I used my convection oven for the first time this Thanksgiving.
No, I didn't get a new oven... I've just never used the convection feature on my oven before. Why? I dunno. It's just foreign to me, I guess.
And now I'm wondering... Do you use a convection oven? And if so, why do you like it better than your regular oven??
Ok, back to the turkey.
This turkey was amazing. Plain and simple. Juicy, tender... full of flavor. And the 20-pound beast was cooked in less than 3 hours! YaY convection!!
Of course, cooking a turkey varies a bit depending on how big it is, but mine was close to 20 pounds (as many of them are!) so we'll use that as our base. If you're turkey's smaller, start checking for doneness earlier, and if it's bigger, give it a bit more time! (Rocket science, eh?)
Anyways... I know this is a little late for the big day, but if you're like me and you tend to stock up on turkeys while they're cheap (.89 cents a pound anyone?), try this out!
Oh, and if you don't have convection on your oven... raise the end cooking temp to 350º and expect the turkey to take a bit longer!
Perfect Convection Roasted Turkey Recipe
Ingredients:
1 20-lb turkey, thawed
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons poultry seasoning
2 teaspoons salt
1-2 large onions, quartered (skin on is fine!)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Set the rack into your roasting pan and put it by the sink. (If your roasting pan doesn't have a rack, you can use several balls of aluminum foil or halved onions to keep the turkey from sitting in it's juices).
In a small bowl, stir together the softened butter and poultry seasoning until combined; Set aside.
Remove the neck & innards (ewww... I hate that word!) from the turkey and rinse the whole turkey in cold running water, inside and out. Set it into your roasting pan and pat dry with paper towels.
(Ok, now this is the gross part:) Slide your hand in between the skin and the meat on the breast of the turkey, loosening the skin all over. Take the butter mixture and spread it all over in between the skin and the meat, and on top of the turkey, rubbing it in all over and using every last bit of it.
Sprinkle the salt all over the turkey and inside the cavity. Place the onions inside the turkey cavity.
Place the turkey in the preheated 400º oven for 20-30 minutes, until nice and golden brown all over.
Lower the heat to 325º (on your convection - roast setting). Place a sheet of aluminum foil loosely on top of the turkey covering the breast and top of the legs. Cook for another 2 hours... checking the temperature every once in a while at the end (using a meat thermometer in the deepest part of the breast, not touching bone!) until it reaches 165º.
Remove from the oven, cover with foil to keep warm (and finish cooking the last 5 degrees from carry-over heat) while you heat up everything else for the meal.
Carve and serve with all the trimmings!!
Disclaimer: I sincerely apologize for not bringing this to you before Turkey Day... I just couldn't cook another turkey, since I'm cooking two in two days this week! But, now you have it for Christmas and you can bookmark it for next year!
