ATTENTION DRY TURKEY COOKERS

I will tell you how to have the juiciest turkey ever just as mine are every year.

First buy one of those clear cooking bags.

Seal your turkey inside, no need to baste, they are self-basting.

Always cook turkeys (and chickens) breast down so the juice settles in the breast meat which is always the dryest.

When done and nice and brown, remove from oven and allow to sit BEFORE slicing!!! If bird is under 20 pounds allow to sit/REST for 20 minutes then slice as usual.

If over 20 pounds it must sit/REST for 35 minutes.

This is how the "great chef's" do it, and me too, my turkeys are famous for their moistness.

Thanks, Chatty Lady! I'll give it a try! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Chatty where were you to tell me this 30 years ago? Now I HAVE to try again. You made me do it.
Dotsie, tobad your son won't be spending Xmas with you. Funny you can have crowds of family together, but when one child is missing, that's what stands out in a mother's heart.

Switched to original title, so that this whole thread is not always just about turkey. After all, a large part of the world, does not eat turkey for their annual 'Thanksgiving', even though most cultures traditionally do have an annual form of celebration for the harvest.

My family ..in Toronto has had Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for past 15 years, similar to Dotsie's potluck style, minus the turkey. (Although some of my sisters hosted and provided a turkey for 3-4 different Christmases or Thxgivings. Believe me, we just ate it without too much fanfare. It doesn't generate a super amount of excitement in my family...after going to lavish Chinese banquets in our childhood.) It's lots of fun. Less tiring and time-demanding on the host. As well, the host for a big family, is not stuck constantly in the kitchen, missing out on the party social chat.

A typical guest list size, for past few years with all spouses and their children plus children's partners, means 22 people of just family. And that's excluding myself and my partner who now live in British Columbia. I have over 60 relatives living in Greater Metro Toronto.

Now my mother does find it abit tiring to spend 5-6 hrs. in the kitchen. She now must sit down to even wash a big load of dishes. They don't have a dishwashing machine. For a party that size, it's alot of dishes. They will not spend money to buy paper plates. (They have a small pension) My father helps her as he always had since he retired.

I look forward to simply thoughtfully planned, delicious, diverse and creative menus to the Thanksgivings and Christmases ahead. I always relish in menu surprises.

Good food shared with good friends and family can't be beat no matter what they/you might be serving. I just love having everybody together for a really fun time. Sometimes a "pot luck" is the best way, that way there is such a variety there is something for everyones taste buds.

This is funny because I once cooked my turkey upside down. Ross basted it off and on, and it wasn't until he went to carve it that we relaized it was upside down. We thought it was the juiciest turkey we'd ever made, and now I know it must have been. I often thought about trying it again. It made sense to me that all the juice would go to the top. Now I know for sure. Thanks chatty.

My ex is making his own turkey all for and by himself. I told him to buy a clear plastic cooking bag for it. Now if he puts it breasts down into the bag and puts it into an aluminim tray in the oven he won't have to baste or even look at it plus those bags cut an hour off cooking time and the turkeys fall off the bones they are so moist.

I got a call last Thanksgiving from the Head of the Nursing Home I use to go and cook for and she said they hadn't had a good turkey since I left and could I tell her how my turkeys were always so moist. I told her what to have their new chef do and she called me a few days after Thanksgiving and thanked me. She said she cooked her own turkey for her family the way I said and they were shocked that her usually dry turkey was so moist and good. It's such an easy couple of things to do too!!!

How others celebrate the holidays with or without turkey and have an enjoyable dinner:

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=35754

Turkey in North America, isn't as widespread as one might think in some social circles (where the people aren't affiliated with any religion or even as a Christian, they choose other foods).

It's not a dilution of turkey tradition, it's what a family defines most positively as a tradition for their foods.

We won't do a turkey for Christmas. While it's a tradition for many, we've decided it really isn't our favorite meal. I think we're having beef tenderloin, but I'm leaving that up to my oldest son and Ross. They're in charge of Christmas dinner this year.

What's everyone having for Christmas dinner?

Thats why we decided on doing the buffet route because we can have all kinds of foods, Oriental, Italian, American, Hispanic, even Mongolian, and whatever else the chefs prepare. It is a dining festival of fabulously fine foods. Everyone has his/her favorites, AND no dishes to do afterwards...