Aluminum Football Roast Turkey Recipes

PERFECT ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the zest and juice of the lemon and 1 teaspoon of thyme leaves to the butter mixture. Set aside.
• Take the giblets out of the turkey and wash the turkey inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outside dry. Place the turkey in a large roasting pan. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the turkey cavity. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, halved lemon, quartered onion, and the garlic. Brush the outside of the turkey with the butter mixture and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the turkey.
• Roast the turkey about 2 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh. Remove the turkey to a cutting board and cover with aluminum foil; let rest for 20 minutes.
• Slice the turkey and serve.

A SIMPLY PERFECT ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Place rack in the lowest position of the oven.
• Remove the turkey neck and giblets, rinse the turkey, and pat dry with paper towels. Place the turkey, breast side up, on a rack in the roasting pan. Loosely fill the body cavity with stuffing. Rub the skin with the softened butter, and season with salt and pepper. Position an aluminum foil tent over the turkey.
• Place turkey in the oven, and pour 2 cups turkey stock into the bottom of the roasting pan. Baste all over every 30 minutes with the juices on the bottom of the pan. Whenever the drippings evaporate, add stock to moisten them, about 1 to 2 cups at a time. Remove aluminum foil after 2 1/2 hours. Roast until a meat thermometer inserted in the meaty part of the thigh reads 165 degrees F (75 degrees C), about 4 hours.
• Transfer the turkey to a large serving platter, and let it stand for at least 20 to 30 minutes before carving.

ALUMINUM FOOTBALL (ROAST TURKEY)

Steps:

• Prepare the bird for cooking. I generally inject the meat with a store bought herb-butter marinade, then salt and pepper inside and out. I recommend not stuffing the bird.
• Using heavy duty aluminum foil, the wide kind, lay out a sheet (approximately 3') on a flat surface. Cover the sheet with a thin layer of olive oil.
• Place the bird in the middle of the sheet and fold the foil up over the bird pressing/molding the foil to the shape of the bird. Make sure the top edges of the foil are tucked inside the bottom edges.
• Lay out another sheet and cover with oil just like before.
• Rotate the bird 90 degrees and place the bird in the center of the new sheet. Fold over and mold into shape.
• Continue this process, rotating and molding as you go. After the first two sheets, you don't have to use anymore oil. Do this for at least seven layers. You should end up with a turkey shaped "aluminum football".
• Roast at 475 degrees (yes 475) for 4 hours. If you've done this properly, you won't be able to even smell the turkey cooking.
• When time is up, bring turkey out and start cutting and peeling back the foil. Have a turkey baster handy and start transferring the drippings to another container. You'll get a lot of drippings. Once you've gotten the bird uncovered (at least the top half), check for doneness with a meat thermometer. I've never had to put the bird back in--it's always been done, but if necessary return to the oven and cook till done.
• Once you've freed the bird from the foil, set aside for 15 minutes then slice it all up and put the juicy meat on a platter and serve.
• Use the drippings for dressing or gravy.