Roast Stuffed Turkey
Ingredients
- 1 Turkey
- stuffing - see notes
- 4 ounces butter - softened
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Be sure the turkey is thawed. The safest way to thaw is in a refrigerator, but the bird will take several days to defrost. I often end up trying to speed the thaw by defrosting in a sink of water.
- Preheat the oven to 325 °F.
- Pat the turkey dry with paper towels.
- Stuff the body as well as the neck cavities with stuffing.
- Rub half of the butter all over the turkey and season with a little salt and pepper.
- Place the turkey breast down on a rack in a roasting pan and put it in the oven.
- Melt the rest of the butter and bast every 20 minutes until you have enough drippings to baste with.
- After about 45 minutes to an hour, turn the turkey breast up and continue basting every 20 minutes.
- Roast until a meat thermometer registers 170 °F, and the skin is a dark golden brown. Then pull the turkey out of the oven, cover it with foil and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Carve and serve.
Notes
It is pretty basic, but has had good results.
There is a school of thought that says stuffing a turkey is not a good thing. The thermal mass of the stuffing can slow the cooking resulting in a crispier skin and lower internal temperature.
I can understand some of the reasons for not stuffing a Turkey. But for family tradition's sake I stuff it anyway.
Roasting times can vary a lot depending on the bird and the oven. I'd suggest planning on 20 minutes per pound.