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Volrath Thanksgiving Turkey

Turkey Dinner Tips

We keep these lists from year to year and can add notes about what worked or didn’t work. To sum this whole page up: make a list and stick to it to stay organized! So, read it through once and you will be good to go!

Necessities: a good roasting pan, the foil ones can buckle (Nancy lost a turkey to the floor one year and I had grease ooze out of one that smoked my kitchen) if you have to use a foil pan make sure you have it on a very sturdy cookie sheet with an edge.

Figure on 1 ½ pounds of turkey per person. For your serving day timetable, figure one hour to prep food and get turkey in the oven plus cooking time plus one hour to rest and carve turkey. So, if you have a 17pound turkey that takes 4 hours to cook plus prep time adding rest time equals start time will be 6 hours before serving. Go to butterball and they have a calculator that tells you how big of a turkey to buy and how long to cook for the amount of people you are serving.

DO NOT STUFF the turkey the night before! We all have been sick twice when well-meaning grandmas have done that. Also expect at least 5 days to defrost the turkey in the fridge, I have done the cold-water method and it sucks!! either buy fresh or thaw way ahead of time!! one last tip, food safe latex gloves take care of a lot of the ‘ick turkey guts’ feeling.

Make 3 lists:

  1. list everything you want to serve including appetizers, condiments and drinks. Keep it simple. Let other people bring fancy snacks or desserts
  2. (working from the first list) think well and list every ingredient you need for your meal, including spices, herbs, flour, broth for gravy and stuffing, rolls, wine, pop etc. Put a check next to the ingredients you already have, don’t guess, go to the cabinet and physically look at the items you already have (nothing is more frustrating than thinking you have a jar of thyme then come to find out you only have a dash left and you need more for a recipe and it’s too late to go shopping) from this list you will go shopping for everything you don’t already have. Include things like napkins and misc. things you want for serving purposes or on your table. Go shopping EARLY in the week. People get crazy before the holiday and things will be sold out.
  3. this is your timetable list. Plot the activities like this: day one 8pm cut up veggies, 9pm clean turkey, etc. then as you go check the times off to stay organized and on time. Your day will start the day before the holiday.

Day one (Wednesday)

Day one is your prep day. Do as much prepping as you can. Expect to be frazzled and annoyed on the holiday because something is bound to mess up. The more prep you have done the less likely things will go wrong. get out your roasting pan and skewers to close the turkey, platter and knives for carving, etc., then you will cut all your veggies (put in zip lock bags in fridge), prepare your spice/herb rub for the turkey. Peel and cut potatoes (keep them in water in the fridge or they turn nasty gray), take out butter to soften to rub turkey with next day, toast bread for stuffing, I like to make a compound butter with herbs and garlic that I freeze and then shove pieces under the turkey skin to keep the meat moist as well as baste it on the inside) compound butter and turkey rub. Let 1 or two sticks of butter soften at room temperature, mix in some garlic paste or powder, some thyme, marjoram, some rotisserie chicken seasoning. Divide in half and put some on plastic wrap and roll into a cylinder and freeze. The rest save in the fridge to rub on the turkey.

  • Carrots: 1 -1/2 pounds, peeled, ends cut off and sliced in half, place in pot with 32 ounces turkey or chicken broth, bring to a boil, lower heat simmer for 20 minutes. cool in broth until ready to use under turkey or chicken. I make this the night before using.
  • Make broth: buy a couple of packages of turkey necks, wings or legs or combo. Rub them with oil, salt and pepper them and roast for a couple of hours in a 350 oven until brown, throw them in a stock pot with 1 quart of water per pound of turkey, its usually about 4 quarts of water. Add a cut up onion, a few stalks celery, a few cloves of garlic, thyme. let is simmer for 3-4 hours strain and refrigerate, you will use this as a base for gravy, stuffing and leftover meals. It may gel up in the container, that means you got all the good collagen out of the bones which is good for colds, sick tummies and overall health.
  • Stuffing ingredients: 1 small loaf of bread, 10 slices bacon, 1 onion, 3 stalks celery, 1 small green pepper, 2 eggs, 2 cups of homemade broth, 2 teaspoons each of sage, thyme, marjoram and poultry seasoning. Salt and pepper to taste. Toast bread and when cold, tear into small pieces, cover and set aside. Fry bacon in small pieces until browned and remove, reserving grease. Cut veggies into small dice and fry in the bacon grease until softened, about 10 minutes, put in fridge until next day.
  • Turkey prep: Lastly you will open the turkey, take out the giblets and neck, check both the neck and cavity for stuff. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels and put on a large rimmed cookie sheet and refrigerate. I cover the turkey with paper towels while it’s in the fridge. This dries the skin a bit and it will cook crispier. You can use the neck and giblets in the roasting pan for gravy but throw away the liver, it tastes nasty. Clean the turkey juices out of your sink and take a shower!! Ha-ha

Day two (Thursday)

  • You should take the turkey out of the fridge about one hour before it goes in the oven.
  • Preheat oven to 325degrees
  • Prep your roasting pan with the precooked carrots, a few stalks celery, 1 cut up onion, 6-7 cloves garlic, 1 leek, 3 cups of broth and a cup of dry white wine or sherry, a bay leaf, a couple of teaspoons of thyme and marjoram
  • Mix your stuffing ingredients, mix 2 eggs in 2 cups of broth and add herbs and seasonings, bacon, and sauteed veggies. Pour over the bread and mix well, if it seems too dry add more broth.
  • Remove paper towels from turkey and stuff neck and cavity with bread stuffing using skewers to close neck skin.
  • Place in pan, take your frozen compound butter and cut small pieces of it and shove it under the skin under the breast and in the legs, you can use a handle of a wooden spoon to make a tunnel under the skin to push the butter under.
  • Slightly warm the other half of the compound butter and rub all over the turkey. Place a piece of heavy-duty foil over the lower part of the breast and open cavity to contain the stuffing and keep breast moist.
  • Carefully place in preheated oven 325 degrees. if you have a remote thermometer put it in the thigh. roast until breast is 165 degrees and legs are about 180, keep an eye on it for the last hour or so, you may need to rotate the pan in the oven halfway through cooking time.

While it is roasting you can relax for a few hours. When the turkey has reached temperature, you can take it out and cover it in foil and let it rest for 30 minutes during which time you will cook your potatoes and gravy. Use the drippings from under your turkey for gravy and if need be some of that broth you made the day before.

Use a slurry of flour and broth or cornstarch and broth to thicken. You can add a half cup or so of heavy cream to make it taste rich, don’t be afraid to put a packet or two of turkey gravy mix in with your gravy to boost the flavor. some brands of turkey can be very bland and if you don’t have time to make homemade turkey stock you might need a bit of a boost. This is when you get someone to pour drinks and get the veggies in bowls. Lastly carve turkey. Eat if you still feel like it (sometimes I just can’t), get everyone to do the dishes and then take a nap, you deserve it

** Notes

Notes

The Volrath family take their holidays very seriously. I asked Kurt for his family’s turkey process, assuming they’d have one documented, and he supplied this novella they manage for their own family (Note the reference to Nancy, who is not our Nancy.)

I made this for the first Thanksgiving we hosted at 1806 W Sherman in 2020 – it was delicious.


— Ben