Thanksgiving Turkey's
10 October 2026, early afternoon
We started making turkeys for Christmas and New Years in my twenties. Turkey wasn’t a food I grew up with, my mom would roast chicken if she was going to roast poultry. I’m not entirely sure what prompted us to make a turkey the first time. We had the idea to invite all the people that don’t normally have Thanksgiving plans because their family’s, like mine, also didn’t make turkey. My friend Patrick knew how to prepare them, and would come over at lunch time and cook. This was the way we did things for many years, until one day he moved to San Francisco and we had to figure it out on our own.
The recipe I usually follow is Patrick’s, which is from an email his mom must have sent him some time after he left Montreal. The email also had instructions for making stuffing, which I use to this day, but when it comes to cooking the turkey I have drifted from how Patrick’s mom cooks them. At some point I started dry brining the turkey: covering it in salt and letting it dry in the fridge for at least a day. I sometimes cover the turkey in butter. I’m a bit inconsistent. Dave suggested I write down what happened this year, so I’ll remember for next year. Like an email from Patrick’s mom, but I wrote it for myself.
1. Start with a 19lb turkey. For a simple dry brine just use salt. A turkey this size needs about 5 table spoons. Do this at least 24 hours before you need to cook.
2. I took the Turkey out the next day at 12:00PM the next day, so a little over 24 hours of dry brining.
3. Roughly chopped onions, carrots and celery and put them at the bottom of the roasting pan. Add some stock so they don’t burn.
4. Melt butter with sage and thyme. Brush the turkey all over with the butter.
5. Tie the legs so they sit closer to the body. It might help the bird cook more evenly.
6. Put the bird in the oven at 425°F for 30 minutes.
7. Lower the oven to 300°F and cook till the bird is done. About 4-5 hours. Based on past experience, it always finished early.
I’ll update this post on how it all went. Carving a turkey is also a giant pain in the ass.
Update: As predicted, the Turkey finished over a full hour early. And as usual the thighs could have used more time. I should really spatchcock and move on with my life, especially since I’ve stopped stuffing the turkey.