Turkey for a Crowd

Name: Turkey for a Crowd
Yield: Serves 20 to 24
Ingredients: 2 , medium onions, chopped coarse; 2 , medium carrots, chopped coarse; 2 ribs, celery, chopped coarse; 1 , lemon, quartered; 2 sprigs, fresh thyme (3 to 4 inches each); 1 , frozen turkey, thawed (self-basting or kosher turkey, 18 to 22 pounds gross weight), neck, heart, and gizzard reserved for gravy, turkey rinsed and thoroughly dried with paper towels; 4 tablespoons, unsalted butter, melted; 2 teaspoons, kosher salt or 1 teaspoon table salt; 1 teaspoon, ground black pepper

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Appears in Cook's Illustrated November/December 2002, America's Test Kitchen TV

If you have but one oven and a long guest list for Thanksgiving, only a gargantuan turkey will do. Here's what we learned about successfully roasting "the big one."

SERVES20 to 24

TIME3½ hours, plus 35 minutes resting

has video

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

For our big turkey recipe, we wanted a Norman Rockwell picture of perfection: crisp, mahogany skin wrapped around tender, moist meat. It was difficult to find a container large enough for brining such a big bird. So we chose either a self-b...

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