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No More Dry Turkey! (+ Recipe)

written by

Whiffletree Farm

posted on

October 23, 2024

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Thanksgiving is just around the corner! In my opinion (farmer Jesse speaking), the Thanksgiving feast is the best meal of the whole year. And that perfectly juicy, pasture-raised roasted turkey is the star.

Ever wonder how to roast that perfect turkey your family and friends will love? This recipe has been a favorite our family has used for years, and it’s always a hit. No more dry turkey!

Grab one of our Whiffletree turkeys HERE and give this recipe a try! Make sure to let us know how you like it!

Happy eating!

P.S. And stay tuned to our blog! Each week leading up to Thanksgiving, we’ll be releasing info on everything turkey and Thanksgiving related…fun turkey facts, recipes, how-tos…you won’t want to miss it! 

Click HERE to browse our website!

Click HERE to browse our Thanksgiving store!

-------------Recipes -------------

ROAST TURKEY AND GRAVY RECIPE

This recipe comes from 'Long Way on a Little' by Shannon Hayes. And is oriented for pasture-raised turkeys. It has worked great for Liz and me!

INGREDIENTS:

1 turkey, any size
1 large onion, quartered
2 carrots, quartered
1 bundle of fresh herbs of your choice, tied with kitchen twine
2 stalks celery, quartered
3 cloves garlic, whole, peeled
1 1/2 sticks butter (12 T)
Coarse sea salt and ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325 F. Set turkey in large roasting pan, breast side up. Insert vegetables, herbs, and garlic into cavity. Melt butter and pour over skin. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.  Roast for 8-10 minutes per pound, until internal temperature of breast is 165. Check internal temperature of legs at that point. If leg meat is not 165 when breast meat is done, you may carve off legs and put them back into the oven to cook longer.

GIBLET GRAVY RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

1 turkey neck, heart, and liver (detached and inside the cavity)
3 c chicken or turkey broth 
1/3 c flour
1 stick butter (8 T)
1/3 c flour

INSTRUCTIONS:

Place a saucepan over medium-high heat, add 2 T butter and coat pan. Blot neck and giblets dry, then put in the pan with once inch of space around each so they can brown well. Sear each for 2-3 min. per side. Pour broth into pan with all giblets, cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 40 min. Remove giblets from broth and allow to cool, reserving broth. When cool, remove any gristle and bones from giblets and finely dice all.  When the turkey is finished roasting, pour off and reserve the pan juices. Then place the roasting pan over 1 or 2 burners on stove top and heat on Medium. Add 2 T butter to pan and, once it melts and bubbles, whisk in the flour to make a roux.  Continue to whisk 1-2 min. more--until the thin paste is browned.  Slowly whisk in pan juices and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and allow to simmer until thickened (about 5 min.), stirring often and scraping up bits from bottom of pan. Add 1 c of broth from cooking giblets and simmer until reduced by 1/3. Stir in diced giblets and enough broth to reach your desired consistency.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

FLOUR-FREE PAN SAUCE ALTERNATIVE

INGREDIENTS:

Pan juices
Giblet broth
Giblets (minced)
Brown mustard
Butter

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine pan juices and giblet broth in roasting pan and simmer until reduced by 2/3. Whisk in minced giblets, 1 T brown mustard and 2 T butter.

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TURKEY THAWING INSTRUCTIONS

The rule of thumb is 24 hours per 5lbs of turkey to thaw in the fridge. So a 20 pounder would be about 4 days in the fridge. Maybe just add a day to be safe--not every fridge is the same temperature.

If you need to thaw faster, you can do it in your sink (or bathtub or cooler) with cold water. The rule of thumb there is about 2.5 hours per 5 lbs. of turkey. So a 20 pounder would be about 10 hours.

PORTION SIZING INSTRUCTIONS

A good rule of thumb is 1lb of whole turkey per adult for the Thanksgiving feast alone.  If you want left-overs, go to 2lb of whole turkey per adult.



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Roasting a Turkey

Roasting a Turkey

It’s Thanksgiving Day! Guests are showing up soon, excitement is in the air, and the kitchen becomes alive with activity. You may be wondering what to do with that turkey sitting in the fridge… when, at what temp, and how long to ROAST it for… I (Bethany here!) started cooking our family Thanksgiving turkey when I was seventeen years old. Yeah, that first time was a little rough! But my family, as amazing as they all are, ate it anyway and let me try again the next year. Now, eight years later, there isn’t much turkey left from our Thanksgivings because everyone loves the moist, flavorful turkey! (Thanks Mom and Dad for putting up with those dry turkeys and letting me keep trying!) Last week, we looked at brining a turkey. (If you didn’t see that post, click HERE to learn how to brine your Thanksgiving turkey!) This week, I’ll walk you through the process of roasting the turkey. What you’ll need: -1 whole turkey, brined or not (18.5 lb turkey was used for this post)-Salt-Seasonings of your choice (optional)-Onions, carrots, and celery cut into large chunks (optional)-Roasting pan-2 Tbsp butter-Meat thermometer For a quick run-down on the steps, from frozen to roast: TUESDAY: pulled turkey out of the freezer to thawWEDNESDAY: thawed turkey the rest of the way in cold waterTHURSDAY: brined the turkeyFRIDAY:8:00am -- Pulled the turkey from the fridge, drained the brine juices, placed into roasting pan8:15am -- Let the turkey sit out for half hour to keep drying, set over to 325F8:30am -- Melted the butter in a saucepan, brushed the butter onto the turkey skin, and sprinkled salt and/or seasonings on the turkey and inside its cavity9:00am -- Popped the turkey into the preheated oven9:30am, 10:00am, 10:30am, 11:00am -- Basted turkey with juices11:30am -- Stuck thermometer into breast and leg to ensure it was at 165F, removed the turkey from the oven, and let it cool12:15pm -- We ate the turkey! Here's those same steps with more detail: I pulled it out of the freezer on Tuesday, let it thaw for a day, and then thawed it the rest of the way in cold water on Wednesday. I then brined it on Thursday so it was ready for Friday (I made it for one of our team lunches on the farm, so I pulled it out of the fridge at 8:00 Friday morning). After draining all the juices from the brine, I placed it into the roasting pan and patted it dry with a paper towel. I also reserved the rosemary, thyme, garlic, and peppercorns from the brine and put those into the cavity. Then, I let the turkey sit out for a half hour to keep drying so I’d get a nice crispy skin while roasting. While the turkey was drying, I set the oven temp to 325F. Then, I melted the butter in a small saucepan. After the turkey finished drying, I spread it on the turkey skin with a pastry brush. This step helped it brown nicely while roasting and added some yummy flavor! Then, I sprinkled some salt on the skin and inside the cavity. (Don’t use too much here if you brined the turkey as the skin will already have absorbed some saltiness…you could even skip the salt if you brined.) Then if you wish, you could sprinkle seasonings of your choice on the turkey. I usually would do garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, and pepper, but some of our team had different allergies so I stuck with just salt for this time. I also didn’t add any vegetables to the cavity for the same reason, but that definitely adds a nice touch! At 9:00am, I popped the turkey into the preheated oven. Every half hour, I used the pastry brush to baste the turkey with the juices, but otherwise, I was free to work on prepping the other food for our team lunch. I allowed for 8-10 minutes per lb of turkey, and it was finished around 11:30 (about 8 minutes per lb). I stuck the thermometer into both the breast and the leg…I needed it to be 165F for a safe level of doneness, but no more as I didn’t want a dry turkey! All parts of the turkey were at that temp when I inserted the thermometer. If the legs happen to not be quite done yet for you, you can carve those off to keep roasting, but make sure to remove the rest of the turkey to avoid drying it out by overcooking. I let the turkey cool off for a bit before removing it to a serving platter and reserving the drippings from the pan for my gravy. And ta-da! We had an amazing roasted turkey that the team devoured. Want to try this out for yourself? Grab one of our pasture-raised turkeys HERE for the best Thanksgiving turkey you’ve ever had! If you want to see the full recipe in case you missed one of our previous blog posts, click HERE (insert link for recipe blog post)! Next week, I’ll show you how exactly to use those turkey giblets. Maybe you’re a bit hesitant to use them - trust me, I was too! But I’ll show you just how delicious and healthy of a giblet gravy you can make, so stay tuned! Cheers to you and your health! ~Bethany Click HERE to browse our store! Click HERE to browse our Thanksgiving store!

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To Brine, or Not to Brine?

To Brine, or Not to Brine?

To brine, or not to brine? That is a common question we get here at Whiffletree Farm. And especially since it’s a pasture-raised turkey, people wonder what the best way to prepare it is. The answer is… BOTH are good methods! Our turkeys are moist and flavorful as they are, so many people skip the brining and go straight to roasting. And they say it still tastes great and has amazing moisture - even the white meat! (But it is critical to use a meat thermometer and monitor it closely so that you don’t overcook– 165 F is the highest you need to go.) Personally, I do like brining. I like that extra bit of flavor and moisture it gives to the turkey, and I love that you can get creative with it! Want more of an herbal flavor? Add rosemary, thyme, sage, bay leaves…you name it. Want a fruity flavor? Add apple cider or orange slices with some cloves to the brine. Yum! In the video included in this blog post, I did an herbal brine. Watch the video above, or keep reading to find out how to brine your turkey! Want to try this out for yourself? Grab a turkey HERE and let us know what you think! What you’ll need: 2 gallons water1 1/2 cups kosher salt3 Tbsp. peppercorn3-4 sprigs rosemary5 sprigs thyme8 cloves crushed garlic First, I brought one gallon of water to a boil, then added in the salt and let it dissolve in the hot water. Turn the heat off and add in the peppercorn, rosemary, thyme, and crushed garlic. Let everything sit until it comes to room temperature to allow those flavors to infuse into the brine. Once it’s room temp, add in another gallon of cold water. Now, take your turkey and put it in a container (or turkey brine bag) big enough to cover it with the brine. (Make sure to remove and save your giblets first!) Pour brine and herbs into the container. If your turkey isn’t completely submerged, that’s fine - just flip it periodically so everything gets brined evenly. Let the turkey sit in the brine for about 16-24 hours, but no longer than 24 hours so it doesn’t get too salty! *Pro tip - I would usually use a small cooler to brine my turkey in. I would use about a half gallon less of water, and after the brine completely cooled I’d add in a couple quarts of ice. My turkey would go directly into the cooler and I’d pour the brine and ice over top. This helps keep the turkey cold and insulated so you don’t have to find room for it in your fridge! Just make sure to add some ice every now and then to keep it cold. After the brining time is done, drain off the brine but save the herbs - you can put them into the cavity of the turkey while it roasts for some aromatics! Then rinse the turkey, and let it sit for about a half hour to 45 minutes to dry off (because no one likes mushy turkey skin!). Next up, we’ll be releasing another blog post on roasting your Thanksgiving turkey! We want to hear from you! Do you like brining your turkey, or do you love it as it is? Let us know! Cheers to you and your health, ~Bethany Click HERE to browse our store! Click HERE to browse our Thanksgiving store!

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8717 Springs Road
Warrenton VA 20186
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