This Thanksgiving, serve your guests a juicier bird

When I became a grown-up and it was time for me to finally cook my own turkey for Thanksgiving, I was stressed out. I had never been a turkey fan because it was always so dry. There was never enough moist dark meat to go around for our family. The white meat was always the last man standing and had to be covered in gravy to make it attractive.

So, I made it my goal to make the juiciest turkey ever — one which adults and children fought over the white meat. Now, we eat turkey year-round. Here’s my recipe for juicy turkey:

Photo by Jennifer Reynolds

Juicy Turkey

INGREDIENTS

A turkey

Olive oil

2 sticks of butter

Cavender’s Seasoning

Fresh rosemary

DIRECTIONS

Rinse turkey, pat dry with paper towel and place on roasting rack breast up. Allow to rest at room temperature for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Melt 1½ sticks of butter. Inject a portion into the breast of the turkey. Drizzle olive oil and a bit of melted butter over skin. Sprinkle with seasoning.

Place ½ stick of butter and rosemary inside turkey. Flip turkey breast down and repeat injection, oil, butter and seasoning.

Roast at 400 F breast down for first 45 minutes, then turn breast side up and roast at 325 F for remainder. Start checking internal temperature about 15 minutes before. Breast temperature should be 160 F or thigh at 170 F. If you like to brine your turkey, it usually cooks faster.

After taking turkey out of the oven, allow it to rest for 30 minutes before carving. After carving, pour some of the natural juices over meat in a dish to keep moist before serving.

Turkey weight total roasting time:

14 to 16 pounds — 2¾ to 3¼ hours

16 to 18 pounds — 3 to 3¾ hours

18 to 20 pounds — 3 ½ to 4 hours