There are often inconsistencies from manufacturer to manufacturer in what their settings truly mean, which is why I hesitate to say exactly what you should do. I would assume (but my mom told me never to do that) that the "convection bake" means that it will cook things at a lower temperature and the "convection roast" setting will cook things at a higher temperature: therefore I would say to use the bake setting as we say to cook the turkey at 350 F. Hope this helps. Cheers!

I made the turkey again for this Thanksgiving and it was delicious. BUT making the gravy is where I drove it into the ditch. After reading some of the previous comments I probably erred and added the short stock too quickly. My gravy was THICK and BLONDE with the taste and consistency of wallpaper paste (not what I was looking for). With the guests ALL OVER my kitchen, talking, drinking, laughing and me not wanting to be left out of any of it made the reading and following of instructions a bit challenging. This is probably the one thing I really don't like about doing the turkey - the things that need to be done last minute. I have solved this in the past by cooking the turkey early in the day, carving it up nicely, making the gravy and relaxing. It's the only way I will do it from now on. I've learned my lesson - you are either a cook or a party person. NOT both. And having hot gravy with the cold turkey is just fine. I also hacked the heck out of the bird trying to carve it in the midst of all the celebrating. Sharp knives and a 'well lubricated' chef - another bad idea. So, I will try again in the quiet of my kitchen and know it will work out. Thanks again. I love the instructions!

Do you have a recipe or Cranberry Bread? It's a part of my envisioned leftover Turkey sandwich. Yum, leftover Turkey ;)

We do not; however, you can skip the cinnamon and substitute dried cranberries for the raisins in this recipe for Cinnamon Raisin Nut Bread. Cheers!

Is it possible to re-publish this again soon? We need to have our Thanksgiving dinner on Veteran's Day this year as some family members aren't available on the traditional day. It was so incredibly detailed and helpful and a shame to not have it available for anyone having a holiday dinner any time of the year. I'm curious as to why you remove items like that which are so helpful year-round. It's easy to understand that it took you months to prepare to give it to us. Many thanks for all the work you do that takes us moments to watch or read! :) Sort of like the dinners that take hours to learn to make in the beginning and they are gone in a flash!

Hi Kathleen,

So glad you found the multi-task player helpful. We are working to make the multi-task player available over the next few days. I know it's getting down to the wire for your early Thanksgiving celebration -- it wouid already be up on the site but we need to make some updates so that it will work with our new technology platform (maybe more information than you wanted!).

If you'd like we can email you the PDF documents (checklist, etc) so that you can start planning. Just send a contact form (contact us at bottom of screen) and we'll get back to you quickly.

Fyi -- the multi-task player will be free to students on an Annual or Monthly tuition plan, and will be available for purchase on an a-la-carte basis for everyone else.

Hi Kathleen -- just wanted to send you a quick update on this. We have posted the multi-task videos on the site. They are available on this page to students with either an Annual or Monthly tuition plan:

http://rouxbe.com/how-to-cook/thanksgiving-dinner-recipes

I hope this is in time for your Thanksgiving meal.

Yes, in plenty of time as I've already practiced the brining lesson with a roasted chicken. I'm a little apprehensive about the brining of the turkey because while the chicken was wonderfully moist and not too salty, the drippings were so salty that I couldn't learn how to make the gravy. I used the basic brining recipe, times 5, and weighed the salt. My husband and I both taught math related subjects so we double checked the measurements before mixing. At the bottom of the recipe it states that since it is a low-salt brine, a chicken is large enough to leave it in the fridge overnight. My overnight of 9 hours might have been longer than what the recipe intended for a 5 pound bird. For a 17 pound turkey can I really leave it for 17 hours in the brine? And then leave it for another 8 or 9 hours drying time before the hour out prior to roasting? Everyone is counting on lots of gravy so I don't want to repeat my mistake, whatever it was.

The brining of the turkey in this video is one that you can trust. While preparing the recipes for the Multi-Task Player we cooked over 20 turkeys using this recipe and they were all delicious. Rest assured that your dinner will be great. Happy Thanksgiving!

if i substitute

if i substitute chicken for turkey, should i follow the exact steps as it is on the recipe? or maybe i should just do a roast chicken recipe instead...?

You can pretty much use the same techniques. Times will obviously be different with everything as would most ratios and of course so will the over all flavor but it will still be good.

You may also want to check out the lessons on Roasting Chicken Basics and Enhancing Roast Chicken in the Cooking School. Cheers!

We had our family Thanksgiving early (Vetsgiving one member called it) and everyone of the 12 people said it was the best turkey ever. I told everyone I didn't want any of their hints on making gravy :) as I was going to follow the steps given on Rouxbe. Oh, my, was it ever so good and others were interested in what a short stock was. Funny, though, my veteran husband, who was a medic in the Army, had to stitch up the skin on the turkey as my sister and I got a little carried away with laughing while we loosened the skin-didn't notice that in the video someone had only used two fingers so she put her whole hand in and then the skin got torn and continued to tear after she removed her hand. Looked very appropriate for Veteran's Day! Many thanks for ALL your help!!

is it possible to use rosemary instead of thyme as i only have fresh thyme. will the aroma be too strong? thank you for answering:)

Ultimately, you are free to make any substitutions that you like. You just need to know that it will alter the final flavor and as long as you are okay with that then feel free to try it. Just remember that it is quite a strong herb, so I would be careful not to use too much.

Afterwards, assess the turkey and ask yourself (and maybe even your guests), "did I love the rosemary?", "did I not like it?", "was it perhaps too strong or overpowering for a holiday turkey?" and then reassess for next time. That's the great thing about cooking, the more you experiment and explore the more you learn. Cheers!

I'm having a hard time finding chicken bones. Any suggestions on where to get them?

Just phone any butcher in your area and order them. I'm pretty sure all will have them. In fact, you can even ask the butcher at your supermarket and I'm sure they will be able to find some for you in their back fridge.

Last resort, phone a poultry supply store in your area. If you think about all the deboned chicken in your supermarkets, there are lots of bones around. You just might not find them packages alongside the meat - you'll have to ask.

Hope this helps.
Joe

Why when I do a search for the Holiday planner does it not show up? I have to keep going back to my email to access the planner .... love the site but a bit frustrated with the search engine.

Mark, scroll up to a Nov. 4th answer by Paul, Rouxbe staff. The link is there. Multi-task player update is the name and, yes, the search function doesn't have enough keywords entered into its software so that it comes up. At least I can't get it to come up with planner, thanksgiving, multi-task, etc. I have learned to click on the different tabs to find things but I am still experiencing difficulties with searching also. Perhaps Rouxbe will add more words in the titles to work in the search field. The planner really helps! And I appreciate all the videos-we followed them for a most wonderful result!

thanks for your response Kathleen ... and yes I love the tips in the planner video ... keeps me on track with my holiday cooking and gives me a few pointers that I did not know. Thanks again for such a great website.

Should I add more than 1-1/2 cups kosher salt to my brine if my Turkey is 24lbs? I see you have noted that you are using a 15lb Turkey. Thank you...

Yes if you turkey is bigger you will want to add more salt. For this recipe we used about 1/2 cup of kosher salt for every 5 lbs of meat. If however, you have already brined the turkey, don't worry you should still be fine.

For more information on brining and the ratios of salt, when you have time, you may want to check out the lesson on "How to Brine".

Happy Thanksgiving. Cheers!

I cooked my small turkey in a large roasting pan. When I came to baste the bird the second time, all of the stock in the pan had burned, wasting the gravy making goodness, as well as the time spent making it. If I had added more water to the pan, it would have worked well. I'll try it again next Thanksgiving because I was really looking forward to that gravy!!

Yes... you need to make sure the dripping / short stock doesn't burn (all liquid evaporated). However, I'm wondering if you remembered to add the 6 cups of stock at the beginning as this should not be a problem with this recipe.

Hope everything else worked out well for you and your family. And hope you try this again as the gravy is amazing. Maybe just try with a roast chicken sometime.

Cheers,
Joe

For the short stock, if I don't have 6 cups (I probably have more like 3 cups) of chicken stock, is it reasonable to just top it off with water?

I have lots of veal & beef stock, but not much chicken stock....

Thanks!

(Prepping for a late Thanksgiving...)