Avoid A Dry Thanksgiving Turkey With This Cheap Tool

Every November, millions of Americans gather around the dinner table to enjoy an exquisitely roasted turkey. Unfortunately, not all of them are actually roasted to perfection. Between conversing with friends and family and cooking all those delectable Thanksgiving side dishes, folks occasionally forget to keep a watchful eye on the star of the show, resulting in a dry bird. There is a way to revive a dry turkey, but it's best to avoid letting it get to that state in the first place. Fortunately, there is one cheap and easy hack that essentially guarantees a succulent turkey emerges from the oven –- sealing the poultry in an oven bag.

An oven bag is precisely what it sounds like -– a plastic sack that can withstand the high heat of an oven. When a turkey is cooked inside, the plastic pouch prevents moisture from escaping, ensuring your bird is juicy throughout when it comes out of the oven. As an additional benefit, an oven bag also traps heat, allowing the star of your Thanksgiving feast to cook faster.

If you want to guarantee your turkey doesn't dry out and save yourself the hassle of scouring a roasting pan after the bird is cooked, grocery stores typically have them stocked somewhere in the foil and plastic wrap vicinity. You can also buy them online, of course. Bear in mind that you'll want to double-check that they are FDA compliant and BPA-free, so you don't end up with unwelcome chemicals on your bird.

Roasting a turkey in an oven bag is just as easy as it sounds, but there are some preparation details that will help you get the best results from the pouch. The first step is to liberally butter and season your turkey the same as if you weren't using an oven bag. Place any aromatics you like inside the cavity (don't forget to remove the turkey giblets) and truss the bird so it cooks uniformly. Once the turkey is prepped, lightly flour the oven bag. This will prevent the bird from clinging to it once you take it out of the oven. You don't need much –- just two tablespoons should do the trick.

After prepping the turkey and getting it in the oven bag, it's easy to forget this last step, but it's an important one. Always remember to poke a few holes through the top so the bag doesn't burst. If it does, all you'll do is give your poultry a cheap plastic outer layer (a fate worse than being dry).

When you take the turkey out to rest after it has finished cooking, you will notice excess juices at the bottom of the pouch. One advantage of using an oven bag instead of a traditional roasting method is that as the plastic pocket holds moisture, it continually bastes the bird. Since you won't need it to baste throughout the cooking process, consider straining the excess liquid from the oven bag (rather than throwing it out) and using it to make a luscious Thanksgiving gravy that will perfectly complement the main attraction of your holiday spread.