Grate Grinds Oven Roasted Turkey

NOTE: To review meats you wish to use, please refer to the “Recommendation Guide to selecting your beef, pork, chicken, turkey or seafood” PDF, located in the Recipe link in the heading at the top of the Home page.

1) To use the Grate Grinds Roast Turkey Seasoning, evenly spray or rub a little oil on all sides of your turkey thigh, breast or whole turkey. Then grind the seasoning evenly on all sides of your turkey, gently pressing it onto the surface. Try to get some of the seasoning under the skin, by separating the skin from the meat with your fingers gently. Grind some of the spice mix into a small plate or bowl. Use a spoon or your fingers and spread the spice mix under the skin as evenly as you can.

2) The amount of rub you grind on is up to your flavor preference. The more rub you grind on your turkey, the more of a flavor impact the seasoning will have. Figures 1 thru 3, below, are examples of how much seasoning to grind onto your turkey, as a general rule. The process is the same for each type of turkey, it’s really only the cooking times that change.

NOTE: One word of caution, these rubs are self-contained, meaning that they already have salt in them in the proper ratio to the spices and herbs, so don’t overdo it with grinding the rubs or add any additional salt.

Figure 1.  Turkey thighs with Roast Turkey Seasoning.

Figure 2.  Turkey breast with Roast Turkey Seasoning.

Figure 3.  Whole Turkey with Roast Turkey Seasoning.

3)  After you have rubbed your turkey, refrigerate it and allow your rub to rest on the meat for at least 20 minutes or up to twenty-four hours.

NOTE:  Always buy your meats from a quality reputable stores.  Keep all meat under refrigeration as much as possible during preparation.  Don’t leave any meats out at room temperature for more than 30 minutes, except when you are ready to cook it.  Then let it just reach room temperature prior to cooking, but don’t let time exceed an hour.  Food safe guidelines recommend that any proteins (meats in this case) are not exposed to the “Temperature Danger Zone” (40 F. to 140 F) for more than 4 hours for its entire journey to you cooking it.  We are informing you of these food safety guidelines, because we want you to have a wonderful flavorful safe food experience, every time.

Now at this point you could “barbecue”, also known as: smoke roasting or grill roast or oven roast your turkey.   Below are cooking instructions for all cooking methods.  A word of advice, you can cook your turkey at 400 F., but in the end you will dry out your turkey, as with chicken or any other meat.  The slower and lower the temperature (to a point) you cook your turkey the more tender and juicy it will be.  Practice patience and restraint.

 Barbecuing Your Turkey in a Smoker

1)  Preheat your smoker to 250-275° F.  Place your seasoned turkey away from the direct heat source or the smoke box. Check and rotate your turkey every 2 hours for even cooking/smoking.  Cooking time depends on the temperature inside your smoker and size of the turkey you are smoking.  Occasionally check your smoker temperature and resupply your smoking medium as often as necessary to maintain the smoker heat.  You must roast your turkey to an internal temperature of 165° F. for food safety reasons, regulated by the USDA.  Check the temperature in the thickest part of the meat.  We highly recommend that you use a remote oven thermometer, see Figure 4,  below, for some samples.  Set the alarm to 165° F, so you don’t over cook it.

Figure 4.  Different brands of remote cooking thermometers.

 Grill Roasting your Turkey

1)  Turn on all the gas knobs or get all the barbecue coals hot  to 400°F. so the turkey will sear rapidly, sealing in the juices caused by this initial high heat process. Once up to the preheat temperature, place your turkey in a roasting pan on the grill.  Optionally you can place your turkey on a bed or mirepoix (a mixture of 50% onion, 25% carrot, 25% celery chopped).  The roasting pan shields the turkey from direct heat, which will burn the turkey because of the long cooking times.  Searing the turkey should take around 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of your turkey and the type and temperature of your grill.

2)  After your turkey has a nice light brown crust, turn the burners down or adjust the coals to maintain the heat at 250-275°F .  Now your job is to NOT touch the turkey or open the lid or door too often.  Have a beer or soda, mow the lawn, watch a football game!  The time it takes to “barbecue” or grill roast a turkey breast or thigh or whole turkey depends completely on the temperature and type of grill and the size of the turkey product you are using.  Check the temperature in the thickest part of the breast to thigh.  We highly recommend that you use a remote oven thermometer, see Figure 4 above, for some samples.  Set the alarm to 165° F, so you don’t over cook it.  We don’t recommend stuffing a turkey when cooking at these lower gentle cooking times as the stuffing might not cooking in the proper length of time to achieve 165° F required internal temperature for a poultry product AND it will take a much longer time than the chart below for cooking at 325° F.  You can obviously cook your turkey at a higher temperature to speed up the cooking time, but your risk drying out your turkey.

Approximate roasting times for a whole turkey cooked at 325º!

Oven Roasting your Turkey

1)  Preheat your oven  to 425°F (convection oven to 400°F),  so the turkey will sear rapidly, sealing in the juices caused by this initial high heat process. Once up to the preheat temperature, place your turkey in a roasting pan in the middle rack in the oven.  Optionally you can place your turkey on a bed or mirepoix (a mixture of 50% onion, 25% carrot, 25% celery chopped). The roasting pan shields the turkey from direct heat, which will burn the turkey because of the long cooking times.  Searing the turkey should take around 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of your turkey and the type and temperature of your oven.

2)  After your turkey has a nice light brown crust, turn your oven down to 275°F to 300°F .  Now your job is to NOT open the door too often.  Have a beer or soda, mow the lawn, watch a football game! To properly oven roast a turkey breast or thigh or whole turkey depends completely on the temperature of oven and the size of the turkey product you are using.  Check the temperature in the thickest part of the breast to thigh.  We highly recommend that you use a remote oven thermometer, see Figure 4 above, for some samples.  Set the alarm to 165° F, so you don’t over cook it.  We don’t recommend stuffing a turkey when cooking at these lower gentle cooking times as the stuffing might not cooking in the proper length of time to achieve 165° F required internal temperature for a poultry product AND it will take a much longer time than the chart above for cooking at 325° F.  You can obviously cook your turkey at a higher temperature to speed up the cooking time, but your risk drying out your turkey.

ALL METHODS OF COOKING:

Once your turkey has reached 165ºF, remove it from the smoker, grill or oven and let it “rest” under a foil tent.  There is an activity that takes place now called “carryover cooking”.  Once your food is removed from the heat source, it will continue to cook for 5 to 10 minutes for smaller cuts, 15 to 20 minutes for larger cuts of meat.  The retained heat in the meat continues the cooking process for a few more minutes, as the meat cools down. Part of this resting period is to also allow the internal liquids in the meat, which are forced to the center by the intense cooking heat, to redistribute themselves back throughout the meat, before you slice it.  If you are too impatient those wonderful flavorful juices will end up on your cutting board instead inside your turkey.

Figure 5.  Oven roasted turkey thighs

 Figure 6.  Oven roasted turkey breast.

 Figure 7.  Oven roasted whole turkey.