Preheat oven to 300 degrees. This takes at least ten minutes.
In the meantime, remove neck and innards from defrosted turkey. Run cold water over bird and rinse inside cavity. Pat dry. Place on a rack in a large roasting pan, breast side down.
Place in preheated oven for one hour. Set a timer :)
At the end of the first hour, without opening the door to the oven, reduce the heat to 190 degrees (warm on my thermostat dial) and continuing roasting for the same number of hours as the weight of the turkey in pounds. I mean if the turkey weighs 13 lbs, roast the turkey for 13 hours, AFTER the first hour.
The nicest thing about this method is the fact that the turkey can roast all night, when you dont usually need the oven. Or for smaller roasts, during the day while you are at work or running errands.
The down side is lack of oven space for baking other things, if you you have only one oven. I have taken my turkey out at noon, for example, pulled it apart and arranged it on a platter; covered it with wax paper; and not served dinner until 5 o'clock.
For detailed instructions about slow roasting, I refer to Adelle Davis's book, Let's Cook it Right.
I have successfuly slow-roasted beef roasts, legs of lamb, pork (fresh hams), and chicken. I do not recommend this method for small, boneless cuts of meat, although it works well for the Boston Butt cut of pork.
Dana, I do the same thing with all meats - pork roast, beef, chicken, and turkey - only I don't defrost. I set the meat or poultry frozen in a covered roasting pan (or cover with aluminum foil) and set the oven to 250-275 and let it cook all night or all day. It's tender and falling apart when we're ready to eat.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I'm concerned, it's the only way to cook meat of any kind!
While I think meat processing is much more sanitary than it used to me, I do believe that the hour at 300 kills some potentially harmful bacteria.
ReplyDeleteI am not particularly skittish about germs, but cant seem to make myself leave out this step.
I'm posting this now because DD#1 is preparing her first T'giving dinner this year and she's already asking for recipes :)
oooh even I like the look of that and I haven't eaten meat for 6 years!
ReplyDeleteI don't know about the hour at 300 - I do know that the internal temp has to be at 160, 175, or higher, depending on the meat, in order to be cooked and not raw. We've been doing it for 17 years now and never had a mishap, but something could happen tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteJust thought I would leave a comment about the turkey. A good method to ensue that the turkey doesn't dry out is to put it in a brine before slow-roasting. The brine not only keeps it moist, but it's a good way to add flavor. You usually need to have it in a brine for 12-24 hours before roasting.
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