Roasting and Carving a Turkey + Video

Step 1

Place the turkey on a clean surface. Remove the bag that contains the neck, heart and gizzard from inside the turkey (See Note 1). Rinse the turkey both inside and out with cold water. Dry thoroughly with paper towels all over.

Step 2

Using one hand push your fingers under the skin and move gently on top of the meat to separate skin from meat all over as best you can. Take the compound turkey butter in small amounts and generously slather under the skin, pressing on top of skin to move the butter and cover all over turkey breasts and legs as best you can.

Step 3

Add the quartered lemon, onion and herb bundle inside the turkey cavity. Slip the leg ends back into the (typically provided) heat proof plastic connector to keep the legs together or tie the legs together with kitchen twine to hold everything inside. This is called trussing.

Step 4

Pull the wing tips forward and tuck the tips inward and behind the bird’s back. This prevents the tips from burning during cooking. (See Note 2). Liberally season with kosher salt and pepper all over.

Step 5

Spray a roasting rack set inside a rimmed roasting pan with cooking spray or oil. Lift the turkey onto the roasting rack. Cover the turkey loosely with aluminum foil (shiny side up) for most of the roasting time. I remove it one hour prior to being done to brown the skin.

Step 6

Roast for 3.5 hours at 400°F. See Note 1 for other cooking times and weights of turkey. The turkey is cooked when it reaches an internal cooking temperature of 165°F.

Step 7

Remove from oven and allow to rest, tented with foil, for at least 20 minutes prior to carving.