Hello! I've been tweaking my overnight turkey recipe for years after initially learning about it over a decade ago. My process includes dry brining for 48 hours. Cover in butter. 450F for 1 hour, flipping halfway through. Drop the oven temperature to 180F. Add liquid to the bottom of the pan. Cover and roast. This is usually done overnight and the turkey hits 160F by early afternoon. I turn off the oven, throw a towel over the turkey to keep it warm and the oven is available for the rest of the afternoon.
Recently, I came across this post and I will definitely shoot for the lower 150F vs 160F cook temp. But I am also wondering if it will be save to drop my roasting temperature to 160F or 150F as well.
https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-take-the-temperature-of-your-turkey-video
Thanks!
by Chunky_Hummus888
6 Comments
RemindMe! 1 day
What size bird do you typically do this with?
Such a low roasting temp is flirting with the bacterial danger zone. I wouldn’t trust most ovens to keep you safe (their temp precision isn’t there).
The rate of heat transfer is relative to the difference of temperatures. If you want something to reach 150, if you put it in an oven at 150 it will take basically forever to happen as it asymptotically approaches the oven temperature.
In other words, if you want to cook to a lower temperature in the same amount of time, a first approximation would be to lower your oven temperature by the same difference (i.e. from 180 to 170) not from 180 to 150. But even that will make the cooking take longer, so maybe try 174.
The Alton Brown method is the tried and true method in my opinion.
My wife does the turkey and I do everything else. She makes the best Turkey I’ve ever had.
You want low and slow to break down connective tissue and collagen in meat. Turkeys don’t really have enough of that for it to matter.
350 until done or about done and then blast with high temp to crisp the skin if needed.