When faced with a turkey that needs to be roasted, a lot of home cooks use an oven-safe cooking bag as their go-to tool. Using one yields a moist, juicy bird — and not to mention, cuts down on cleanup.
But cooking turkey in an oven bag is not without its drawbacks. For instance, you wont get the show-stopping brown skin. And getting a raw turkey in an oven bag, and later, removing a cooked one, can get unwieldy.
An alternative to using an oven bag is to braise the turkey, which involves roasting it in a steamy, enclosed space. Braising is a good option when cooking a large, potentially tough turkey.
The main advantage of using an oven bag is that the turkey can cook in its own juices in a moist environment, which helps prevent the inevitable outcome of dry meat.
But an oven bag isnt the only way to achieve this moist, contained environment. Here are two alternatives:
Ah, the majestic turkey, centerpiece of countless feasts and a culinary symbol of celebration. But for many home cooks, the prospect of roasting this avian behemoth can be daunting, especially when faced with the question: can you cook a turkey in the oven without a bag? The answer, my friends, is a resounding yes! And not only is it possible, but it can also be an incredibly rewarding experience, yielding a juicy, flavorful bird that will have your guests singing your praises.
Unveiling the Secrets: Two Time-Tested Techniques
Fear not, aspiring chefs, for we shall delve into the depths of turkey-roasting wisdom, uncovering two time-tested methods that will guide you on your journey to bagless culinary success.
Method 1: Embracing the Braising Embrace
This technique, akin to a warm hug for your turkey, involves surrounding it with a cozy, enclosed environment, allowing it to bask in its own succulent juices. Think of it as a luxurious spa treatment for your poultry friend.
The Essential Ingredients:
- A trusty roasting pan, preferably with a tight-fitting lid, like a Dutch oven.
- An assortment of colorful vegetables: onions, carrots, celery, and perhaps even garlic for an extra flavor punch.
- Butter, the golden elixir that adds richness and depth.
- A generous splash of broth, chicken or turkey, to create a flavorful steamy haven.
- A trusty thermometer, your faithful guide to ensuring perfectly cooked poultry.
The Culinary Ritual:
- Preheat your oven to 350°F, setting the stage for culinary magic.
- Chop your vegetables into coarse pieces, ready to add their vibrant flavors.
- Melt the butter in a pan, transforming it into a liquid embrace for your vegetables.
- Sauté the vegetables until they begin to brown, releasing their aromatic secrets.
- Transfer the buttered vegetables to the bottom of your roasting pan, creating a bed of flavor.
- Nestle your turkey atop the vegetable bed, ensuring it feels comfortable and secure.
- If you’re feeling adventurous, stuff your turkey with your favorite stuffing, adding another layer of deliciousness.
- Pour in the broth, ensuring it reaches about halfway up the turkey, creating a warm, steamy bath.
- Secure the lid on your roasting pan, creating a cozy, enclosed environment for your turkey to bask in.
- Place your pan in the preheated oven, and let the magic begin.
The Journey to Perfection:
- After 2 hours, check on your turkey every 30 minutes, using a thermometer to gauge its internal temperature. Aim for 165°F in the thickest part of the thigh and breast, ensuring it’s cooked to juicy perfection.
- Baste your turkey with the pan juices, adding an extra layer of flavor and keeping it moist.
- If you crave crispy skin, remove the lid for the last 30 minutes of cooking, allowing the skin to bask in the oven’s warmth and achieve a golden-brown hue.
- Once the internal temperature reaches 165°F, remove your turkey from the oven and let it rest for at least 20 minutes before carving, allowing the juices to redistribute and ensuring a tender, succulent result.
Method 2: The Aluminum Foil Embrace
This method offers a more flexible approach, allowing you to customize the cooking process to your liking. It’s like giving your turkey a personalized spa treatment, tailored to its unique needs.
The Essential Ingredients:
- A roll of heavy-duty aluminum foil, your trusty culinary shield.
- A shallow roasting pan, ready to cradle your foil-wrapped turkey.
- Vegetable oil or butter, to ensure your turkey doesn’t stick to the foil.
- A trusty thermometer, your faithful guide to perfectly cooked poultry.
The Culinary Ritual:
- Preheat your oven to 450°F, setting the stage for a faster cooking experience.
- Brush your turkey with oil or butter, ensuring it’s well-coated and ready to embrace the foil.
- If you desire, loosely stuff your turkey, adding another layer of flavor and moisture.
- Tear off a sheet of aluminum foil, ensuring it’s about three times the length of your turkey, creating a spacious cocoon.
- Place your turkey in the center of the foil, breast-side up, and fold the ends over, creating a secure enclosure.
- Transfer your foil-wrapped turkey to the roasting pan, ready for its culinary journey.
- Roast your turkey, taking advantage of the higher heat for a faster cooking time.
- Use the handy chart below to estimate the cooking time based on your turkey’s weight, ensuring it reaches juicy perfection.
Turkey Cooking Times (Unstuffed)
| Turkey Weight | Cook Time |
|---|---|
| 8-12 pounds | 1 hr. 30 mins. – 2 hrs. 15 mins. |
| 12-16 pounds | 2 hrs. 15 mins. – 2 hrs. 45 mins. |
| 16-20 pounds | 2 hrs. 45 mins. – 3 hrs. 15 mins. |
| 20-24 pounds | 3 hrs. 15 mins. – 3 hrs. 45 mins. |
Turkey Cooking Times (Stuffed)
| Turkey Weight | Cook Time |
|---|---|
| 8-12 pounds | 2 – 2 hrs. 45 mins. |
| 12-16 pounds | 2 hrs. 45 mins. – 3 hrs. 15 mins. |
| 16-20 pounds | 3 hrs. 15 mins. – 3 hrs. 45 mins. |
| 20-24 pounds | 3 hrs. 45 mins. – 4 hrs. 15 mins. |
The Final Touches:
- Once the internal temperature reaches 165°F in the thickest part of the breast, thickest part of the wing, and innermost thigh, your turkey is ready to emerge from its foil cocoon.
- If you crave crispy skin, uncrimp the foil covering the top of the bird around 30 minutes before it’s fully cooked, allowing it to bask in the oven’s warmth and achieve a golden-brown hue.
- Once the turkey is cooked through, remove it from the oven and let it rest for at least 15 minutes before carving, allowing the juices to redistribute and ensuring a tender, succulent result.
The Verdict: A Culinary Triumph
With these two time-tested techniques, you’re now equipped to conquer the challenge of cooking a turkey without a bag. Whether you choose the braising embrace or the aluminum foil cocoon, you’re sure to emerge victorious, presenting a juicy, flavorful bird that will have your guests singing your praises. So, go forth, embrace the challenge, and let your culinary creativity soar!
How to Braise Turkey Using Aluminum Foil
This method results in less steam than using an oven bag, Devan Cameron, a sous chef and owner of Braised & Deglazed, tells LIVESTRONG.com.
“[That] means the turkey can brown a lot easier than when cooking in a bag,” he adds. For Cameron, using aluminum foil is easier to control than using a pan.
- Turkey, thawed, with the giblets removed
- Vegetable oil or butter
- Stuffing (optional)
- Heavy-duty aluminum foil
- Shallow roasting pan
- Food thermometer
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 2: Brush the outside of the turkey with oil or butter.
Step 3: If you wish, loosely stuff the turkey. Generally, experts recommend against stuffing turkeys as it increases the cook time of the bird. But, it is safe to stuff a turkey when youre using this cooking method, per the USDA.
Step 4: According to the University of Illinois Extension, rip off a sheet of aluminum foil that is about three times longer than the turkey.
Step 5: Place the turkey in the center of this foil, with its breast up. Turn up the ends of the foil, so that they overlap. Turn up the short sides of the foil to help contain the turkeys juices. Do not make an airtight package — there should be some gaps.
Step 6: Place the foil-wrapped turkey in a roasting pan.
Step 7: Roast the bird. Because youre using a high heat, the turkey will cook faster. Use this chart from the USDA to estimate the cooking time of your bird based on its size.
|
Turkey Weight |
Cook Time (Unstuffed) |
Cooking Time (Stuffed) |
|---|---|---|
|
8-12 pounds |
1 hr. 30 mins. – 2 hrs. 15 mins. |
2 – 2 hrs. 45 mins. |
|
12-16 pounds |
2 hrs. 15 mins. – 2 hrs. 45 mins. |
2 hrs. 45 mins. – 3 hrs. 15 mins. |
|
16-20 pounds |
2 hrs. 45 mins. – 3 hrs. 15 mins. |
3 hrs 15 mins. – 3 hrs. 45 mins. |
|
20-24 pounds |
3 hrs. 15 mins. – 3 hrs. 45 mins. |
3 hrs. 45 mins. – 4 hrs. 15 mins. |
When the innermost thigh, thickest part of the wing, and thickest part of the breast all register an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit, the procedure will be carried out. If the turkey has stuffing inside, make sure the stuffing reaches that same temperature.
Step 8 (optional): About 30 minutes before the bird is done cooking, uncrimp the foil covering its top if you want the skin to brown.
Step 9: Take the turkey out of the oven as soon as it is done, which is when its internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Let it rest at least 15 minutes before carving and serving.
How to Braise a Turkey in a Roasting Pan
After your turkey is cooked through, save the liquid at the bottom of the pan to make a delicious gravy.
- Turkey, thawed, with the giblets removed
- Medium onion
- 4 ribs of celery
- 4 carrots
- Garlic (optional)
- Bacon (optional)
- Herbs (optional)
- 3/4 stick butter
- Frying pan
- Large roasting pan with a tight lid
- Stuffing (optional)
- 1 qt. chicken or turkey broth
- Cooking spoon or baster
- Food thermometer
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 2: Chop the vegetables (onion, celery and carrot) coarsely.
Step 3: Melt the butter in a frying pan, and then add the vegetables.
Step 4: Sauté the vegetables until they begin to brown. Add seasoning to taste. You can sauté the vegetables with garlic, bacon or herbs, for instance.
Step 5: Put the vegetables and butter in the bottom of the roasting pan.
Step 6: Place the turkey on top of the vegetables.
Step 7: Stuff the turkey if youd like to do so.
Step 8: Pour in the broth; if necessary, raise it no more than halfway up the turkey.
Step 9: Cover the pan with the lid and put it in the oven.
If your turkey doesnt fit inside the roaster with the lid closed, dont leave the lid ajar. Alternatively, divide the turkey and the remaining ingredients between two covered roasting pans, or cut the turkey into pieces to make it fit better.
Step 10: Check on your turkey every 30 minutes after it has been baking for two hours. To check the internal temperature, place the thermometer into the thickest region of the breast and the thickest part of the thigh.
Use a cooking spoon or baster to pour broth from the pan’s bottom over the turkey after you’ve checked its temperature each time.
Step 11: Remove the lid of the roasting pan for the last 30 minutes of cooking if you like brown, crispy skin. Before removing the turkey from the oven check the temperature of the thigh, the breast and the thickest part of the wing. They should all be at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit, per the USDA. If you added stuffing, its temperature must hit 165 degrees Fahrenheit as well.
Use the chart below to get a sense of how long it will take the turkey to cook.
Step 12: Before carving, take the turkey out of the pan and let it rest on a cooling rack for at least twenty minutes.
|
Turkey Weight |
Cooking Time (Unstuffed) |
Cooking Time (Stuffed) |
|---|---|---|
|
8-12 pounds |
2 hrs. 45 mins. – 3 hrs. |
3 – 3 hrs. 30 mins. |
|
12-14 pounds |
3 – 3 hrs. 45 mins. |
3 hrs. 30 mins – 4 hrs. |
|
14-18 pounds |
3 hrs. 45 mins. – 4 hrs. 15 mins. |
4 – 4 hrs. 15 mins. |
|
18-20 pounds |
4 hrs. 15 mins – 4 hrs. 30 mins. |
4 hrs. 15 mins. – 4 hrs. 45 mins. |
|
20-24 pounds |
4 hrs. 30 mins – 5 hrs. |
4 hrs. 45 mins – 5 hrs. 15 mins. |
Cooking a turkey takes about 2 hours and 45 minutes to a bit over 5 hours. The amount of time depends on your oven, how frequently you open the oven door, and the size of the turkey; a larger bird will require more time to cook.