Serves: 5
1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. Remove giblets and neck from the body cavity.
3. Rinse the bird inside and out with cold water. Drain pat dry with paper towels.
4. To stuff the bird: Place it breast side down and lightly fill the neck cavity with a small amount of stuffing. Pull the neck skin over the cavity fasten skin to the back with a skewer. Turn the bird over loosely fill the large interior cavity with stuffing.
5. Tuck the drumsticks under the band of skin bend the wing tips under the back. Tie the ends of the drumsticks together with clean kitchen twine.
6. Place the bird breast side up on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Rub the surface with oil or softened butter or margarine.
For store-bought ducks and geese: Prick the skin in several places before roasting to allow excess fat to escape. Do not rub skin with oil, butter or margarine. During roasting, skim off excess fat.
7. Insert a meat thermometer into the inside thigh muscle of the bird so that the tip does not touch the bone, unless you use an instant-read thermometer, which doesn’t remain in the bird during cooking.
8. Cover bird loosely with tented foil smaller birds should not be covered.
9. Roast in preheated 325°F. oven. See "Timetable for Roasting Poultry".
10. During the last half of roasting time, the bird may be basted with pan drippings or sauce. Uncover a turkey during the last 30 minutes of cooking time to brown the skin. Other birds can be covered toward the end of roasting to prevent overbrowning.
11. Begin checking for doneness after about an hour for whole broiler/fryer chickens of about 3 pounds. Begin checking larger birds during the last hour of cooking time. The bird is done when the internal temperature reaches 180 to 185°F. If the bird is stuffed, the center of the stuffing must reach 165°F. If no thermometer is available, pierce the skin between the leg and the thigh the bird is done when juices run clear, when legs move up and down easily and skin has shrunk back from the tips of the drumstick.
12. For easier carving and to set the juices, allow the bird to stand, loosely covered with foil to hold in warmth, for about 15 minutes.
13. Using a sharp knife, remove the leg by cutting through the joint between the thigh and body of the bird. Separate the drumstick from the thigh.
14. Make a deep horizontal cut to the bone into the breast meat just above the wing.
15. Beginning near the front of the breast, cut thin slices down to the horizontal cut. Repeat with the other side of the bird.
This Cook's Note: How to Roast and Carve Poultry recipe is from the Cook'n with Pillsbury Cookbook. Download this Cookbook today.
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