Herb Seasoned Roast Turkey

This is our Thanksgiving Day Turkey. She’s gorgeous, isn’t she? .

I took my turkey out of the freezer Saturday (November 22) afternoon. I just let it thaw for that day in my sink. Then I put it in the fridge to completely thaw for the remaining 4 days. By Thanksgiving Day, my turkey was completely thawed.

Pre-heat the oven to 395°

I started prepping the turkey at 11am. Took it out of the bag, then took the neck and giblets out which thankfully were already discarded and put in a separate bag. Washed it and dried with paper towels.

I then placed the turkey in a roasting rack.

In a bowl, I mixed together the following : in 2 tbsp ratio

• salt
• black ground pepper
• paprika
• dried basil
• dried oregano
• ground cloves

Plus, 1 tbsp of seasoned salt.

I rubbed the herb seasoning all over the turkey. I also seasoned the insides of the turkey. Then I placed the roasting pan, with the turkey in it, into the oven, on the lowest rack of the oven and let it bake for 30 minutes in 395°.

This process helps the skin get crispy (not completely) but not the dry the meat. After the 30 minutes, lower the oven temperature to 335° and let the bird cook.

To help me out with with time, I bought a turkey thermometer popper. You’ll see a small hole in my turkey from the timer popper. You can find it at any grocery stores. It’s this plastic arrow thing that you stick in the middle of the bird. When the turkey is cooked, the top part of the popper lifts up. This lets you know that the turkey is done cooking. 

For the traditional way of finding out it’s cooked, use a regular meat thermometer. Stick it in the thickest part of the thighs. If it reads 185°, then the turkey is done cooking. I still did this even with the turkey popper just to make sure.

I basted the turkey once while it was cooking with it’s own juice from the roasting pan. Probably during the 2nd hour of cooking. The turkey was about 20 pounds. I started it in the oven around 11:30am. I took it out of the oven by 3:30pm.

You can’t carve the turkey right away. Let it sit in the roasting pan, out of the oven, for at about 20-30 minutes. That gives you time to make the side dishes . 

FYI, I took the last picture just today. If the turkey looks a little bit try, that’s because it has been sitting in the fridge for 2 days as part of the leftovers. Even so, bear in mind that white meat will always be a little bit dry than dark meat so don’t stress over it.

If your turkey came out golden brown and the meat is cooked (reads 185°), that means you did good. If it’s completely charcoal black and frozen inside, then better luck next year .

BTW, I don’t like my stuffing inside the turkey. I cooked it separately .