Roasting a Turkey without tin foil..

Hi everyone - this is my first post..

I'm looking around for tips on roasting a 7-8kg turkey without using tin foil - My client has insisted on health ground (no 'artificial' materials etc). Last year I simply covered the surface in fatty smoked bacon, which was OK, but the bacon dried out and cooked too quickly. It's also a longish slow roast in an English 'AGA' range type cooker (4hrs or so).

Does anyone have any good ideas for this?

Many thanks!

6 hours is a long time for a turkey, even of that size.

Foil is mostly for controlling browning but there are other techniques.

The main trick is rotating the bird. Start breast side down until the back is nicely browned. Then one thigh up to brown, then the other thigh. Lastly the breast up for browning which will probably be almost done at this point so watch it closely.

My roasting rack doesn't do the thighs up very well so I can't follow those instructions exactly, but pretty closely.

Phil

before there was aluminum foil, folks used cheesecloth & basting...

I've done it that way - works just fine.

another approach: roast not, bake & blast
low temp (275'F/135'C) longer time
when done (by thermometer) turn up the temp for crisp brown & pretty.
works quite nicely with turkey & chicken, no so well with duck & goose where a higher temp is needed to render out the fat.

Dilbert is right
Years ago we never used foil ,we soaked cheesecloth in clarified butter and rendered chicken fat or oil and covered bird and basted it frequently, Came out crisp, brown and juicy.

Do it Grant Achatz style and Sous-vide it, although, plastic is "artificial" too...
YouTube - Grant Achatz Thanksgiving -- Part 1

I did a turkey this way, separately, and I'll NEVER go back to cooking a turkey any other way. Even if I don't sous-vide it, I'll always cook it separately.

what are the "rules" on artificial materials for health reasons??

You could try an oven bag - dust the inside of the bag with flour and spices then bake per instructions, but this might intrude on the artificial side of things. It does do the bird nicely though.

Or Google a recipe for Beggar's Chicken. Even if you don't end up doing it this way, it makes a great read. Its basically done in a crust of flour and water (see recipes for more detail), baked, then the resulting hard crust cracked open once done and supposedly it is extremely moist and tender. Haven't tried it, but want to one day.

Could it be done en papillote? Now this is an idea from a complete novice at cooking the big bird....thought I'd throw it in for discussion. Don't shoot me down in flames :)Just a thought - maybe with several layers, then its only paper and not foil or plastic. I like the slow cook then blast idea - maybe even brine it beforehand?

DC

'Health reasons' are that the lady is a homoepathic doctor - and anything made from artificial materials like foil, polythene is an issue for her.. Even using non-stick pans is getting me angry looks!

En papillotte is interesting! But I think I may go with the 'turning 3 times' idea.

In the past I've pumped a load of herbed butter between the skin and breasts - around 1/2 thick spread throughout. I guess this is going to be a dumb idea if starting the bird 'breast down' :look: ??

Thanks for all the suggestions by the way..

A turkey is a big bird and turning is a bit of a trick. Most people need silicone oven gloves, mitts they'll wash later, lots of paper towels, or .... At any rate, have a strategy for turning a big bird. It ain't a chicken.

Also, for heaven's sake, if you're going to turn, you must truss. Trussing a turkey means three bands of twine. Tie the legs together. Bend the wing tips and twist the wings behind the bird, then truss them. Finally, truss the the thighs so they stay close to the bird.

The turning method works best with a medium or small bird. Try and stay under 18# or so. The size also seems to work well for keeping the time down when cooking at "normal" temperatures. Controlling time is very important to you, so as neither to dessicate the breast meat, nor turn the skin to leather.

Not dumb. Do it. Or better still, inject the breasts and thighs.

When you get the turkey breast side up, "bard" by covering with strips of bacon.

When you remove the turkey to rest it (at least 20 minutes!), you can finish rendering the bacon in a frying pan until crisp; use the fat for the roux for your gravy, and crumble the crisp bacon itself into the stuffing.

All of this will work best with a brined turkey. You can brine your own (which is best), or buy quality pre-brined turkeys -- just not at the super market -- not only from specialty stores but from Trader Joes of all places! Another strategy is kosher. Kosher birds are treated with a lot of salt as part of the koshering process -- and although they're not brined, they act that way. Brined or not, most supermarket turkeys can't compete with birds which have been raised and processed appropriately. Worth the extra money.

All of that said, for the past several years we've smoked all of our holiday turkeys and due to popular demant it seems as though the tradition will continue indefinitely. IMO, smoking is the simplest and surest way to wonderful turkey.

BDL

Great stuff BDL.. The turning option was worrying me with 8kgs of molten bird! I might do a test over the weekend with a chicken, and cover it for the first third of the cook with baking paper (not sealing it - just a loose cover, which I frequently do when pan frying meat). Or actually the middle part of the cook would be better to ensure a good browning on top.

Another good tip for the gravy is to roast the bird on a layer of veg (carrot/onion etc) rather than wire grid - This doubles up to make a richer stock..

I've had no trouuble turning with just table forks. One in the neck and one in the tail area. Works great.