Step 5

Your turkey CAN look like this on Thanksgiving...just follow the steps
Step 5: Cook the Turkey

There are several methods for cooking a turkey: frying, grilling, smoking and roasting.  Since we are trying to make things easy here, let's focus on the classic American cooking method: roasting. 

Shopping List:
Now that the turkey is prepped and seasoned, it is time to prepare the oven.  Take out the top two oven racks, and set them aside - only the lower most rack should be left in the oven.  That's where the turkey is going to cook.  Turn the oven to 500 degrees (trust me). 

Place the turkey on the rack (if you're using one), and tuck the wing tips underneath the body of the turkey.  There should be a little hole at the tail of the turkey - tuck the tips of the legs into this hole.  There's probably a large flap of skin at the the front of the turkey - tuck this piece under the body.  Place the turkey on the rack into in the pan, and place the pan in the oven.  Set a kitchen timer for 30 minutes. 

At the end of this 30 minute period, turn the oven temperature down to 325 degrees, and re-set the kitchen timer for the remainder of the cooking time, which is 15 minutes per pound (for a 20lb turkey, that would be four more hours at 325 degrees).  At the end of the cooking time, move on to Step 6: Rest the Turkey.