Butter Basted Turkey
Butter basting creates a crispy skin and lets the essence of the turkey shine through!
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 5 hours
- Total Time: 5 hours 30 mins
- Yield: 16 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Scale
- One 20 pound turkey
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 2 onions, peeled and quartered
- 2 green apples, seeded and quartered
- 1 stick of butter, melted
Instructions
- Defrost the turkey for a minimum of 5 days in your refrigerator (it takes a turkey one day for every 4 pounds to defrost).
- Remove turkey from packaging and remove giblets and neck; discard or keep to make giblet gravy.
- Rinse turkey under cold, running water (inside and out) and pat dry.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Place turkey in a roasting pan fitted with a wire rack, breast side up.
- Pour salt into the palm of your hand and rub inside cavity of turkey liberally.
- Stuff the turkey’s cavity with the quartered onions and the quartered apples.
- Using kitchen twine, tie turkey legs together.
- Tuck wings under turkey to prevent burning.
- Using a pastry brush, brush turkey with melted butter.
- Place turkey in preheated oven, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, baste turkey with butter again and turn oven down to 325 degrees F.
- Set timer for one hour, then baste turkey again, rotating pan.
- Set timer for one hour, again, then baste and rotate turkey pan again.
- Repeat this procedure every hour until instant-read thermometer, inserted in thigh, registers 165 degrees F.
- If areas of the turkey (the legs, for example) start to get too brown, cover with foil.
- Once turkey is done, remove from oven and cover.
- Allow to rest for 45 minutes to one hour, covered loosely with foil, and then transfer to a cutting board.
- Slice and serve.
Notes
May need more butter to baste the turkey!
Find it online: https://tootsweet4two.com/butter-basted-roasted-turkey/
