For Thanksgiving dinner, I practice strict adherence to a certain set of rules, all of which stem from the Prime Directive: make everything from scratch. This means that there shall be no pre-made pie crust, no boxed stuffing, no pre-blended seasonings, and no canned anything (especially not cranberries). These rules are intended to produce the best, most wholesome and tastiest meal, but they also make Thanksgiving dinner a big job, especially when doing it all by myself. This year I thought I would make things a little easier on myself by trying the overnight turkey method detailed by Andrew Schloss over at Splendid Table. And you should try it too.

The article explains how a 450°F sear for 60 minutes will kill whatever bacteria are on the outside of the turkey and give great color with crispy skin. Then the turkey is roasted overnight at 170°F for a perfect succulent bird. Since the oven temperature is the target temperature for the meat, it is extremely forgiving. After trying this I will never go back to brining and all of that. It is not necessary, even with the leaner and bonier heritage breeds. One thing I did have a bit of trouble with was maintaining a tight control on the temperature. I have a Viking Range with an electric convection oven, and before starting this whole process I tried to calibrate the oven using a couple of thermometers so that I knew exactly where I needed to be on the dial. Andrew Schloss says that he has moved the temperature down to 170°F from 175°F and this has been an improvement. Perhaps it has. I was not able to control my oven temperature at a 5-degree tolerance, so as my oven cycled on and off it went from 160°F to 200°F and back. The end result was still a moist, tender bird with crisp skin that required no tenting, no basting and no fussing over anything (except for maybe that temperature). In the morning, the turkey was removed from the oven to make room for stuffing, candied yams, and those sorts of things that still cook best at 325°F or 350°F.

I did tweak the method somewhat for my own personal taste. I make gravy from the drippings and I did not want it to be very sweet, so I used about a cup of apple cider instead of a quart. I also think sage is essential to a good turkey rub, so I used salt, pepper, sage and smoked paprika for the rub instead of just salt and pepper. I only rested the bird for a few hours in the fridge, during which time the skin got plenty dry. I also brushed some melted butter over all parts of the turkey before its initial sear. I wanted some butter in my gravy and I wanted really crispy skin. All of these tweaks worked really well for me, but as always your tastes might be different. The main thing to take away is that a turkey can be roasted to perfection while you sleep, and if you like spreading the work out over a couple of days, read the article and try the overnight method; you will be happy you did.