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The turkey is the central element of any good Thanksgiving meal. An otherwise perfect meal can be ruined by a dry, overcooked turkey.

Since a whole turkey isn’t something we cook on a weekly basis, it’s not easy to pull off the perfect turkey. But look at our recipe, and here are some helpful tips below.

Start with a quality turkey. Yes, you can find supermarket or non-name brand turkeys for quite a bit less, but keep in mind that a lot of the pounds you will be paying for will be saltwater injected into the turkey as brine, which will be loaded with salt.

Spend a bit more and buy the good quality bird.  You’ll be glad you did when you get all the praise for the delicious turkey you’ve made.

Thaw the turkey slowly in the fridge. Keep in mind during your planning stage that this can take upp to several days. Doing this instead of submerging the bird in water is much gentler on the meat, resulting in a more tender finished product.

When you are ready to cook your turkey, position the shelves in your oven to make sure the turkey will fit in the center as far as possible. Then preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Then remove the neck, giblets and anything else that may be stuffed in the chest cavity of your bird. Look around carefully. Then rinse it very thoroughly inside and out.

If your bird comes with a turkey lifter implanted into the tail, leave it. If it comes with the string lifters, position them according to the package instructions for easy lifting out of the bird for carving without scalding yourself.

If you are going to stuff the bird, follow the instructions, and do not overly cram the neck and body cavity. It needs to allow room for the heat to circulate and the juices to flow into the stuffing (though the stuffing will be more fattening when you make it this way).

If you are not going to stuff it, cut up a peeled onion, 3 stalks of celery and a few carrots. Big chunks are fine, since these vegetables are just for flavor. Stick them in the body cavity. They will infuse the bird with flavor as it cooks, and help keep it moist.

Then set the turkey in a large roasting pan, on its back, on a wire rack big enough to hold it.

Melt a cup of butter in the microwave. Use a turkey baster to baste the turkey with butter. Don’t use all of it, just enough to get your turkey lightly basted.

Spread the wings and legs away from the body as far as they will go, and cover the legs and breast loosely with foil. Cover the ankles so they do not get withered. The tin foil will stay on the breast until about 30 minutes before the bird is done.

Pour 1 cup of cold water into the bottom of the pan; this will keep the turkey from drying out.

After 15 minutes, lower the oven temperature fro 350 down to 325 degree oven.

Baste it every 30 minutes with the juices that collect in the bottom of the roasting pan. Add more water if the bottom of the pan starts to scorch.

About half way into the cooking, uncover the legs, except for the ankle.  About 30 minutes after, uncover all of leg.  30 minutes before the bird is done, uncover the breast to brown it.
Here are some general guidelines for how long your bird should cook:

8 to 12 lbs. 2 1/2 to 3 hrs.
12 to 14 lbs. 3 to 3 1/2 hrs.
14 to 18 lbs. 3 1/2to 4 1/2 hrs.
18 to 20 lbs. 4  to 4 1/2 hrs.
20 to 24 lbs. 4 1/2 to 5 hrs.
As a general rule, it is about 15 minutes per pound of meat.

Or, cook until temperature on meat thermometer reaches 180 degrees (check in the thickest part, and in a couple different places).

Don’t overcook or it will be dry, but do make sure it is done.  It should never be pink.

Many turkeys have pop up timers. Generally the turkey will be overdone if you rely on them alone.

Take the turkey out of the oven, cover it over again, and leave it to stand at least 20 minutes before carving.

If you need to put other items into the oven to cook alongside the turkey, give an etra 10 to minutes of cook time. Or, just wait to cook it while the bird is standing in a warm place ready to carve.

Then enjoy!!