Preparing A Turkey

Today I baked a 20-pound turkey. My family likes turkey plain so the only seasoning I used was salt. Here is how I cooked my turkey;


I first begin by rinsing the turkey and removing the giblet bag from the neck cavity. I usually give this to the dogs instead of cooking it. Once the turkey is ready for the pan I place it breast side down. Next I add salt to the neck cavity as well as adding salt to the inside of the body; now I add water to the bottom of the pan; at least 6 cups are needed but since we use a lot of broth for cooking I added extra water.We like our turkey to fall off the bones so I usually cover it well and cook it at 250 to 300 degrees for at least 6 hours; the longer you cook it the more tender the meat becomes. Sometimes I will cook it at 200 degrees over night.

As soon as the turkey is cool enough to handle I like to remove it from the bones; placing the broth from the pan to the side. Next I put the bones and skin in a large stock pot and cover with water and a little salt; this is boiled for at least an hour.

When the second broth is ready I combine it with the first and put it in the fridge so the fat will firm up making it easy to remove.

Now my turkey is ready for tomorrow and I have a lot of broth for gravy and future soup.