Should I Cover My Turkey With Foil While Roasting?

A miraculous technique for roasting turkey using aluminum foil smeared with butter to protect the breast from intense heat, while basting it. The foil is removed at the end so that the skin can crisp up. This article also has information about brining, and whether you should do it, as well as tons of tips for perfectly roasted turkey.

You probably know that my parents owned and operated restaurants when I was growing up. What you might not know is that they also did a lot of catering. We estimate that they’ve catered over a thousand turkey dinners, with each dinner requiring numerous turkeys. Their dinners have always had rave reviews, and now, I’m explaining to you my mom’s technique for perfect roasted turkey. First we’ll talk about the size of the turkey that you need, then we’ll get into the cooking technique (it involves basting and crisping the skin with butter!) that gets you perfectly cooked, juicy meat – even the breast meat is juicy!

As a general rule, 1 and 1/2 pounds of bone-in turkey will feed one person and provide leftovers. If you are not a leftover family, 1 pound of bone-in turkey will be your mathematical formula. If you will be having a lot of side dishes, you can go with even less, around 3/4 of a pound. This is especially true if you’ll be having appetizers and munchies set out before dinner, and dessert afterwards.

When it comes to choosing your turkey, The Kitchn has a wonderful resource that addresses budget, fresh vs. frozen, and how to identify the different types of turkeys and how they are raised. I will say though, that my parents were buying turkeys in bulk for dinners and weren’t getting anything fancy. So, if you just go into your grocery store and buy one of the turkeys there, you’ll be just fine. With the method below, nothing fancy is required!

Roasting a turkey can be an intimidating task. With its large size and lengthy cooking time it’s easy to end up with either an undercooked or dried out bird. That’s why many home cooks turn to aluminum foil to help ensure a juicy, properly cooked turkey. But is covering your turkey with foil really the best approach? Here’s what you need to know.

The Benefits of Foil

Covering your turkey with foil offers some clear advantages

Keeps moisture in. Foil creates a protective barrier that traps steam and keeps the turkey moist as it cooks. This helps prevent the breast meat which dries out easily, from becoming overly dry and stringy.
Evens out cooking. The foil helps conduct heat evenly around the turkey so that both the breast and the dark meat cook at similar rates. Without foil, the breast often overcooks by the time the dark meat is done.
Saves cleaning time. Foil placed over the roasting pan catches any spatters and drips, keeping your oven much cleaner than it would be otherwise. No need to scrub burnt on turkey juices after dinner!

So in many ways, using foil is an easy way to guarantee a more even, moist cooked bird. But it’s not necessarily right for every situation.

Potential Drawbacks of Foil

Though foil solves some problems, it can also create new ones if used incorrectly:

Skin doesn’t crisp. Covering the turkey the entire time makes it impossible to crisp up and brown the skin. Foil produces soft, almost steamed skin rather than crispy.
Oversoftens meat. Extended time covered can make the meat seem mushy rather than just moist and tender. The texture suffers without any exposed area to brown.
Makes gravy trickier. Foil prevents the drippings from caramelizing on the bottom of the pan. You’ll need to sauté the drippings to darken them and add flavor before making gravy.
Can make turkey boil. If the foil fits too tightly, steam can’t easily escape and you may end up partly boiling the bird. This leads to a stringy, unpleasant texture.

So foil isn’t automatically the right choice for everyone. You have to weigh its advantages against the drawbacks.

How to Use Foil for Best Results

Here are some tips to make sure foil helps rather than harms your turkey:

Cover loosely. Tent the turkey with foil, leaving plenty of open space rather than sealing tightly. This allows good air circulation.
Remove for last 30-60 minutes. Take the foil off for the final part of cooking so the skin can crisp up. Watch closely to prevent burning.
Combine with basting. Baste the turkey with pan drippings several times as it uncovers to enhance browning. The foil will have kept the meat moist already.
Preheat foil. Lay foil in the pan before preheating it. The hot foil will seal in more moisture once you add the turkey. Be careful when handling it.
Use a rack. Elevate the turkey on a rack in the pan so air can better circulate all around while it’s covered. The rack also improves browning.

Other Alternatives to Foil

If foil doesn’t appeal to you, consider these other options:

Butter cloth. Soak cheesecloth in melted butter or oil and use it to loosely cover the turkey instead of foil.
Roasting bag. Plastic roasting bags are designed to cook poultry in its own steam – no foil needed.
Cook breast separately. Roast just the breast covered while legs and thighs cook uncovered. Then combine them.
Serve breast carved. Carve the breast meat off the bone after cooking it covered, and return bone-in legs/thighs to the oven uncovered.

To Wrap It Up…

So in the end, should you cover your turkey with foil or not? The answer is…it depends! Turkey breast meat certainly benefits from time under foil to prevent drying out. But for the best texture and presentation, the turkey should finish uncovered. Finding the right balance of covered and uncovered time just takes a little trial and error based on your specific bird and oven. Don’t be afraid to experiment and find what works for you. With the right technique, you’ll have tender, juicy meat and crispy skin for the perfect holiday centerpiece.

should i cover my turkey with foil while roasting

Instructions For Roasting Turkey

Take your turkey out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking it so that it isn’t as cold and will cook more evenly. If you have not brined your turkey at all, simply remove all the packaging and pat it dry with paper towels. Don’t rinse it off since that only sprays potential bacteria around your kitchen. If you wet-brined your turkey, also just pat it dry, no need to rinse it. If you dry-brined your turkey, don’t do anything. I know the picture above looks like there’s lots of seasoning about to fall off, but that was the beginning of the process. By then end, it’s the finest of layers and you want to leave it on there.

If your turkey has giblets inside, you can do one of three things:

1) You can discard them;

2) You can use them to make a turkey broth that you use to supplement your drippings when making gravy. This is a great idea if you’re brining the turkey since your drippings might end up too salty, and then you’ll have this broth to use instead. To do this, put the giblets (removed from any packaging) into a medium saucepan. You can also trim away any excess fat or skin from the turkey and add that, and even include the wing tips since they often get too dark from roasting and don’t have much meat on them anyhow. Add enough water to the sauce pan to only just cover the meat you have in there, less is more in this case, since less water means the flavor will be less diluted. You can add all or any of some fresh herbs (like sage, thyme, rosemary), dried herbs or poultry seasoning, raw onion, garlic cloves, carrots, and celery. For the onion, garlic, you can leave the peels on, and there not need to peel the carrots or trim the celery. Just give everything a good rinse. Don’t add salt because that will make it harder to get your gravy seasoning right later. Give it all a stir, some items might be sticking out and that’s actually ideal. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally, and then reduce it to a simmer. Let it sit there simmering for 30 minutes to an hour, stirring every now and then. Remove from the heat and strain away the aromatic pieces. Those can be discarded so that all is left is the broth.

3) Add them to the roasting pan, putting them around the turkey as it roasts. This will add extra flavor to your gravy. Mush them up a bit right before making the gravy, and then they’ll get strained away and discarded before you serve the gravy.

Chart: Turkey Roasting Times For Different Sizes

Turkey Size	Roasting Time at 350F
8 to 12 pounds	2 to 3¼ hours
12 to 14 pounds	3 to 3¾ hours
14 to 18 pounds	3 to 4½ hours
18 to 20 pounds	3½ to 4¾ hours
20 to 24 pounds	3¾ to 5½ hours

If the turkey is under 14 pounds, you will baste it once time. Do the basting when you think the turkey is about halfway done. If the turkey is over 14 pounds, you will baste it twice. Do it at about one-third and two-thirds done.

How to Baste the Turkey: Take it out of the oven, remove the foil but don’t throw it out since it’s going back on. Use a large spoon or a turkey baster to scoop up liquid form the bottom of the pan (you might have to tilt the pan to get at it) and then pour it over the turkey all over. You can scoop several times. Put the foil back onto the turkey, buttered side down, pressing it into place again.

You’ll start testing the turkey to see if it’s done about 30 minutes before the lower range in the chart above. Use an instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle of the breast and also into the thigh, being sure not to touch bone. The turkey is done when the thermometer reaches 155F. However, there are two really important things you have to do so keep reading.

First, when the turkey reaches 145F, remove the foil form the turkey completely then put the turkey back into the oven. This will allow the skin to crisp up during that last bit of cooking.

Second, once the turkey is nice and crisp and has reached 155F in both the breast and the thigh, take it out of the oven. Do not cover it with anything since that will steam it and lose your crispy skin. But, you do need to let it rest. The temperature in the turkey will continue to rise as it rests. You need it to get up to 165F to be safe. Let an 8-14 pound turkey rest for at least 25 minutes, but it can rest for as long as 45 minutes and still be warm. Let a 14-24 pound turkey rest for 40 minutes or for as long as 50 minutes.

should i cover my turkey with foil while roasting

Should I cover the turkey with foil while it cooks in the oven?

FAQ

Do you cover the turkey with aluminum foil while cooking?

But if you are roasting the turkey, be it whole turkey, breast, or leg on a regular roasting pan, foil is a good option. Basically the foil works in the same way a lid works—by trapping steam so the turkey stays moist throughout the roasting process. Simply tent the foil so that it loosely covers the whole turkey.

Do you cook a turkey covered or uncovered butterball?

Place turkey in pre-heated oven and heat until hot (140° F). Cover pan completely with foil for the entire cooking time. Cover breast loosely with foil after 1 to 1 1/4 hours to prevent over-browning and drying. Begin checking the turkey for doneness about 30 minutes before the recommended cook time.

Do you put water in the bottom of the roasting pan for turkey?

“Often, consumers will inquire about adding water to the bottom of their roasting pans. We do not recommend adding water to the bottom of the pan. Cooking a turkey with steam is a moist heat-cook method and is acceptable, sure, but is not the preferred method for cooking your turkey.”

Do you cook a turkey at 325 or 350?

Roasting the bird slowly, at a lower temperature is the best way to achieve tender meat. You should still prep the bird with butter, salt, and pepper, as described above (or dry-brine it). To cook, set your oven to 325°F and roast for 3½ to 4 hours for a 12- to 14-pound bird.