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To Roast Turkey

A method for roasting a turkey with butter, salt, pepper, flour, and gravy made from turkey stock.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

To Roast Turkey

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the turkey

  1. Fill the turkey.

  2. Sew it up.

  3. Tie the thighs close to the body with twine.

  4. Cross the drumsticks over the tail.

  5. Secure the tips of the wings close to the body.

  6. Rub the turkey with soft butter.

  7. Rub the turkey with coarse sea salt.

  8. Rub the turkey with black pepper.

  9. Rub the turkey with flour.

  10. Place the turkey breast side down on a rack.

  11. Place the turkey in a baking pan with pieces of turkey fat underneath.

Roast

  1. Roast in a hot oven (400°F / 200°C) for 5 minutes until the flour begins to color.

  2. Reduce the heat slightly.

  3. Add 2 cups of stock or hot water to the pan.

  4. If the turkey browns too quickly, cover it with greased paper.

  5. Baste frequently.

  6. Dredge lightly with flour after each basting.

  7. Roast for 2 to 2.5 hours.

  8. Test the thigh with a fork to check doneness.

  9. Remove the turkey to a hot platter.

  10. Keep warm while making the gravy.

Make the gravy

  1. Pour off excess fat from the pan.

  2. Stir 2 tablespoons of flour into the remaining fat. Stir smooth.

  3. Let it brown.

  4. Gradually add boiling water to achieve desired consistency.

  5. Season the gravy with salt.

  6. Season the gravy with pepper.

  7. Add culinary bouquet if needed.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Turkey + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,592 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  3. Turkey + peppertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,636 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  4. Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together50,459 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Turkey
Forms the main body of the dish, cooking through to tender meat during roasting.
Soft butter
Adds fat that promotes browning and a richer flavour on the skin.
Flour
Coating that helps the skin brown and thickens the gravy drippings.
Turkey fat
Cushions the bird in the pan and adds fat for flavour and browning.
Stock
Adds moisture and flavour to the pan, helping keep the meat juicy and the gravy savoury.

The step that matters

Dredge lightly with flour after each basting. Too much flour builds a pasty layer that can burn, while a light coating helps the skin brown and the pan juices thicken smoothly for gravy.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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