We are big fans of turkey in our house and we will eat every bite. I smoked the turkey in these pictures but you can roast in a conventional oven and I will tell you how.
You will need:
1 fresh or frozen turkey – ours was 14 pounds.
2 apples – quartered
2 large onions – peeled and quartered
12 cloves of garlic – peeled and minced
16 ounces Dr. Pepper – preferably Dublin Dr. Pepper like in the picture
1 stick butter
Salt & Pepper to taste
Directions:
Set a frozen turkey into the fridge at least 3 days prior to cooking.
When thawed take the bird out of the fridge and the wrapper, take out the bag inside the turkey then rinse the bird inside and out.
Pat dry with paper towels.
Put the onions, apples, garlic and ¾ stick of butter inside turkey.
Rub ¼ stick butter all over the turkey then salt and pepper.
Place stuffed turkey in pan then pour all the Dr. Pepper into the bird and expect it to run out the neck and into the pan.
Add enough water or broth to bring liquid up to 2 inches from bottom of pan.
Cover with foil until last 2 hours then take foil off for browning.
Cook in a pre-heated 325 F oven until thermometer reaches 165 F in the thickest part of the bird. For my 14 pound turkey it takes between 4-5 hours.
If you are going to smoke the turkey then plug it in and place the covered bird into the oven at 350F for 1 hour then put into the smoker.
It will take about 13 hours or until a thermometer reaches 165 in the thigh to smoke a 14 pound bird and you will
need to baste it every 2 hours but it is worth it because it is moist and lovely!
Dig in!!
Once you carve into it – it will look like this: Dark on one side, white on the other!
What a beautiful bird, Kelli! I usually do stick onions up the hiney while roasting but never thought to add apples for more juice and sweetness. Definitely trying that this year!
I’m coming to YOUR house! I bet that is soooo good! Great bird Kelli!
it does look delicious and it takes a long time to prepare it but I’m sure it’s all worth it! 🙂 you know, I’ve never prepared one on my own, my mom is always there (I’m scared of not getting it right) 🙂
One day, your mom will relinquish the spatula to you and you will be the roaster of the turkey……..you should practice! BTW, I am going through my email and I”m finally down to Bloglovin’…..all the way back November 12!!! I know you have posts in there so I’ll be reading and commenting soon!
🙂 oh!oh! I’m scared of that day (we will need to order pizza, just in case) ha!ha! 🙂 I’m behind my emails too but don’t worry, I haven’t posted in a while either (hope soon) 🙂
hope you are having a good day Kelli 🙂
I am and I hope you are too – it’s going to actually get cold here tomorrow………..I mean cold like where you live so I’m trying to find warm clothes! 🙂
Um, that looks AMAZING! You don’t mind one more person for Thanksgiving, do you??
I usually use oranges and/or lemons and onions to fill the turkey, but apples would be amazing!!
I love oranges and lemons with the onions too but the apples and dr. pepper are really great!
Brian is a huge Dr. Pepper fan and a huge turkey fan. I’m guessing he’d like to come to your house for dinner. 🙂
I am always looking for the best recipes. This looks and sounds delicious. I want to definitely try this. Thankyou for sharing this recipe.
You are welcome! Hope you enjoy it!
I DO THIS TURKEY EVERY YEAR NOW! I started 4 years ago, this will be my 5th year, OMG people always think “Dr. Pepper, what?!” & its actually really common in the bbq/smoking world. I love it, I cannot wait to show my parents next week 🙂 Thank you for sharing this. I would love an updated one with more pics & a more printer friendly recipe!
I will work on that!!