Anyone Have a Turkey Recipe for an 18Qt. Cooker...

Have the roaster myself, I have found that just cooking it like a extra large chicken is the best. Love mine. You will to and may want one for next year. Good luck. Ps. if you want you can stuff it just before you put it in. This will also work great. Merry Christmas.

Buy a baking bag and follow the directions.

My husband makes the best turkey and the secret is brining it. Go to foodtv.com and look up alton and turkey. Alton brown has a few really good recipes and we have tested all of them and they are all spectacular and relatively easy.

Hi M.,

I am sure you have gotten a ton of answers but thought I would share with you anyway. Anytime I have done a turkey I have just put it in a roasting bag then bake it in a 9 x 13 baking dish for the alloted time. On the box of bags it should tell you how long to bake it for an 18 lb turkey. Hope this helps. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! And GOOD LUCK!!

The 2 times a did a turkey, I went to ALLRECIPES.COM and found a recipe that looked good to me. They both turned out great!! One of them I smeared butter on the outside, the other oil, I think. I bought a disposable pan, I do not own a pan that big, and didn't want to spend the money for something I wouldn't use often. Disposables worked just great!!
Good luck!

M. I do not.All mom does and I do is put the turkey in foil and put it in the oven and let it cook.I usally put water in my pan for the moistness.

We cook ours a good 3 hours or till the button in the turkey pops out.Also you may follow the directions on the turkey.

You will do just fine.We take the insides out first and cook them seperate.This makes good gibblet gravy.Let me know ok?

You can do this and I am sure it will come out wonderfull.Sorry to hear about your mom.Be blessed always.M.

M.,

Welcome to tx, I'm from MI also (20+yrsago). Buy a turkey sized baking bag, very little mess and easy to follow directions. (in the grocery store near the foil) Plus the turkrey comes out moist and yummy!! Good luck and Merry Christmas.

A. M.

I am not quite sure how long to cook it in a roaster but I do know how to season it.

Inject the turkey the night before or even the day before with Cajun Injector Creole Butter. This will make your turkey very juicy. Lift the skin to the turkey and rub some Tony Cacheres all of over the skin.

Before placing in roaster, stuff the bird with onions, carrots, bell peppers, and any other vegetable. Discard the vegetables after cooking. During cooking be sure to baste the turkey at least every half hour with the juices in the roaster. If there are no juices at first you could use water or chicken broth. This will keep it moist.

Also, I would stick a cooking therometer in it. It should tell you the degrees on the instructions of the turkey. If not visit the Butterball website. This is the only way I know the turkey is done.

I found the best easiest turkey recipe ever. Buy a big jug of Apple juice and pour the entire jug into an oven cooking bag. Also put in enough garlic to your taste and enough water to cover the turkey. Tie up and put into a cooler and pour enough ice over it to cover the complete turkey. Leave in the cooler overnight and once ready to cook. Cook at 250 on 400 degrees and then 250 for another several hours. It is easy and very juicy and tender.

M.,
Sorry to hear about your mom. I'm sure this is a difficult Holiday without her. This past Thanksgiving, I also at 41 made my first turkey. I have friends that do very little, to nothing to their turkey and say they're just fine, but I wanted something a little more special. I used an Emeril recipe. The turkey and the gravy turned out fantastic! Everyone could not stop saying how good is was. Go to Foodnetwork.com and search for Brined, Herbed Roasted Turkey. It looks like it's difficult but it's not. It just takes time. For the brine I put the turkey (18 lb)in a large plastic storage container (6.5 gal) and put in the fridge. If you don't have the space you could do it in a cooler and just keep it iced. I made a few adjustments: For the gravy I only used 1/2c wine; I didn't cook it upside down for the first hour; to baste I used 2c chicken stock, about 4 tbls. melted butter and fresh thyme; before I cooked it I piled extra butter on top. I'm sure I did this backwards, but I cooked it uncovered for an hour and then covered it with foil for the rest of the time (make a tent so it doesn't touch the turkey). The turkey came out so pretty I had to take a picture - ha!

If this sounds like too much, I saw Paula Dean mix butter with fresh herbs - thyme, rosemary, sage and parsley and rub it all over the bird, under the skin and then put a big pile of it on top, covered and cooked ---- it looked delicious!
Good luck. You'll do great with whatever recipe you choose.

I have that exact roaster! You can use any "roast in the oven" instructions...or maybe go online and check the Rival website. I know that I have followed the Butterball recipe when cooking turkeys in my roaster...sorry I couldn't be more specific...Merry Christmas!

The easiest way to cook a turkey is in a Reynolds Oven Bag. I have used them for years and never had a failure. Never had one come out quite as pretty as the picture on the box, but they always taste great. I just follow the recipe that comes with the bag. Sorry about the loss of your mom. GOOD LUCK

Cooking a turkey is one of the easiest meats to cook. I do not know why people make a big deal out of it. Once you have cooked one, you will want to cook one more often than just during the holiday. First of all when you get the turkey make sure to defrost it!
To defrost, keep it in the bag and place it in a roasting pan or soup pot at the bottom of your fridge. It could take 2 days or more if really frozen stiff.

I like to brine the turkey. This will take over night to prep it. It makes the meat more tender and will take a little less time to cook. The only thing is that if you use this process, the drippings will be too salty for gravy and you will not really want to cook your stuffing in the bird. If you want the drippings and to be able to roast the turkey with the stuffing I will also give you instructions for that...

To brine you will need a large enough container to place the turkey completely inside and then be able to cover in water. I actually went to a bakery and purchased an empty plastic container that shortening comes in. Purchase a box of kosher salt. Take the defrosted whole turkey, remove it from the packaging. Remove the package of giblets. This will either be in the bird cavity or under the neck skin. Rinse out the turkey.
In the container mix 2 cups of salt with 2 gallons of water. Place the turkey in the brine. Place the entire container in the bottom of your fridge. Leave it to soak over night. If you do not have room in your fridge you can place the entire container in a large cooler filled with bags of ice.

In the morning, remove the turkey, rinse and then dry the turkey. Salt and pepper the inside cavity. Salt and pepper the top of the turkey and rub with butter. Place a medium onion (cut into 4 pieces) 2 sticks of celery and 2 carrots into the cavity of the turkey I also like to place a bunch of fresh parsley inside the cavity. Line the bottom of the roaster with foil to help with clean up.

Place the turkey in the roaster. If there is a meat rack, place the turkey on top of the rack. Pour in 2 cups of Turkey broth (stock) or chicken Broth (stock) into the bottom of the roaster. Cook on 325 for about 20 minutes per pound. The goal is to have the Turkey be 165 degrees when it is finished cooking. I would purchase a meat thermometer if you are unsure. Check the temperature using the thigh. Do not open the lid during the cooking process. The roaster is designed to keep the moisture inside, but if you continually lift the lid, you will delay the cooking time and will need to add more broth. Take the turkey out of the roaster and let it sit for 20 minutes before you slice it. You can cover it with a piece of foil. (you can let it sit in the roaster, but some roasters hold in a lot of heat for a long time.

To roast a stuffed turkey you still need it to be defrosted. I usually make the stuffing the night before, but do not cook it. Store it in the fridge.

Rinse Remove the giblets from the turkey. Rinse and then pat dry the turkey. Place the stuffing in the turkey cavity. You need to leave a little room at the top of the cavity, because the stuffing will need to expand. Salt and pepper the top of the turkey. Rub butter on top. Place foil on the bottom of the roaster. Place the turkey in the roaster on top of the meat rack. Pour the 2 cups of broth at the bottom of the roaster. Cook the turkey in the roaster for about 25 minutes per pound at 325 degrees. The turkey needs to be 165 degrees. Take the turkey out of the roaster and let it rest for 20 minutes.

If you have questions, feel free to email me. You can do this. It is so satisfying to see the Turkey all done. Have fun. And take photos so you can remember your first turkey.

Hi there!
First of all, Welcome to Texas!! I am a Northerner myself. I am from MASS. and I've lived in Houston/Tomball for about 14 years now and have come to love it here!
Anyway, to get to your question. A turkey is no harder to cook than a chicken except that it's bigger. First of all it needs to be thawed out so hopefully hubby brings it home soon. It will take a good 3-4 days to thaw properly in the fridge.
This is what my Mom does and I now do: The night before you want to cook it (or that morning if you're not eating early in the day) you take out ALL the junk inside. This is kind of gross but has to be done! ha!! My Dad always gets this job! And wash it out REALLY REALLY GOOD!!! Then you salt and pepper the inside of the turkey. Put the turkey breast side up in the roaster pan (you said "Rival"~is that a crockpot??) If so, I would recommend you go buy a disposable roasting pan at the grocery store and use that. Just put a cookie sheet under it. If you use a crockpot the skin won't get brown and crunchy. My Mom dabs butter or margarine on the turkey and that's it. Some people like to put herbs or spices all over it, but that's up to you.
Then you put it in a preheated 325 oven for 20 mins. per pound or if it has a pop up timer all the better! If not, put a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the turkey so you can monitor it. And that's about it!! If you want to use the drippings for gravy then you can do that once the turkey is done or close to being done. The turkey will make alot of juice so you would have plenty to do that with it you wanted. We don't just because of the fat content involved but it is yummy!!
I hope this helps!! Oh, one more thing, once done, let the turkey "rest" on the counter for about 15-20 mins.
Feel free to email me if you have any questions. I'm sure you'll get lots more advice!! Just take a deep breath and GO FOR IT!
Good luck!

Hi M.,
Welcome to Texas!

I use a roaster oven every year for cooking my turkey. Like the gals before me said, your turkey will need a few days to thaw and this should be done in the refrigerator. I find it really takes 3-4 days to thaw a 15 pound turkey. And if you get all of the liver, gizzards and neck out the night before, and rinse the inside out, that will help with the last of the thawing. The inside seems to thaw last. When looking for all that stuff, check both ends because they usually split it up.

I usually stuff my turkey and this must be done the day the turkey is cooked. It is not a good idea to stuff the turkey the night before. I usually just buy the bag of stuffing (like bread crumbs but seasoned) and mix it up with boiling chicken broth. The directions are on the bag. I will add 1/3 cup dried cranberries for a little extra flavor but have also added some chopped apples in the past.

Once the turkey is stuffed, brush the outside with some cooking oil. Place the turkey breast side up in the preheated (325 degF) roaster oven. I will also add about 1 cup of water to the bottom of the pan which helps keep the turkey nice and moist.

About every hour, check to make sure there is a little water left in the bottom of the pan, and if not, add more.

I find the turkey cooks a lot faster using this method so you might want to check it about an hour ahead of what would be the length of time for your turkey. I always use a meat thermometer to check.

I think you will find cooking a turkey is the easiest part of preparing a big holiday meal! Good luck...

Hi M.,
I moved here from Michigan 23 years ago. For your turkey, go to www.oprah.com and click on Christina's cooking class. The link is right below the line up box. Christina Ferrare has a great marinade for the turkey and I'm going to try her cornbread stuffing. You can watch the video. She has great tips and it is very simple. Merry Christmas

Hi M. .... you have gotten so many really great and inventive suggestions!! My comment is that cooking a turkey really isn't that big of a deal, and secondly I'd suggest you keep 1-800-BUTTERBALL in the kitchen with you. I actually called this help-line when I was cooking my very first turkey years ago, and they were very helpful. Good luck and, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Turkeys are really not hard. I used to cook one every couple of months and have plenty of cooked meat to use in recipes. First, thaw it out. People will tell you it's got to be done in the refrigerator, but that takes 3-4 days, and you may not have that long by now. It takes less than a day at room temp. Remove the "innards" in the bag from the inside cavity. There's also a bag of "innards" in a little cavity at the top of the bird between where the legs come together. You can put stuffing inside the cavity when you're ready to cook it. I like to make stuffing with cornbread (make a pan from the mix) mixed with some sauteed celery and onions, spices like thyme and basil, and some raisins thrown in for an unexpected sweet touch. (You can get a more precise recipe online - you have to moisten the stuffing, etc.) The stuffing adds 30 minutes on up to the cooking time. Again, check on line for precise cooking times - it depends on the weight of the bird. Google "how to cook turkey."
When the bird is thawed out, make a rub of cooking oil, salt, garlic powder, and other spices you like, such as basil and pepper. Loosen the skin and rub the mixture all over the bird. You can then rub some on the skin. The longer you can let the turkey marinate in this mixture (let it sit in the fridge up to a few days) the more it will permeate. When you're ready to cook, cook uncovered for the recommended time. People will tell you to baste every so often. I think that's nice but not necessary. The bird will still turn out. I do put a little water in the bottom and use directions for 325. When the cooking time is done, you'll have lots of drippings (the liquid left in the bottom of the pan). This makes great gravy. Put it in a frying pan, thicken with cornstarch (mix the cornstarch with water before adding, or you'll have a mess), and add extra water if you need to to get enough gravy. Better than storebought, and not too hard when you already have all the drippings! Enjoy!