Awesome High Heat Holiday Turkey Recipes

HIDDEN VALLEY ® HOLIDAY TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• In a small bowl, mix the butter together with one of the packets of seasoning mix until well blended.
• With clean hands, carefully separate the breast skin from the breast by moving your hand underneath the skin. Spread the butter mixture evenly under the skin. Sprinkle the remaining packet of seasoning mix all over the turkey.
• Roast the turkey covered for 3 hours, then uncover and cook for another 30 minutes or until juices run clear and an internal temperature of 165°F is reached.

SMOKED HOLIDAY TURKEY

Steps:

• In a bowl mix minced onion, garlic, rosemary, pepper, 1 tsp paprika, salt and enough olive oil to create a thick paste consistency.
• Clean turkey and prepare for smoker breast up. With a paring knife or other small knife, make incisions straight down into the meat and to the bone, about 1 to 1.5 inches long. You can gouge the holes out deeper below the surface by wiggling the knife to make a larger cavity if you wish. Do this all over the turkey, in any place that you can make a hole and pack some of the mix into the cut, about 1.5 to 2 inches apart.
• Use a spoon and fingers to pack all of the holes with your mix, stuffing them to the top of the hole.
• Quarter onions and pack them with the rosemary sprigs inside the turkey cavity.
• With your hands, coat the turkey on the outside completely with olive oil, and then dust down fairly heavily with paprika. Tie the legs together with string.
• Place on smoker and smoke as you usually would, about 4 to 5 hours in my particular smoker.

OVERNIGHT HIGH-HEAT TURKEY

Steps:

• About an hour before you go to bed, preheat oven to 500 degrees.
• Wash turkey thoroughly and empty the neck and carcass cavities.
• Do NOT stuff the bird (that's not negotiable).
• Rub outside of turkey with olive oil.
• Place bird in roaster and pour water over.
• Cover with a tight-fitting lid and bake at 500 for one hour.
• DO NOT TAKE LID OFF AT ANY TIME!
• After one hour, turn down oven to its lowest setting (without actually turning it off).
• Leave bird in oven, lid on and go to bed.
• Wake up to a bird that is tender, juicy, brown and ready.

HIGH-HEAT ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Move oven rack to lowest position; heat oven to 450°F. Fold wings across back of turkey so tips are touching. Rub both cavities lightly with salt and pepper. Tuck legs under band of skin at tail, or tie together with heavy string, then tie to tail.
• On rack in shallow roasting pan, place turkey breast side up. Insert ovenproof meat thermometer so tip is in thickest part of inside thigh and does not touch bone. (Do not add water or cover turkey.) If possible, place turkey in oven with legs to the back of the oven so they are in the hottest part of oven.
• Roast uncovered 2 hours 45 minutes to 3 hours 15 minutes, watching carefully. After roasting about 1 hour 30 minutes, wearing oven mitts that cover hands and wrists, place tent of foil loosely over turkey when it begins to turn golden.
• Turkey is done when thermometer reads 165°F and drumsticks move easily when lifted or twisted. If meat thermometer is not used, begin testing for doneness after about 2 hours 15 minutes. When turkey is done, place on warm platter and cover with foil to keep warm. Let stand about 15 minutes for easiest carving.