Cooking A Turkey In A Bag Recipes

TURKEY IN A BAG

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Rinse turkey and remove giblets. Salt and pepper to taste.
• Sprinkle the bottom of a turkey size oven bag with flour. Place turkey, celery and onions in the bag. Seal bag and poke several holes in it with a fork.
• Bake 3 to 3 1/2 hours, or until internal temperature of the thigh meat reaches 180 degrees F (85 degrees C).

HOW TO COOK A TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Place onion, celery, and carrot in a large, shallow roasting pan.
• Place turkey, breast side up, on top of the vegetables in the roasting pan. Pat the outside and inside of the turkey dry with paper towels.
• Combine salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Season the inside of the turkey with about 1/3 of the salt mixture. Fold wing tips under the bird.
• Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat until the edges begin to turn golden, about 2 minutes. Cook and stir rosemary and sage for 1 minute.
• Place rosemary and sage inside the cavity of the turkey; reserve melted butter. Tie the legs together with twine.
• Brush outside of the turkey completely with the melted butter. Season with remaining 2/3 of the salt mixture.
• Bake turkey, uncovered, in the preheated oven until no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear, about 3 hours. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone should read 180 degrees F (82 degrees C). Remove the turkey from the oven and allow to rest in a warm area 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.

EASY TURKEY IN A PAPER BAG

Steps:

• At least one night or up to two nights before cooking, season turkey inside and out with salt, garlic powder and poultry seasoning.
• Place in a plastic bag and refrigerate until day of cooking. This ensures that the bird is seasoned all the way through, like brining does, only better.
• On Turkey day, stuff turkey with your favorite stuffing recipe. Tie legs together and fold wings back behind themselves.
• Pat turkey dry, and rub olive oil all over bird. Sprinkle skin with Montreal Grill seasoning.
• Open up a large paper bag so the opening is facing you, and rub the inside bottom of the bag with a generous coating of butter.
• Turn bag over so butter is on top, and place bag in a pan on a rack.
• Cut a piece of aluminum foil to line the bottom of the bag. Crinkle it ip then spread it flat and spray with cooking spray to keep bird from sticking.
• Place turkey into the bag, fold opening of bag closed and staple shut.
• Place turkey into a COLD oven. (DO NOT PREHEAT!).
• Turn the heat to 500 degrees. and roast for exactly one hour.
• Tuen heat down to 400 Degrees, toast one hour longer.
• Turn heat down to 300 degrees and roast one additional hour.
• Remove turkey from oven. Total cooking time is 3 hours regardless of the size of the turkey.
• The bag will look and smell charred, but the butter keeps the bag from burning and the bird will be perfect.
• Tear away paper bag in pieces and let turkey rest for at least 20 minutes before carving. But the longer rest, the better.

COOKING A TURKEY IN A BAG

Steps:

• Stuff your turkey as you normally would.
• Open one brown paper bag inside another one.
• Butter the inside of the inside bag real well. Slide the turkey into the brown bags, fold up the end of the bags and staple together.
• Put the turkey (in bag) into the roasting rack (rack being inside of roasting pan).
• Bake at 325 F. for 20 min. per pound.
• THAT IS IT! No basting, no nothing. It turns out very juicy, very brown and just plain great!

BRINING IN A BAG

Steps:

• Nest 1 plastic oven bag inside the other to create a double thickness (see Cook's Note). Place the double bag, mouth open wide and facing up, in the roasting pan.
• Fold back the top one-third of the double bag to make a collar (this helps keep the bags open). Place the turkey inside the double bag. Unfold the collar of the double bag and pour the brine over the bird, then add 2 cups of cold water. Draw up the top of the inner bag, squeezing out as much air as possible, and secure it closed with a twist tie. Do the same with the outer bag. Turn the package so the turkey is breast side down in the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 12 and up to 24 hours. Turn the turkey 3 or 4 times while it is brining.
• Remove the turkey from the brine. Discard the bags, brine, and any cured herbs or spices remaining on the bird. Rinse the turkey under cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Place the turkey back in the roasting pan and refrigerate, unwrapped, for at least 6 hours or up to overnight. This resting period allows the skin of the turkey to dry a bit so it is crisp when roasted. The turkey is now ready to be roasted.
• Plastic oven bags (made by Reynolds) are found with other food storage bags at supermarkets. Buy the turkey-sized bags. They are food-safe, plus they are big, strong, tear-resistant, and come with twist ties. Do not use plastic garbage bags, as they are not intended for food storage. I use a double thickness of bags as a precautionary measure against leakage. For the same reason, I place the bagged turkey in a roasting pan.