was still frozen(yes, frozen). I used a very large cake pan and put the bird on a "rack" of carrots and celery, sprinkled with salt and pepper and put butter, salt, pepper, onion and sage in the cavity. I did also put the pats of butter under the skin. I covered with foil and put in the oven for 3 1/2hours, took off the foil, kicked the temp up to 375 and put it in for an additional 35 minutes. I boiled the neck and giblets with some garlic powder, sage, salt and pepper then used that liquid to baste every hour. FANTASTIC! My first whole turkey ever and I will do this every time. Next time I might remember to do it upside down.

YUM! I used two seasoned oven roasters (= to 13 lbs.) for this recipe and it turned out great. I have another recipe that calls for the butter to be tucked under the skin, and this is an easier, less icky way to prepare it. Thanks Lou!

The method of cooking upside down, does keep the turkey moist. I used 1 cup of apple cider instead of water, and that added a nice flavor to the turkey. As far as the cooking time, I had a 13.25lb fresh turkey and after 4 hours the turkey was still not cooked. I don't know how long it would have taken, because I was out of time. I cut the turkey up and put it on the grill. Will try again, but leave more time for cooking.

Who says you can't stuff an upside down turkey? Ours was twenty one pounds, flipped and then stuffed. I'm only rating this four stars due to the fact that there weren't any seasonings listed. However, the bird was moist, juicey and delicious. Thanks Lou!

YUM!!! Best turkey ever. I cooked mine in an oven bag and added pepper and garlic powder. My husband also got a little crazy with the flavor injector. It was SOO moist. Never again will I cook my turkey the other way.

My mom usually makes the turkey but this year I was so I chose this recipe, and was I happy I did. I have never tasted such a moist turkey! I even made a gravy with the left over sauce after I strained it and got rid of the fat. GREAT recipe! :)

I use the upside down method using recipes I pull from various articles. About 3/4 of the way through I turn the bird over to brown the skin. The bird is always moist and I love how much time you shave off cooking it this way. Turning the bird over can be messy but I am prepared! By the way...sometimes I brine the bird and sometimes I don't and it still works.

I will never make a turkey any other way again. I have passed this recipe on to everyone I know!

My first Thanksgiving turkey and everyone raved! Juicy isn't the word for it. I will always roast my turkey upside down for most of it's roasting time. I used more butter than called for and I patted it with olive oil and sprinkled it with black pepper, but the recipe is AWESOME!

This turkey came out looking very nice but wasn't as moist as I thought it would be. Everyone complimented it but I just wasn't as pleased as I thought I would be.

Easy and delicious! Turkey came out perfect...but so tender it was tough to flip over without falling apart.

I will NEVER make a turkey the "correct" way again. The breast turned out super juicy and very yummy. I have found a new way of roasting. I rubbed some butter and garlic salt under the breast skin. (i didnt add the water to the pan and it was fine). I roasted it cover for the whole time. And then let it cook covered for about 40 min before carving.

My first Thanksgiving as a cook was a blast. Everyone loved it. And I owe it in part to this recipe. I did add some spices as suggested in another review, but I have never had such a juicy turkey.

Make sure you baste the turkey or it will dry out! Ours turned out beautifully! And plenty of leftovers for pot pie the next day! Yay!

This is almost exactly how my grandmother used to do her turkeys (stuffing has a better texture when cooked separately, anyway!)- the upside-down technique works well with all other poultry, too.

The four of us thought this was a great turkey. Tender as it was, it avoided the usual dryness pitfall of turkey over chicken. It was a happy thanksgiving!

We have been doing this to our turkey the last two years and feel it really makes for a moister white meat. We also use the citrus brine recipe from this website and brine our turkey for 24 hours before preparing. The two preparations together leave NO leftovers at our house.

Easy and came out so juicy! I did season the turkey, buttered the skin and left foil on it until the last hour! Delicious!

This is the way I make a turkey! Such a simple technique, but the results are extroidinary! Try this, you won't be disappointed! I am so glad I found this recipe, it turned me, Turkey Maker Novice, into Turkey Maker Master (ok, maybe I won't be thanking you at Thanksgiving when this particular job is given to me, but my family will!)

This turned out quite well. I also put it in a cooking bag to keep it even moister as we are at a high altitude (6,000 ft.) and things dry out very quickly. Very good will use this recipe again.

So yummy. We stuffed it with stuffing.

I used this recipe to make my very first turkey for Thanksgiving. Never making a turkey before, I found this recipe very easy. I used apple juice instead of the water and rubbed the entire outside of the turkey with the butter. The turkey came out so juicy and picture perfect!!! My future in-laws were so impressed. I've never had a turkey that was so good before. This is the only way to do a turkey!!!

Made a fabulous turkey! I made a 13 lb turkey, cooked it upside down for two hours then flipped it right side up and took the foil covering off for 2 hours. It had a nice brown crust. The white meat was amazing. I used the whole stick of butter as directed and put half an apple in the middle too. Will definitely cook this way again.

What had first drawn me to this recipe two years ago was the very few ingredients that the turkey required. I had never prepared a turkey before and had little on hand to do so. I have since prepared this turkey recipe 4 times and always get RAVE reviews on how juicy the turkey is.

The biggest problem with this recipe, is you don't have nearly enough leftover! I did a few things differently -- like used a combo of white wine and chicken stock in place of water. (I didn't find prepared turkey stock). I also added a bit of poultry seasoning to the butter and creamed them together. I put it over the bird (not separating the skin) and into the cavity. I used more butter than the recipe called for. I also cooked the turkey in a sealed aluminum tent. I didn't turn over until about 3/4 of the way through the cooking time. The bird really turned out ugly. You really couldn't take it to table and carve-- but it was the most delicious turkey ever. All agreed! The next day, even the leftovers were incredibly moist. However we had no crispy skin. Next time,I think I'd turn it right side up sooner, and remove the foil sooner -- but only for the skin lovers. You could make a turkey just like this -- if you want a great tasting, moist turkey. Also, next time I'd make a bigger one (ours was just over 11 pounds) -- it was so good, we hardly had any left overs.

Easy and delicious. Can't ask for more than that.

This was the juciest turkey I have ever made. It was so delicious, I'll never cook a turkey right-side-up again!

This was my first attempt to cook a turkey and I was pleased with the way that it turned out. Very simple and delicious.

This was the first turkey I have made. It came out great. My fiancee loved it.

Easy and fast. Roasted a 14 pound turkey on Christmas Eve but I added one chopped celery stalk, cored granny smith apple and chopped onion into the cavity along with the butter. Turkey turned out very tender and the taste was excellent. Thank you for sharing this recipe I will use it again for the holidays!

This was SO juicy and tasted great! I thought I would try to flip it the last 45 min as recommended by another review but I was unable to do so so we just left it and it turned out great! Thank you!

I used this recipe on Christmas last year. It was really good and moist. It was difficult to turn right side up.

My 1st turkey was a hit! I added dried sage, and salt & pepper to the butter then rubbed it under & over the skin. I basted every 45min, and flipped it over for the last 45min. Everyone was pleasantly surprised!

It was OK....I did enjoy all brown skin all the way around. Will I do it again? Yup why not.... I only like the wings anyway, it was all moist. LIVE A LITTLE TRY SOMETHING NEW!

This is the basis for how I cook my turkey every year. I usually place 2 sticks of butter in the crevice and rub the bird with oil and spices (poultry seasoning, garlic salt and powder, salt and pepper then a pinch of cumin). Place it in a Reynold's Turkey bag, breast side down and away it goes.

Ok, so every year I make a different turkey recipe, and they've all been good, but not over-the-top good. And they've all been a lot of work. I wanted an easy recipe this year because I only had one day off for Thanksgiving and didn't want to spend it in the kitchen. I made this turkey recipe for Thanksgiving this year, but added MEAT TENDERIZER and POULTRY SEASONING to the inside and outside of the turkey, and I added chicken bouillon to the water that I put in the bottom of my Nesco. I then baked it in my Nesco for 4-1/2 hours. (We had a 10-1/2 pound turkey). It was by far THE BEST turkey I have ever made. And the extra time I baked it caused the meat to literally fall right off the bones...no knife was needed! It will be my "go-to" recipe from here on out.

This was the first time I ever roasted a turkey and it turned out perfectly thanks to this upside-down recipe! I actually marinated the turkey inside and out the day before with an homemade olive oil, garlic, and herbs marinade. The day of, I put the slices of butter under the skin. While the turkey roasted, I basted it with the juices that ran back into the pan and wow!! This turkey was so moist and perfect and everyone couldn't agree more!

This was awesome! I actually used the seasonings from the "Homestyle Turkey, the Michigander Way" recipe and cooked the turkey upside down for 3 hours then right side up for 1 at 350 (I had an 18 1/2 pound bird) and it came out amazing! YAY!

turned out but not as well as expected

I usually stuff my turkey but we decided to try this this year. Wonderfully moist and great gravy from the drippings too. I did also stuff som fresh rosemary and quartered oranges inside as well, since hubby saw that on tv. we also oiled and rubbed the skin with some poultry seasoning and salt and pepper. Turkey seemed to cook faster too.

Wow. First time making a turkey, and cannot believe how great this came out. Followed recipe and sprinkled McCormick's Montreal Chicken Seasoning across the "top." Amazing, thanks!

This was my first attempt at doing a turkey. The wife and kids loved it! We'll be using it again at Thanksgiving.

Omg this was so tender I didn’t even use my carving knife. Only thing I added was put it in a open turkey bag placed inside the covered roasting pan, and sprinkled with seasoning salt. Besides that I didn’t change the instructions. It was the best turkey I ever made! I forgot to take a picture though was in a hurry to gobble this bird up!

moist, easy, even my mother is going to try it!

Good

Works well. I do not roast turkey to 180 degrees, however. This leads to a dry bird. Removing the bird at 165 suffices, as the turkey continues to cook after coming out of the oven. We turned off the oven and let it sit a bit. We also do not use the water. We salt the outside of the turkey, adding butter inside as the recipe directs. We also add spices outside. We turn the bird over the last hour and remove the foil, basting several times. It's easy to do with oven mitts and a turkey lifter, especially with a proper roasting pan with rack, not a cheapie aluminum one.

my family loved this said it was the best turkey they had ever tasted!

TIP!!!!!! Use rubber gloves to turn the turkey right side up. (much easier and safer) I have a pair of gloves I use just for flipping the bird!

We put it in the oven and left the house. Came back three and a half hours later and it was done! No basting. Never took the lid off and it was golden brown. Super moist and super delicious. Everyone raved! I ALSO followed another cook's advice and used apple juice in the bottom of the pan and rubbed on melted butter with pepper, rubbed sage, garlic powder and poultry seasoning. Turkey fell apart on transfer. If you care about appearances more than flavor do not use the recipe. But, that would be a mistake. :-)

Tried it last year and I will never go back! Added more seasoning and used orange juice instead of water. It's not pretty but so worth it!