I told my husband I would NEVER EVER share this recipe with anyone, including him. I figure if we ever got a divorced, I wouldn't want his new wife to be able to make this for him, therefore he will have to stay with me in order to eat the best ever baked turkey. Ok, I know, I know, a little dramatic, but hey, that's me! There are thousands of recipes on the web claiming to be the best, the juiciest, easiest, etc, but this one truly is just that. The best part of this recipe is that you never have to "babysit" the turkey. You simply put it in the oven and take it out when it is done, no basting required. What's the secret? I will explain that part as I tell how to make it.
You will need:
- 1 Turkey (I used about a 13-14 lb. Turkey)
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 2 chicken bouillon cubes
- 5-10 stalks of celery
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
Short history behind how my recipe came about. Many ages ago, I decided to cook a turkey and have friends over for a dinner. Problem was, I had never cooked a turkey before. I called a friend and asked her how to cook a turkey. She spoke fast and told me very quickly how to cook the turkey. I didn't even have time to write it down. I did whatever I could remember to do to the turkey. All I remember is that the turkey took longer to cook than other people's turkey. She came over for the dinner and was wowed by my awesome turkey. Come to find out, I really didn't do much of anything the way she told me except maybe the cream of chicken part. Over the past 12 years, I've continued to make my famous turkey the same way, with perfect results every time {even the Thanksgiving I forgot to add the water}.
Wash the turkey and discard any of the bags of turkey pieces, necks and such (unless you want them for another recipe). Place the turkey in your pan. I use the disposable kind, just make sure the bottom is supported with a baking stone or cookie sheet.
Wash your celery and cut stalks in half. Place the stalks around the turkey in the pan and a few in the cavity. Sprinkle salt (I usually skip the salt) and pepper over the whole turkey.
Open your can of cream of chicken soup and dump it on top of the turkey and sort of smear it around. Fill the can with water and dump into the pan. Place 2 chicken bouillon cubes into the water.
Cover the turkey completely with aluminum foil. You can prepare this the night before and put into the refrigerate.
Here the easiest part of all. Place the turkey in the oven. Bake at 335 degrees. Don't peek! Leave it covered the whole time - no basting! About 5-1/2 hours later, your turkey is done! I know what you are thinking about now. 5-1/2 hours??? I usually cook my turkey for about 3. Won't the turkey be an overcooked mess? Here is where the "secret" comes in to play. Most turkeys are roasted, like you'd roast a chicken. When roasting, you have to keep basting, and the turkey is uncovered either all or most all of the time. With my recipe, you keep it covered the whole time which creates a sort of slow cooker type environment. That's the secret to my juicy turkey! Who knew! Now, I will say this, the turkey will not be "pretty". You know what I mean, those picture perfect magazine turkeys. The ones where the father figure gets out his nice carving set and carves the beautifully browned turkey on the elegant serving platter? Yeah, well this is what your turkey will look like:
Yep, there you go, it isn't pretty! BUT, once you taste this wonderful turkey, you won't care one bit. After you take the turkey out of the oven do a check to make sure the little red thing is popped up if there is one in there, or use your thermometer to check the internal temperature.
Using a turkey baster, move some of the juice into a pan. You can simmer the juice on the stove to make a gravy of sorts if you'd like, but after years of doing this, I realized you really won't need it. Just put a little juice when you serve and that is all that is needed. Don't try to move the turkey out of the baking pan. The turkey will literally fall apart as you touch it. Get a knife and the best you can, try to carve the turkey. Have a nice serving dish on hand and as you cut the pieces of turkey, you can arrange them nicely into that pan. I say "try" to carve, because like I said, the turkey will be falling apart. Ever cook a chicken in a slow cooker? This will be similar to that. Just sort of cut/ pull yummy juicy pieces of turkey off the bone and move to your serving dish. Pour some of the juice over the turkey in the serving dish. Arrange the celery (my favorite part) onto the serving dish as well.
It really is as simple as that. Anyone can cook a turkey. Because of the cooking method, you have some play room with the time. It is hard to overcook the turkey when following this recipe. Enjoy and comment below how your turkey came out!
Here is a free pdf download of the recipe.
Want to know how I organize and store all my recipes on my computer and share on all my devices? I use the Cookin' software! I can import recipes from the web, add my personal ones, add pictures, print pdfs, and then view them from my iPad, iPhone, etc!
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