recipe reviews for:

Upside Down Turkey

“This is a simple way to prepare a moist turkey without stuffing. The secret ingredient is butter -- it enhances the bird's natural flavor. When the turkey is done, the juices may be used to prepare a gravy by adding cornstarch 1 tablespoon at a time until the liquid begins to thicken. This recipe is based on a 13 pound bird. Adjust as necessary.”

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Reviewed: Mar. 6, 2013

Make sure you baste the turkey or it will dry out! Ours turned out beautifully! And plenty of leftovers for pot pie the next day! Yay!

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SarahStumphf

Reviewed: Nov. 26, 2012

The biggest problem with this recipe, is you don't have nearly enough leftover! I did a few things differently -- like used a combo of white wine and chicken stock in place of water. (I didn't find prepared turkey stock). I also added a bit of poultry seasoning to the butter and creamed them together. I put it over the bird (not separating the skin) and into the cavity. I used more butter than the recipe called for. I also cooked the turkey in a sealed aluminum tent. I didn't turn over until about 3/4 of the way through the cooking time. The bird really turned out ugly. You really couldn't take it to table and carve-- but it was the most delicious turkey ever. All agreed! The next day, even the leftovers were incredibly moist. However we had no crispy skin. Next time,I think I'd turn it right side up sooner, and remove the foil sooner -- but only for the skin lovers. You could make a turkey just like this -- if you want a great tasting, moist turkey. Also, next time I'd make a bigger one (ours was just over 11 pounds) -- it was so good, we hardly had any left overs.

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Reviewer:

feliznavidad

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Reviewed: Nov. 20, 2012

I use the upside down method using recipes I pull from various articles. About 3/4 of the way through I turn the bird over to brown the skin. The bird is always moist and I love how much time you shave off cooking it this way. Turning the bird over can be messy but I am prepared! By the way...sometimes I brine the bird and sometimes I don't and it still works.

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Reviewer:

TheresaInTheKeys

Reviewed: Apr. 10, 2012

I did it on 350 with no additional water other than what leaked out of the turkey after washing it. I rubbed it with olive oil first, then mixed all the spices with a stick of butter and threw a bay leaf inside. I also chopped up a small onion, 3 carrots, and minced one clove of garlic and threw those all over around the turkey just for flavoring. Cooked it upside down for 2.5 hrs and right side up for 1.5 hrs (after I turned the temp down to 300.) It was perfect. The best turkey ever! Spices I used: Onion powder garlic powder celery salt seasoning salt black pepper savory Italian seasoning bay leaf

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Reviewer:

Autumn

Reviewed: Feb. 10, 2012

Turning over a hot turkey isn't the easiet job so be sure you don't get much bigger. I did 1/4c olive oil/butter blend inside & only olive oil on the outside. Used 1c water, 1c apple juice in the pan. Also 2T Kosher salt, 1T freshly ground black pepper, 1T poultry seasoning, 1/2T sage. Yummy coating & it didn't need covering.

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4 users found this review helpful

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BOOKMARKER

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Reviewed: Dec. 12, 2011

I have roasted many turkeys over the years the usual way of breast side up, but after seeing the recipe for roasting breast side down I thought why not give it a try. Fantastic! The turkey was soooo moist and tender. I basted the bird every half hour. I flipped it breast side up for the last hour. I had to let it roast for about an extra half hour or so to get the breast skin brown. The only disappointment was that usually we have a house full of family, but this year it was just my husband and me and I had no one to show it off too.

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Reviewer:

dmsred

Reviewed: Dec. 2, 2010

The method works great, however this recipe itself doesn't produce a flavorful enough bird for me personally. I miss the usual herb rub when using this recipe, so now I just go ahead and do an herb rub too. I flip it for the last half hour, spritz with PAM spray, and reapply a sprinkling of herbs so it gets pretty. The only problem I run into is that it's quite hard to flip the bird at the end -- some birds, it's impossible for me due to how hot the grease is, just too dangerous for large turkeys. That's not a fault with this recipe at all, just a caution to those of you who also plan to flip the bird to get a pretty bird - you will need help and you will need good strong utensils. Thanks for the recipe! (P.S. I had a 13.25 lb frozen turkey, which had been thawing in the fridge; the neck was still frozen and the inside of my turkey was icy when I removed the neck. It took slightly less than 3.5 hours to get completely done.)

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Reviewer:

JARRIE

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Richmond, Virginia, USA

Reviewed: Nov. 28, 2010

The method of cooking upside down, does keep the turkey moist. I used 1 cup of apple cider instead of water, and that added a nice flavor to the turkey. As far as the cooking time, I had a 13.25lb fresh turkey and after 4 hours the turkey was still not cooked. I don't know how long it would have taken, because I was out of time. I cut the turkey up and put it on the grill. Will try again, but leave more time for cooking.

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Reviewer:

Sheri

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Reviewed: Nov. 24, 2010

I had to work untitl 430 one Thanksgiving, and I left my friends in charge of cooking the turkey that year, I came home to find four men standing around the turkey wondering what they had done wrong. I could tell right away that they had cooked it upside down. To everyones suprise it was the best turkey we had ever eaten!!! I now only cook the bird upside down and in a cooking bag. The bag really speeds up the cooking proccess. You can have 25 pounds cooked in a bout four hours. The turkey does not look as pretty sitting in the middle of the table so I usually carve it and put the slices on a big platter and just leave my guests guessing how I get it so moist.

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Reviewer:

eleigh84

Reviewed: Nov. 29, 2009

YUM!!! Best turkey ever. I cooked mine in an oven bag and added pepper and garlic powder. My husband also got a little crazy with the flavor injector. It was SOO moist. Never again will I cook my turkey the other way.

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5 users found this review helpful