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11:45 pm
March 22, 2010
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@ Buckeye girl, Mamajhk, and Miss Judy: That's so cool, I never ran across anyone else who did it that way. I'm glad it's not just me doing strange kitchen voodoo or something! 
Other people have found that it works, too.
Miss Judy, when I first started doing it I dipped the cloth in melted butter, too. But it used a lot of butter and one year in a fit of frugality I substituted oil, and didn't notice a difference.
7:13 am
October 17, 2008
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I saw a commercial (I think it was for The Chew) with some guy with a cheesecloth talking about draping the bird with a buttered cheesecloth. Was wondering about it. You guys have answered my question! May give it a try this year.
I have 2 birds and still have figured out exactly which 2 ways they're going to be fixed. I really want a grilled/smoked turkey, but it always depends on the weather…and in Michigan I don't rely on the weathermen. I'll decide Thursday morning if one is going on the grill.
I remember when I was young, Mom would put the turkey in the oven before she went to bed the night before and we still didn't eat until late afternoon. I asked her why it was cooked so long…she said that was the way you were supposed to cook it back then. ??? Anyone else remember it taking so long to roast a turkey?
7:42 am
November 9, 2010
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I just put mine in the Nesco roaster. I do rub in Bell's seasoning, seasoning salt, sage, and let it sit overnight with all those wonderful spices. In the morning I tuck some herb butter under the skin, and cook it low. Incredible flavor, and very moist. Best part, the oven is free to bake all the casseroles, and sides. 
8:09 am
February 22, 2010
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Yes CindyP…I remember it taking that long because they always had a huge bird and they roasted it at a lower temp. Also a lot of Toms were used and they are a little tougher than a young hen, so it was cooked longer in hopes it would be more tender. I think that's one of the reasons my aunt got a roaster…it didn't tie the oven up for all that time.
Also they always stuffed the bird thus longer cooking time.
8:26 am
February 10, 2009
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I remember my mom doing it that way too Cindy, now they don't recommend it because those first few hours before it starts getting hot inside are perfect for microorganisms to multiply, and then sometimes it doesn't truly get hot enough, for long enough to really kill them (especially since the bird was almost always stuffed) and we all know that can be a bad thing.
I suppose it didn't happen all that often, because there weren't that many horror stories that I ever heard, but if all things came together in just the WRONG way and it's YOUR household that gets sick, 
!
9:01 am
October 10, 2009
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Jerseymom: Turkey cooked in the Dutch is always moist and tender. We use a 16 inch oven with 9 briquettes centered below the oven and 18 spread evenly around the edge of the lid and not touching. This heats the oven to 350 and the turkey is done in approximately 3 hours. The lid can be removed any time to check the progress. I hope you enjoy it this way. It was especially good when we went camping on Thanksgiving.
2:06 pm
April 1, 2009
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Miss Judy said:
Yes CindyP…I remember it taking that long because they always had a huge bird and they roasted it at a lower temp. Also a lot of Toms were used and they are a little tougher than a young hen, so it was cooked longer in hopes it would be more tender. I think that's one of the reasons my aunt got a roaster…it didn't tie the oven up for all that time.
Also they always stuffed the bird thus longer cooking time.
Hi Miss Judy–yesterday I watch a cooking show that featured a well know chef and she was cooking her turkey tented in foil at 325 degrees, she never mentioned put it into a hot oven for a while and then turning it down, I did notice when she carved it, it was very pink in the joints, to me it didnt look done at all for the amount of time she roasted it. I like to have it VERY well done, may not look like a picture, but I know it is cooked.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
2:57 pm
April 1, 2009
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I just read on the Campbell Kitchen website, and they said roast at 325 on their roasting chart, I have never roasted one that low, but maybe I will give it a try this year.
8:09 pm
March 22, 2010
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CindyP said:
I remember when I was young, Mom would put the turkey in the oven before she went to bed the night before and we still didn't eat until late afternoon. I asked her why it was cooked so long…she said that was the way you were supposed to cook it back then. ??? Anyone else remember it taking so long to roast a turkey?
My mom used to use the low & slow method, too, but the USDA now says that 325F is the minimum safe temperature. There probably always was some risk to cooking at lower temperatures, but the risk is higher these days because modern factory methods of farming and butchering turkeys increase the chances of salmonella and other germs on the turkey. It's kind of like the reason we're supposed to keep eggs refrigerated now and not eat raw eggs: the eggs have more germs than they used to, and the shells are more permeable. When I was growing up, the egg display in the stores wasn't refrigerated. I was actually working at a grocery store when the law was changed to require refrigeration and our store had to put in a new, refrigerated case for eggs.
Some celebrity chefs, and America's Test Kitchen, now recommend low & slow cooking for roast beef, in order to get uniform medium rare meat. It amuses me because it's being touted as a great, new discovery, when it's the way our grandmothers did it. 
But they don't recommend it for poultry.
9:00 pm
December 28, 2008
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Back in the day, we always had fresh turkeys. The local farmer who raised them delivered it the evening before Thanksgiving. It did seem to take forever for one to cook, but that may or may not be an accurate recollection – it always seems that childhood memories like that are a tad skewed!
Mom always just put it into a pan and let it cook. And she rarely stuffed the bird. Her reasoning was that it just couldn't cook sufficiently well. Besides, she didn't like soggy stuffing!
9:00 pm
December 14, 2010
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If it gets to 165 internal temperature then it is done.. Jamb that meat thermometer down into the inside of the thigh meat to get the reading.
11:44 pm
June 1, 2010
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My turkey, too, makes a fashion statement draped in well-buttered cheesecloth. If cloth even thinks that it wants to stick to breast, I baste and baste until cloth loosens from bird. That's the first way I saw a turkey made (mid 1950's), why monkey with the best! {butter}
8:43 pm
January 17, 2011
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I've been cooking turkeys for about 35-40 yrs. and I've always roasted them at 325º. I've never had a problem…but that might be due to me not "timing" it exactly! I judge the doneness by the smell & how it looks. I don't stuff mine so there aren't any problems with it reaching the needed temp inside.
8:50 am
April 24, 2010
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I also use a Nesco roaster for cooking my turkey. Couldn't keep house without them…I have a couple roasters. Grant you, like everyone has mentioned you don't get nice crisp skin but the saving of your regular stove oven space for other things more than make up for lack of crisp skin. I have cooked hams, boiled dinners, and mince meat in my roasters.
Mrs. Turkey
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