Cooking a Heritage Turkey
Optional: The day before cooking, You may choose to dry brine by sprinkling salt on the outside and in the cavity of the bird, or you can wet brine by soaking overnight in a salt water solution. This step will result in a juicier more flavorful product.
On the day you plan to cook, bring the turkey to room temperature (this will take 1-2 hours depending on the size of the turkey) and rinse it to remove the salt if you chose to dry brine. At the same time you can bring half to a whole stick of butter to room temperature (you will use this in the next step).
Add whatever spices and seasonings you’d like to the softened butter such as rosemary, thyme, paprika, salt, pepper, etc. then rub it between the meat and skin. (The seasoning is optional, you can use plain butter if you prefer).
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Roast for 20-30 minutes until it's nicely browned, then drop the temperature to 350-400 degrees F. Cook for 2-3 hours, or until the internal temperature of the meat when inserted into the thickest part of the meat is 165 degrees F.
After removing it from the oven, allow the turkey to rest for 20-30 minutes before carving, depending on the size of the bird, to allow it to finish cooking.
You may want to baste with the turkey's juices while the bird is cooking, but avoid doing this more than a couple of times in order to prevent the oven from cooling too much. If near the end of the cooking time you do not want the turkey to brown any more, cover it loosely with foil for the remainder of the cooking time.
Enjoy!
Cooking a Conventional Turkey
Optional: Dry brine your bird by sprinkling with salt on the outside and in the cavity, or alternatively allow the bird to soak in saltwater overnight.
If you dry brined your turkey, rinse it well. Allow it to come to room temperature, about 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 275°F.
Rub softened butter between the skin and meat of the bird, and inside the cavity. Add seasoning to the butter if desired.
Place turkey on a roasting rack inside a roasting pan, breast side up. Cross the legs and tie with kitchen twine. Cover well with aluminum foil.
Roast for about 10 minutes per pound (so, for a 20 pound turkey, about 3 1/2 hours.)
Remove the turkey from the oven and apply more butter to the outside surface. Increase oven temperature to 350°F and return to the oven, uncovered. Baste every 30 minutes.
Continue roasting the turkey until the thermometer reads 165°F to 168°F, then remove the turkey from the oven.
Allow turkey to rest 15-30 minutes before carving. Enjoy!
Carving your Turkey
Remove the leg and thigh by slicing down through the ball joint that connects the thigh to the body.
If the turkey is stuffed, remove the stuffing now.
Remove one side of the breast. Start at the breastbone and work your knife along the curve of one side of the rib cage.
When you've cut down as far as you can go, make a horizontal cut along the bottom and remove the breast in one piece.
Place the breast on a serving platter or cutting board and cut slices from the breast
Separate the thigh meat from the bone with your fingers
Serve the drumsticks whole or remove the meat with your fingers, being careful to remove the tendons as you go