should i put butter on my turkey

Should I Put Butter on my Turkey? The Moist and Flavorful Way to Roast Your Bird

As Thanksgiving approaches, home cooks across America are gearing up to roast the star of the holiday meal – the turkey. A beautifully browned, juicy and tender turkey is the crowning achievement of any Thanksgiving spread. However, roasting the perfect turkey can be an intimidating task, especially for novice cooks. With all the horror stories of dried out, undercooked or burned birds, it’s no wonder hosts get nervous about tackling the turkey.

One simple trick to guarantee a flavorful, moist turkey with gorgeously bronzed skin is to rub butter under the skin before roasting. Slipping butter underneath the skin delivers rich flavor and essential moisture directly to the breast meat as it cooks. The skin roasts up crispy and golden brown while the meat stays succulent and juicy. It’s a easy way to infuse big flavor into your holiday bird.

Why Put Butter Under the Turkey Skin?

Rubbing butter directly on the breast meat serves two important purposes:

1. Imparts flavor – Butter provides a rich, savory flavor to the lean breast meat as the turkey roasts. The milk solids in the butter undergo a flavorful Maillard reaction with the meat, enhancing its taste. Herbs, garlic, citrus zest or other aromatics can be blended into the butter for even more flavor impact.

2. Adds moisture – Turkey breast meat can easily dry out during roasting. Placing butter between the skin and meat acts as a bastes the meat from the inside out. As the butter melts, it keeps the breast meat moist and prevents it from drying out. The rendered butter also crisps up the skin for an extra crunchy texture.

How to Get Butter Under the Turkey Skin

Getting butter under the skin is easy to do. Here are simple steps for How to Put Butter Under Turkey Skin:

1. Soften butter – Let refrigerated butter sit out to soften slightly or give it a quick zap in the microwave. The butter should be soft and malleable but not fully melted.

2. Blend in flavors – Mix any extra flavorings like lemon zest, garlic, herbs, citrus juice, spice blends etc into the softened butter.

3. Loosen the skin – Starting at the breast, gently work your fingers under the skin, loosening it from the meat. Lift the skin up and slowly work deeper to create a pocket.

4. Rub butter underneath – Use your fingers or a spoon to smear the flavored butter all over the exposed breast meat under the skin.

5. Replace skin – Smooth the skin back into place over the buttered breast meat. Pat the skin dry with paper towels.

6. Season outside – Rub the turkey skin with a little olive oil or melted butter and generously season with salt and pepper.

What Kind of Butter is Best?

When it comes to choosing the right butter for your bird, you have options:

• Salted or unsalted butter – Either works fine. Go with personal preference or reduce/eliminate salt in the rest of the recipe to adjust for salted butter.

• Whipped butter – The air whipped into whipped butter makes it easier to spread under the turkey skin.

• Compound butter – Blend herbs, citrus, honey, garlic or other flavors into the butter before applying for extra flavor.

• Regular butter – Use melted or soft regular butter if that’s all you have on hand.

Get Creative with Flavored Butter Under the Turkey Skin

While plain butter adds nice richness and moisture, compound butter kicked up with complementary flavors takes the turkey to a whole new level. Feel free to get creative with your own signature turkey butter blends.

Some winning combinations include:

• Lemon herb butter – Fresh thyme, rosemary, sage and lemon zest

• Garlic herb butter – Minced garlic, oregano, parsley

• Apple butter – Sweet apple butter and poultry seasoning

• Honey citrus butter – Orange juice, lime zest, honey and smoked paprika

• Chipotle lime butter – Chipotle peppers in adobo, lime juice, cilantro

• Maple pecan butter – Pure maple syrup, chopped toasted pecans

• Brie cranberry butter – Softened Brie, dried cranberries, thyme

Brining the Turkey with Butter

For the ultimate moist turkey, combine butter under the skin with an overnight brine. Brining seasons the meat and helps it retain moisture during roasting. Slipping flavorful butter under the skin gives the meat even more protection against drying out. The butter also picks up flavors from the brine and distributes them into the breast meat.

After brining and patting the turkey dry, loosen the skin and rub the herb butter directly onto the meat before roasting. For a really decadent turkey, you can also stuff some butter pieces under the skin along with rubbing it on. The extra butter pockets will melt into the meat keeping it unbelievably moist and basting it with richness.

Butter Basting While Roasting

Basting helps keep the roasting turkey moist but opening and closing the oven repeatedly can lead to uneven cooking. Rubbing butter under the skin before roasting essentially bastes the turkey from the inside out without having to open the oven doors.

For even more moisture, you can combine butter under the skin with traditional basting. Every 30 minutes, quickly open the oven and spoon pan juices over the top of the turkey to moisten and evenly brown the skin.

Should You Stuff the Turkey with Butter?

Resist the temptation to stuff the main turkey cavity with sticks of butter or butter pieces. Since the cavity doesn’t make direct contact with the breast meat, the butter won’t effectively baste or flavor it.

Sticking with butter directly on the meat under the skin is a smarter, more efficient method. You’ll use less butter and it will be in full contact with the breast meat so none goes to waste.

If you want the presentation of a stuffed bird at the table, rub the seasoned butter under the skin then stuff the cavity with your favorite dressing or aromatics right before serving.

Other Tips for a Moist, Flavorful Turkey

Buttering under the skin is the first crucial step but here are some other tips to ensure the perfect turkey:

• Brine the bird – Soak turkey overnight in a saltwater brine

• Pat skin dry – Remove excess moisture so the skin crisps up

• Season generously – Rub salt, pepper and herbs inside cavity and over skin

• Roast at a low temp – Cook at 325 F on lower oven rack

• Use a meat thermometer – Cook until the breast reaches 160 F

• Let rest before carving – At least 30 minutes after roasting

Take the Fear out of Roasting Turkey

Butter is a simple secret weapon that can help any cook turn out an incredibly moist, flavorful holiday turkey with gorgeous bronzed skin. Loosening the skin and rubbing butter directly onto the breast meat guarantees your bird will be deliciously succulent and full of rich flavor.

So grab a stick of butter and get ready to roast your best turkey yet! With this easy trick, your Thanksgiving guests will be gobbling up juicy, tender slices of turkey with crispy seasoned skin.