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Vertically roasted turkey back |
Have you ever cooked your turkey like this? We thought we'd try it this year and oh my, we are hooked.
We bought a 13 1/2 lb turkey, and rubbed it under the skin liberally with olive oil and our own blend of salt and spices (we call it our "farmhouse blend", LOL), and did the same on the outside of the turkey. One important thing we did was to pull the flap of skin that's at the neck end over the opening so that it traps the steam inside the bird as it cooks. Then we put it on a vertical roaster on a baking sheet, placed it on the bottom rack of the oven (with the other racks removed of course) and baked it at 450 degrees....for 1 hour!
It was fast, it came out a beautiful golden color and it was so moist and juicy and tender. Best of all, it was golden and crispy all the way around, no soggy spots. I think it might just be our new favorite way of cooking turkey.
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| Vertically roasted turkey front |
UPDATE:
Several of you commented about the rack so I thought I'd add these photos. Here is the rack we use, it's actually a rack made FOR a turkey. It's very large and the metal is sturdy so that you can use the sides as carrying handles. The turkey cavity slides down onto this so there is no room for stuffing but the heat does circulate throughout the turkey.
"Beer can chicken"? You can see here that it is actually made for that! It holds a standard can of beer or soda or whatever you want to use. The bird slides down over it. We didn't use that for this turkey because we wanted to see how it did without it and as I said we were very impressed with how moist it was. Some day, we'll try a can of something.
2020 UPDATE:
We get people asking where we got these. They were available on Amazon for years. Here is the direct link to the one we bought:
But it looks like maybe they are sold out or it's no longer in stock.
Here is a link to a chicken one they sell, they might be able to direct you to their turkey version:
Thanks and happy cooking!
Hmmm, I think I like that idea too.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if you could cook a goose that way?
Kirk
I don't see why not, as long as it fit in the oven. I've honestly never cooked a goose (ha, my goose hasn't been cooked? LOL).
DeleteI usually cook 'my' goose standing it on half apples so that it doesn't end up bathing in the sea of fat that comes out of it. We don't get much whole turkey here, its all the way with goose - or duck (roast duck is delicious!)
DeleteThats a different way of cooking a bird,at least it wasn't fried.We smoked ours.If you can cook a turkey this way I bet you could cook any other birdies this way.
ReplyDeleteYes, you could definitely cook chickens that way as well. Mmm, smoked turkey is good too! Hope you had a great turkey day!
DeleteLooks delicious. Hope you enjoyed your day.
ReplyDeleteIt was and we did, ha. I hope you and yours had a great day (weekend) as well. All our best!!
DeleteSalivating as I'm reading LOL - Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteHey, you have me salivating over your food posts, so turnabout is fair play, LOL! It was yummy!
Delete1st Man - that turkey looks awesome! i always cook my turkey breast side down for the first half of cooking and then flip it to breast side up for the last half of cooking - it really makes a difference in how moist and tender the breast will be. but i can only imagine how moist and tender it is to cook it vertically! i am going to have to try this! did you cover it at all with foil or something? was it stuffed?
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing. and again that turkey looks beautiful and delicious! your friend,
kymber
Hey sweet lady! You know we've done the flip thing as well and you're right it makes it very moist and tender. I think this might be why this worked so well, it was neither side down it was just all up and exposed to heat.
DeleteIn answer to your question, no foil at all. We literally just removed all the oven racks except the bottom one (so it would fit) and set the vertical stand on a baking sheet and put him in there. See the update I did today with pictures of the rack. No stuffing because the cavity slides down over the stand.
The best part of all? An almost 14 lb bird cooked in an hour and half! It was great!
Thank you as always!
thanks for all of that! and ya - that was super fast cooking - i am definitely trying this for xmas! going now to check your update - thanks again buddy!
Deletesorry - i thought you had made a new post - bahahahahah! just saw the update and that is just too cool! man the colour on that turkey is just beautiful! will definitely have jambaloney rig me something up out of coat hanger or something - bahahahahah! can't wait to try this!
DeleteIt kinda reminds me of "beer can" chicken. It looks delicious! We are FINALLY having our Thanksgiving today...deep fried turkey.
ReplyDeleteYep, keen observation, see my update above! It was very good and fried turkey, yum, my Dad used to do that every year. It's wonderful. Happy turkey day to you, belated! ;-)
DeleteOh my gosh, that is TOO cool. I am so going to find that and do it. It's beautiful! Looks like a photo of a turkey on a table in a magazine that has just the right color. Happy thanksgiving guys!
ReplyDeleteWell thank you! Yes, I told 2nd Man that it was just a perfect color all the way around. It did make for a nice presentation. Happy day to you too! Thanks for stopping by!
Deletewe only have enough roo in our oven for one of the bantams if it as standing up like this big fella
ReplyDeleteHey I hear ya, this one barely fit ours. It was so worth pushing the boundary, ha.
DeleteWOW! It looks good... we just don't eat turkey here at Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteIt was very good, but I understand, a lot of people don't eat it either. I enjoy it but just a few times a year. Chicken on the other hand, I could eat that all the time, ha.
DeleteCould you please share with me the exact name of the beer can poultry holder that you are using here? Perhaps an Amazon link? Thanks in advance...
ReplyDeleteI have updated the post above (thanks for the suggestion to include the link). The one we bought 'appears' to be no longer available. But click on the first link it will show you what they were called and looked like. The second link is to the chicken version they still sell so maybe you can check with them on that. Thanks for stopping by!
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