Roast Turkey Upside-Down

Posted on November 23rd, 2005 in Family.

I heard on the radio today that you should roast turkey with the breast side down so that the juices can flow downwards and “auto-baste” the breast meat keeping it tender and moist.

Last year, we actually roasted our turkey upside-down by accident and didn’t even discover it until we tried slicing off the meat. At first we wondered where all the meat had gone… then later, it was discovered that we had placed it breast side down. The turkey did turn out mighty juicy but we just attributed it to chance… who knew! No roasting for us this year though… our meal will be store-bought.

 

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5 responses

  1. yuie says:

    Added on December 2nd, 2005 at 12:16 am

    They didn’t use any special fryer. It was just a big tall pot on top of a portable electric fryer I think. It was set up in the backyard. A lot of oil was used, that’s for sure. They said they fried it for almost an hour. Yes, it was very juicy.

  2. happyThoughts says:

    Added on November 29th, 2005 at 7:53 pm

    Yep - Wayne always does this, but this year he was too lazy to keep an eye on it outside!
    Basically you turn the burners on the outside on and leave the middle off so it won’t burn the turkey. Same thing - we have chicken stock underneath the turkey. Of course you always want to insert the thermometer and make sure it reaches 180 - This time we took it out at 170 which was perfect but there were a minor part that were a little red - but that was for left overs which we re-heated again. Oh yea - one thing we forgot to do was leave the turkey out a bit maybe an hour before cooking this way the turkey is not super cold when you start cooking. Our 24lb turkey took 7 hours to cook! Wayne was basting it a lot so I think that slow down the cook time also.
    I guess I know where to go to for Christmas dinner. :)

  3. 999happyhaunts says:

    Added on November 29th, 2005 at 1:40 pm

    Oooh… the “fried” turkey sounds good too because that action probably sealed in all the juices, but did they have to use a special fryer for that?

    happythoughts, the chicken stock of all the thrown away parts is a good idea. I think we always tossed those, but I will remember to use it for this purpose next time. I might just get another chance to make turkey again this Christmas.

    BTW, has anyone ever used the BBQ for turkey roasting?

  4. happyThoughts says:

    Added on November 28th, 2005 at 9:10 pm

    We’ve never had the turkey upside down, but we do have chicken stock in the pan under the turkey. In this stock I have the turkey neck, gizzard, heart, liver, carrots, and onion. I make sure that this doesn’t dry out. Once the turkey is done this stock becomes the gravy!
    Our turkey is pretty juicy with that method. Wayne also baste it quite often.

  5. yuie says:

    Added on November 28th, 2005 at 8:31 pm

    Thanks for sharing the secret to roasting turkey. No wonder our turkey always turns out dry. This year we had thanksgiving at my younger sister’s. Her hubby “fried” the turkey. I have to say it was the best turkey we’ve had. When we have to host again, I hope I remember…upside-down.

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