Things You'll Need:
- Dressed turkey
- Large shallow roasting pan with rack
- Meat thermometer
- Oven
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Step 1
Make sure that your oven is big enough to roast your bird. There should be several inches clearance on the sides and top. If your oven is too small, you may be able to find a relative who has one of those big kettle-shaped barbecues or, even neater, a smoker to use. You'll need a pan that's big enough to hold all of your turkey because you don't want any juices dripping over the edge of the pan. You should also invest in a meat thermometer--either the kind you leave in the bird while it roasts or the instant-read kind--because those pop-up testers that are kind of accurate in smaller birds are worthless in big birds.
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Step 2
Be sure that your bird is completely thawed the night before you cook it. That night, rub your bird with sea salt (or Kosher salt), pepper, garlic powder and paprika inside and out and put it to bed in a plastic bag in the fridge. In the morning, get it out and let it sit on the counter in its bag for about an hour so it warms up a bit. In the meantime, move the oven rack to the bottom shelf and heat up your oven to 325 degrees. Never stuff a big bird. Use garnish of onions, celery, carrots, lemons--whatever pungent veggies you like--to provide aroma and complexity to the taste of your bird. Some people like to use apples or crab apples in their garnish.
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Step 3
Twist the wing tips in and behind the bird's shoulders to keep it from rolling and trim off any extra fat--you don't want it to close the body cavity. If you tie the feet together, they will stay moister. Put the bird in the pan and baste with a little canola or olive oil and put in the oven. A 20-pound bird should take about four hours and 40 minutes and a 25-pound bird five hours and 25 minutes, depending on your oven. The only reliable way to tell if your turkey is done is the meat thermometer. The breast and thighs should register 160 degrees. If the thighs register less than 155 degrees, take the turkey out and return only the thighs to the oven. The turkey should sit for a half hour before carving.
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Step 4
About three hours into the cooking, or when the turkey's breast begins to brown, lay an aluminum foil "tent" over the breast only to keep it from getting too crisp. Do not cover the thighs. Basting is really not necessary, but if you really think that's part of the experience, use the pan juices to baste the last hour or so of cooking. Be patient. And check frequently beginning at the four-hour mark. Ovens and turkeys vary, and once the meat thermometer gets to 150 degrees, the finish comes fast. When you pull your turkey out at 160 degrees, the internal temperature will continue to rise after you take it out of the oven. Anything above 170 degrees will be a really dry turkey.
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Step 5
Turkeys can also be done on rotisseries or outdoor grills, but 20 pounds is just too big a bomb to put in one of those turkey fryers. Truss them so that wing tips and legs don't dangle and put a pan of water directly beneath the bird so that drippings don't flare up and the bird stays moist.
