I discovered this "trick" about 7 years ago and will never go back! It is the juiciest and best tasting bird you will ever have. Not to mention the easiest. No laboring over a hot oven basting the turkey over and over again. If I am not hosting, I am a bit pushy and insist on the host doing it this way. I have people calling me asking how they can get their turkey so moist.
I am rating this for the method of baking breast side down. I have my own method of seasoning that I use so I can't rate this on taste. I only cook "breast side down" for an hour to hour and a half as it keeps the breast looking nicer. I also put my seasonings in butter and place pieces of the seasoned butter on top of my stuffing so when it's upside down it's melting into the meat and my turkey always turns out moist and very flavorful. I also separate the skin on the breast and rub my butter mixed with seasonings underneath. I never use measurements but perhaps I will this year so I can post it on this site.
I made this for Christmas 08. It was awesome. I added a secret ingrediant (about 10 ounes of caffeine free citris soda (7-up). I also cooked it in a turkey roaster instead of the oven. It was great and the gravy I made from the drippings was incredible!
My turkey turned out great- very moist and not dry especially the breast meat. The real trick is to turn the bird over without tearing up the turkey or burning yourself. Be careful when you do that. I had a 14 lb bird and that is probably the largest I would do this way.
I have been roasting my turkeys breast side down for years and it is the BEST way to deliver a very juicy moist bird. I do not tuen it half way through. I promise, you will have a wonderful turkey. Rub with olive oil, season inside and out with salt & pepper and roast at 20 minutes/lb at 325 uncovered till thigh temp reaches 165. (temp will rise to 170 while it stands). Just roast on a bed of carrot, onion, and celery and don't waste your time using a rack. Add 1/2cup water to the bottom of the roasting pan. When the tem hits 165 remove from the oven to a platter, cver with foil and let and stand for 15-20 minutes for the internal juices to redistribute. Remove the veggies from the roasting pan and set aside. Spoon off excess fat and use the pan juices to whisk up a wonderful pan gravy. Enjoy!
The turkey was beautiful! I'm not sure why people say it looks ugly. It was very moist and flavorful. We did a few things might have helped keep it pretty: 1) We cooked for about 2.5 hrs before flipping 2) Turning was a two person process - one person used the handles of big spoons (inserted into both cavities sort of like a rotisserie) to hold the bird up and the other person flipped it.
Awesome! This was the first turkey I ever prepared I had a 9-10 punt bird and it worked really well and tasted exceptionally good. No additional seasoning I made it exactly as stated only that I covered it with a sheet of tin foil for a little while to avoid over-browning. I will be making this again.
Amazing! I used this method for my first turkey - adding rosemary & basil. It was delicious and ugly - as promised!
This was my 1st time making a turkey and it was perfect! Even my too-hot oven couldn't ruin it! I used stuffing not just an apple but otherwise followed the recipe and it was ugly and delicious! I'm not afraid to cook turkeys anymore!
It does get "ugly" from being turned over but it also is quite good. Putting fruit in chicken turkey is always good. I used 2T kosher salt 1T freshly ground black pepper 1T poultry seasoning & 1/2T sage. Put 1T in & the rest on.
