Wait!!! Hold that turkey!!! I meant 350, not 325!!! And depending on your oven..it may take 2 hours at 350 after the 30 minutes at 500. I was rereading my post..and remembered when I was at work on thanksgiving,but of course I was still responsible for the turkey...and I cooked it like I normally do in my oven, and I needed to leave it in a little longer,ok a lot longer than normal, but the oven at my office is smaller. So just keep an eye on it.....are you sure you don't wanna reconsider the probe idea?????:)

Thanks, Amylou!

I've never heard of your method for placing the probe. My oven will cook to a set temperature on a probe. They always tell you to put it in the thigh, but these top heavy birds don't get done in the breast when I do that. They also have it pointing into the bird, rather than longways. I might give your method a try. It makes sense.

I know the method to actually cook the turkey. Yours sounds good but I'm not going to do all those changes, nor use butter. I do wine. Reading through your method, including heat up and heat down times, and door openings, I'm getting the idea that the 3.5 hrs. at 350° F is the correct one. Some sites have both versions on the same page!

I appreciate your post and all the details. You've been very helpful.

The breast will be waaaaaay over cooked at 165. 15 1/2 pound bird....you cooking stuffed or unstuffed? makes a difference. Stuffed I would cook it at 450 ( preheated) for 20 minutes then turn down to 350...without opening the oven door!! and cook another 2 hours. Check in the thigh with an instant reas....aim for 160 degrees. Remove from oven, tent with foil and a few folded towels....let rest for 30 minutes while you make gravy and mash the potatoes and you are good to go.
Cook ti 20 minutes less if it's not stuffed.
Don't make it hard....not much easier than a turkey....just do not over cook!!

You're right lindac92. I meant to say 160,and let it rest and the final temp will be around 165 after the resting and carryover cooking...I seem to be having trouble typing what I mean in this thread.....

Thanks, Linda! That's why I asked--to make it easy and not overcooked!

Unstuffed, btw. Just some herbs in the cavity. On a rack in a heavy roaster, with foil tent rather than the lid, wine and a few roots in the bottom (low FODMAP so no onion (no aliums)).

My holiday turkeys are always around 14 pounds & they usually cook in about 2 1/2 hours. I preheat oven to 450F & turn it down to 350F when I put the bird in.

HTH

There is no substitute for a digital probe thermometer if you really don't want to mess up an important meal.

There is no sure method or recipe for a perfect turkey. There are way too many variables.

There is no meat that will be tender and juicy cooked at 212F. If the temperature of the oven is above 212F, part of the meat will obviously be cooked at 212F. A thermometer will help you minimize the overcooking and the danger of undercooking.

BTW, a partially thawed turkey can be colder than 32F. Salted water (bline) freezes at about 28F.

dcarch

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Well, it will have been in the fridge for several days, though that's no guarantee of a full thaw. It didn't feel frozen, but it is in a plastic wrapper that I don't want to bother until I'm ready to cook it. Each turkey has its own carry box, so I just stuck my hand in the side and felt it up. I don't know if the middle is frozen or if the turkey man just meant that there was frost on the outside, which could happen above freezing. I think they keep them in a refrigerated truck container.

Carol, yes it does help. My oven is very accurate and doesn't need to be bumped up high, even when putting in a cold bird (which I will take out an clean early in case it's still "icy"). I think your way eliminates that differential of the cold bird. It also helps me understand further the methods the others have given with their initial high temperatures.

Dcarch, besides the oven probe, which I believe is accurate, I have a good probe. I've used the oven probe on a rolled roast, where placement is easy and it agreed with my probe thermometer (mine is both a probe and infrared, but it's not remote).