| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 5 hr 20 min |
| Prep: | 25 min |
| Inactive: | 30 min |
| Cook: | 4 hr 25 min |
| Yield: | 20 servings, plus leftovers |
Ingredients
- 1 (24-pound) fresh tom turkey
- 3 tablespoons freshly chopped tarragon leaves
- 3 tablespoons freshly chopped thyme leaves
- 3 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley leaves
- 3 tablespoons freshly chopped sage leaves
- 1 cup (2 sticks or 1/2 pound) butter, softened
- 2 onions, peeled, roughly chopped
- 1 bunch celery, well scrubbed and roughly chopped
- 2 apples, skin-on, stems and seeds removed, roughly chopped
- 2 oranges, skin-on, but rinsed, roughly chopped
- 2 carrots, roughly chopped
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Remove the giblets from the turkey, wash the turkey well, and pat dry with paper towels.
- Use your fingertips to gently separate the turkey skin from the breast. Mix the chopped herbs with the softened butter and distribute evenly underneath the turkey skin. This will create a self basting turkey and keep it moist as it cooks slowly.
- Preheat oven to 450 or 500 degrees F.
- Place the chopped onion, celery, apples, oranges, and carrots inside the cavity of the turkey and then sprinkle the turkey all over with salt and pepper, to taste. Place the turkey on a rack (the reason we place the turkey onto a rack is so we don’t get a mushy bottom on the turkey) in a roasting tray, cover with aluminum foil, and place in a preheated oven at 450 to 500 degrees F for the first 25 minutes then reduce the heat to 325 degrees F for a further 4 hours checking every 20 to 30 minutes throughout the day. About 1 hour from finishing remove the foil and allow to get golden brown.
- You should roast the turkey until an instant-read thermometer registers 180 degrees F (this is the temperature for a whole turkey) and the juices no longer run pink when you cut into the center of the thigh (it should be clear). The drumstick should move easily from the socket when lifted or twisted. When the turkey has finished cooking remove from oven and let it rest for at least 30 minutes – longer is better. It will not go cold!!!
- Note: I personally don’t like to baste because every time you open the oven you lose at least 25 degrees F of heat, so this means that you keep the turkey in the oven longer therefore drying it out.
Reviews
Easy, tasty and moist!
Made this for the the first time Thanksgiving 2019, and it is the ONLY recipe I will ever use again. Friend who always is in charge of the turkey (and fries it!) declared it the best turkey he had ever tasted. I’m sure it’s all that herb butter under the skin. Delish!!!
It always comes out perfectly.
Amazing!!!
I have made this turkey for many years and it is the best! So moist and flavorful. I have shared this with several of my friends and they use it every year for Thanksgiving.
The only way I like turkey now. And I used a 10-15 pound bird and used the left over vegetables and some turkey for pot pie (just added potatoes cooked it together in a pot then added it to the crust and baked).
Just put it in the oven. Looking forward to eating. But HOW did you get all that stuffing into the 24 pound bird? Did you really mean a whole bunch of celery?
This was simply amazing!! This is the first time I used Chef’s recipe and I have to say that my turkey came out beautifully! I also used the drippings and made a gravy that my picky son said was delicious!! Thank you Chef!
I make it this way every year. Robert is the best!!!
Chef, A question, why is it that you recommend that the internal temp of the bird reach 180° when most other chefs and the USDA recommend a temperature of 165° when we remove the turkey from the oven. Taking into consideration the standing time, the bird will continue to cook for at least a part of the 30 minutes and that temperature will increase even after it is out of the oven. This can mean the difference between a juicy and moist or a chalk dry breast. Please advise.