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Several Thanksgivings ago my stepmom introduced my family to her favorite Thanksgiving recipe, Turkey Under a Sheet. Turkey Under a Sheet is an unconventional way to cook a turkey that yields amazing results! You’ve never tasted a turkey this moist and flavorful!
Turkey is notorious for stumping novice turkey cookers. Is it done yet? What’s the thermometer at? Has the button popped?
Dang, it’s still not done yet!
Great, looks like we overcooked it. The turkey is so dry!!!
This recipe eliminates all these complaints and cooks the turkey just right every time! When the “sheet” turns a dark golden brown, your turkey is done!
Origins of Turkey Under a Sheet
Last Thanksgiving my stepmom was visiting for Thanksgiving from California. She volunteered to cook her Turkey Under a Sheet. Unfortunately, she left her recipe at home! She made the recipe on a spreadsheet years ago and had kept it with her recipes since.
Imagine her surprise when she decided to Google the recipe on the off-chance that someone else was taught to make turkey using the sheet method, and up popped an “Origins Unknown” Turkey Under-a-Sheet recipe with her very spreadsheet. The very spreadsheet that she created and had stored up with the rest of her recipe collection at home.
Yep, the “Origins Unknown – Turkey Under a Sheet recipe” can be attributed to my stepmom, Catalina. Of course, she didn’t invent the recipe herself. Like most of the recipes we all use, the recipe was created by someone else and handed down. Catalina was simply responsible for writing it down in a spreadsheet and emailing it to friends who requested it where it finally ended up being passed on to people all over the internet.
In an effort to share the best, moist turkey recipe even farther, I thought I’d share her Turkey Under a Sheet Recipe with you all!
Steps to Cooking Your Turkey
Position your turkey in a large roasting pan. Pour wine into the cavity of the turkey until a little spills over into the pan.
Saute the garlic in butter. Remove from heat and add all remaining ingredients of the spice mixture (olive oil, rosemary, oregano, thyme, taragon). Place bay leaves on the highest points of the turkey to keep it from sticking to the sheet.
Cover the turkey with the sheet. (Say “goodnight!”) Secure the sheet with a couple of rounds of string around the perimeter of the roasting pan. Trim excess sheet to leave a 2 inch ruffle. Mix the four with enough water to make a gooey mix. Spread the mix evenly over the sheet from the top to the sides of the pan.
Cook in the oven at 400°F. Cook for 7-9 minutes per pound. You’ll know the turkey is done when your sheet turns a dark golden brown.
Note: Your best bet for the “Linen towels” called for in the recipe is to get Flour Sack towels. These are very inexpensive and are “lint free”. I’ve linked to them on Amazon, so if you’re unfamiliar with flour sack towels you can take a look, but I’d recommend picking some up at Target or Walmart, or your local grocery store. They’ll likely be a bit cheaper.
Calculate turkey cooking time and temperature. The simplest way to figure out turkey roasting times is to calculate 13 minutes per pound at 350°F for an unstuffed turkey (that's about 3 hours for a 12- to 14-lb. turkey), or 15 minutes per pound for a stuffed turkey.
A stuffed turkey takes longer to cook than an unstuffed turkey. Roast a stuffed turkey for 15 minutes per pound at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). It is important to check the temperature of the stuffing; it should be 165 degrees F (75 degrees C) when you insert the thermometer into the center of the stuffing.
Place turkey in a Pyrex Utility Dish. Brush entire body with melted fat. . Cover turkey with an oil-drenched cheesecloth to prevent too much browning. If you have a meat thermometer, insert it in the center of the inside thigh muscle.
The rule of thumb for cooking a turkey is 13 minutes per pound. So our 16-pound turkey was estimated to cook in about 3 1/2 hours. However, some factors like brining the bird, cooking with an empty (un-stuffed) cavity, and leaving the legs un-trussed will contribute to much faster cooking.
What Temperature to Cook the Turkey? Cook your turkey at 325 degrees F for most of the cook time; in the final 45 minutes, remove the cover or foil tent from the turkey, increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F and baste the bird with butter. The initial lower oven temperature cooks the turkey through evenly.
To achieve a perfectly golden, juicy turkey, let the bird spend time both covered and uncovered in the oven. We recommend covering your bird for most of the cooking time to prevent it from drying out; then, during the last 30 minutes or so of cooking, remove the cover so the skin crisps in the hot oven.
Using a 325°F oven, here's a rough per pound guide from the pros at foodsafety.gov. These stuffed turkey cooking times have been tested and proven to work well by our Test Kitchen team: For 10- to 12-pound turkey, roast 3¼ hours to 3½ hours. For 12- to 14-pound turkey, roast 3½ to 4 hours.
Stick with salt and pepper, put herbs like rosemary, thyme, and sage to work, or take spicy Cajun seasoning for a spin for some kick. Whatever blend you choose, spread it all over the turkey—on top, underneath, between the body and wings and legs, under the skin, and even in the cavity of the bird.
We've already established that a roasting pan is basically an extra-large casserole dish. If you have a 9x13-inch casserole or baking dish, you can make this work for smaller roasts like chicken or game hens. For a full-sized turkey, go with an oversized baking dish with relatively high sides.
Wash your hands, but not the turkey! Many consumers think that washing their turkey will remove bacteria and make it safer. However, it's virtually impossible to wash bacteria off the bird. Instead, juices that splash during washing can transfer bacteria onto the surfaces of your kitchen, other foods and utensils.
Your turkey will cook more evenly and faster if you start it out at room temperature so remove the turkey from the refrigerator 1 hour before roasting. If you plan to stuff your turkey, wait until you're ready to put it in the oven before putting the stuffing in the turkey.
The internet and cookbooks all give too high a temperature. But despite what they all say, you absolutely should NOT cook your turkey breast meat to 165°F (74°C) or to—heaven forbid—180°F (82°C)! Our answer? Cook the breast meat to 157°F (69°C) for moist, juicy turkey.
The most straightforward approach is to roast an unstuffed turkey, breast-side up, for 13 minutes per pound of turkey at 350°. That works out to approximately 3 hours for a 12- to 14-pound bird (a 12-pound turkey is pretty standard).
The time it will take depends on how large your turkey is, but the end goal is the same: a temperature reading of 155°F when a meat thermometer is inserted in the thickest portion of the turkey breast.
The rule of thumb for an unstuffed turkey is that it cooks at a rate of 13 minutes per pound in a 350ºF oven. At this rate, a 6-pound turkey will take 78 minutes (or 1 hour and 18 minutes). A 15-pound turkey will take 195 minutes (or 3 hours and 15 minutes).
Introduction: My name is Jonah Leffler, I am a determined, faithful, outstanding, inexpensive, cheerful, determined, smiling person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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