1st Thanksgiving turkey: Forensics of what went wrong?

What you have experienced is the problem everybody has with the understanding of how a turkey cooks.

Sure the BREAST was perfectly cooked but it is the dark meat of the bird that dictates when it's done.

The 165 you seek must come from the dark meat....(thigh area where it meets the drumstick.)

It could have been that your bird wasn't completely thawed yet but my money is with you procedures.

I recall that America's Test Kitchen dealt with this issue in a very clever manner.  After the bird was completely thawed they placed the turkey breast-side down into a bowl of ice so that the breast would get very very cold and thus would survive the longer cooking time required for the dark meat.

Next time, temp the breast, thigh (at the thickest part, next to the body but not touching the bone) AND stuffing before removing.  Stuffing should be over 140F for safety.

If the turkey is properly trussed, thighs and breasts cook at a similar rate in an even oven.  Trussing aside, most likely your oven is not even. 

One solution -- other than buying a new oven -- is to is to cook the turkey without stuffing and to rotate it during the cook.  Start with your bird back up, and don't turn breast up until the last hour or so.  This will make for a juicier turkey.   If you're super ambitious, you can do the full rotation. One side, the other, back and breast; I used to do that in my previous smoker, but my new one is much better tuned and doesn't require all the movement.  

If you've got room for a water pan in your oven (most of us don't for Thanksgiving), the humidity will help even out the heat and make your oven more efficient as well. 

Alton Brown is... well...

BDL

If you're not required to present the roasted turkey as a grandiose display -- or if you have a reasonably deft hand with a knife -- you can go a long way toward solving your problem by cutting the knee in advance. Lay the bird on its back or side and feel for the knee joint from the inside. Insert the point of your knife into the middle of that joint, not penetrating all the way to the other side. Cut down until it partly releases, then reverse your knife and cut up. It's done when you can feel that the drumstick and thigh are not actually connected to one another by anything but skin and meat. Heat will penetrate much more quickly if you do this, which incidentally works very well with pretty much any roasted bird. If you're rather loosey-goosey (loosey-turkey?) with a knife, however, the final result will look a bit weird when presented, so this is not a good solution if you have to put the whole roasted turkey on the dinner table for everyone to pretend to admire.

I used to hit the back of the turkey on the edge of the sink and separate the leg/thigh from the breast as they are done at different times. Then roast the birds in high oven for about 20 minutes and turn it down to finish. If your basting use clarified butter because you don't want to steam it. That was production cooking and takes the fun out of stuffing it in a family setting. I saw someone do the breast down thing on the food channel and it looked like it came out great. Turkey's are a mess. I'm glad it's only once a year.

It's hard to figure out exactly what went wrong with your turkey, so I'm not going to try for a definitive solution.  

I've never heard of Chris's trick, never tried it, don't know anyone who has, Googled it and couldn't find it, and can't think of why it would work.  But that doesn't necessarily mean anything.  Quien sabe?  

The reason to truss the thighs close to the breast is to protect the thinner part of the breast, make a more compact and stable package, and generally even things out.  Regarding your experience, since the thighs are exposed, it shouldn't change their cook time by much one way or the other.  While it wouldn't hurt, it wouldn't help either. 

If you're going to continue to use the same oven, your best practices are to make sure the bird is thoroughly defrosted and to rotate it during the cook so each of the four sides is on top at least part of the time.  This is typical "French" technique, not that it's always done that way.  I'd used it for all kinds of birds, but never realized how well worked turkey until smoking multiple large turkeys in a very uneven smoker.  If you plan on trussing and rotating, let me know and I'll explain the specifics.

When rotating, the best technique is breast-up last, and for the least amount of time.  This not only protects the breast but uses gravity to help keep it juicier.

I don't like edwards's suggestion to partly carve before the bird is completely done, because when you cut hot you lose so much juice.  You might as well completely remove the leg quarters before cooking.  But again, my ways are not the only good ways. 

Carving used to be considered one of those skills which were hallmarks of gentlemen, but no matter how gentle, not many people are very good at it.  Carving the bird at the table, slicing the breast while the turkey is in one piece, is sometimes called "presentation carving." Breaking the bird, removing the breast, and carving it flat on the board is very popular right now, and sometimes called "the kitchen method."  I've used the kitchen method for years and consider it the fastest and easiest way, even for a fairly expert.  Besides we platter the meat for our buffet. 

BDL

Before the use of internal thermometers we used to stick the bird with an ice pick or skewer under where the leg bone starts to go into dark section. If the liquid that ran out were clear in most cases bird was done if slightly bloody, pink, or not clear it was not done.  Today with the fast breeding of all poultry, the bones do not have sufficient time to develop and regardless of what you do you will see a reddish hue. This does not mean bird is not cooked. Check with a thrmo if unsure putting it right next to this area and you will see 165: To cook more just assures drying up of bird. Many people I know have the bird ,and roast in 2 pieces.

It hardly seems fair to cook a whole turkey in two parts, not to stuff the bird, or to carve it in the kitchen.  Then what's the point?  Just get a couple of big thighs, which are really the only tasty and juicy part of them and cook those and bring carved to the table. 

I make a ton of things at my xmas party, many of them quite complex, but the thing people most ooh and aah at is the fact that i make a WHOLE turkey!  go figure, but it does have its appeal.  Look at the presentations in medieval manuscripts, where the bird, whatever it was, was presented cooked, but with all the feathers put back in place. Sometimes presentation is more than taste. 

Turkey's are a mess. I'm glad it's only once a year.

How sad that your feel that way. Turkey is an amazingly versitile protein. I look forward to this time of year precisely because the price bottoms out, and I can put two or three of them in the freezer to use during the year.

My guess:

A deep pan as opposed to the shallow pan Alton specified in the technique. In the deeper pan, the turkey sits down inside the pan. This shields it from the heat, particularly as juices build up in the bottom of the pan. Those juices steam leaving a temp of maybe 250 around the bottom of the turkey. The shallower pan lets that lower temp area disperse and mix better as well as allowing hotter air in under the turkey.

I agree you may have overpacked the cavity compared to what Alton used. Hard to say without seeing both amounts.

How big was your turkey? I'm guessing you also used a larger turkey than Alton used?

Maybe the best way to do it, is to give the turkey a victory lap around the house before carving and making the platter.  We leave ours (or at least one of them) on display on the side board until about 5 minutes before we're ready to serve.

The reason to "kitchen carve" is results.  Most people can't "presentation carve" without hacking the bird to death.  A nicely arranged and garnished platter of carved turkey is as attractive as a whole bird, and keeps the buffet line moving to boot.  Not only do few people even have sharp knives (by ordinary and not exalted standards), most folks wouldn't know what to do with them if they did; they need all of the help they can get.  Your house, your family, may be different... but I doubt it.

I agree that a whole bird makes a better presentation; and -- except in the case of really huge Turkeys.  I also think a whole bird cooks better than pieces, if you know how to do it. 

I'm not a big fan of Alton Brown (jealous maybe?), and admit to a certain amount of schadenfreude when and if one of his recipes goes awry.  On the other hand, I'm a big fan of everyone else and don't like it at all when a dish -- especially something as important as Thanksgiving turkey -- doesn't work. 

Since the usual problem is keeping the breast from cooking faster than the thighs, using a deep roaster instead of a shallow roaster with a rack would be counter-productive if it worked the way Phatch described.  Does anyone really still use them?  One thing in their favor is that they limit the size of the turkey, and the mid-sized birds seem to be easier to cook than the huge. 

As with so many other things, there are a lot of right ways to do this, and no need to reinvent the wheel. 

BDL

I used a deep roasting pan for a 21 pound bird this year. You have to turn the bird to get it to cook evenly.  Mirepoix and herbs in the cavity as well as in the pan bottom with some stock/water. 3 hours breast side down at 250. After those three hours, the turkey back should be medium golden to golden brown. Flip it breast up. Another hour at 250, then up to 400 and watch closely as breast should hit 160 about the same time the skin is perfect. Sometimes you need some tenting of the breast on the big birds as the breast extends nearer the top of oven where it;s hottest. Thighs will be 170 in the deepest point.

This technique and timing is only for large unstuffed birds, 18 pounds plus.

I am talking commerscial application, not carving in front of the family in their dining room. We do not ever stuff turkeys

    Home however there is my wife and I . so no sense cooking whole bird. I run it down the bandsaw frozen then thaw in fridge then cook the half no waste  no 4 days of leftovers. I cook 1/2 Thanksgiving and other 1/2 some other time.  I have also seen turkeys split steamed and then browned and they are very juicy done this way. There are many ways to cook many things to each his own.