No More Dry Turkey

written by

posted on

October 3, 2025

Did you know…

Pasture-raised turkeys forage for about 40% of their diet from the pasture? I love going out to the turkey’s paddock and watching them scour the pasture, literally eating blades of grass like spaghetti.

This reality about turkeys means that pasture-raised turkeys are one of the most nutrient-dense poultry options. They metabolize all the minerals and vitamins from the pasture and turn it into a form that we humans are able to digest and absorb.

The bonus? Pasture-raised turkeys are rich, flavorful, moist and tender. Even the breast meat is juicy and full of flavor (I’ve had people look at packages of our turkey breasts in the store and think they are dark meat because they are colored so richly!). No more dry, tasteless Thanksgiving turkeys!

So this week, we’ll be sharing a very easy way to roast a Thanksgiving turkey plus an example timeline to help you as you plan your holiday!

What you’ll need:

1 turkey (brined or not brined)

Salt

Seasonings of your choice (optional)

Onions, carrots, and celery cut into large chunks (optional)

Roasting pan

4 Tbsp. butter

Meat thermometer

For a quick run-down on the steps, from frozen to roast:

TUESDAY: pulled turkey out of the freezer to thaw
WEDNESDAY: thawed turkey the rest of the way in cold water (you can use a five gallon bucket or a small cooler)
THURSDAY: brined the turkey
FRIDAY:
- 8:00am -- Pulled the turkey from the fridge, drained the brine juices, placed into roasting pan
- 8:15am -- Let the turkey sit out for half hour to let it dry off a bit, set oven to 325F
- 8:30am -- Melted the butter in a saucepan, brushed the butter onto the turkey skin, and sprinkled salt and/or seasonings on the turkey and inside its cavity
- 9:00am -- Popped the turkey into the preheated oven
- 9:30am, 10:00am, 10:30am, 11:00am -- Basted turkey with juices
- 11:30am -- Stuck thermometer into breast and leg to ensure it was at 165F, removed the turkey from the oven, and let it cool
- 12:15pm -- We ate the turkey

Put your turkey into a roasting pan and pat it dry with paper towels. This step helps dry everything off so you get a nice, crispy skin. Let it sit for about a half hour to let it dry off a bit.
While the turkey is drying, set your oven to 325F. Melt the butter, then use a pastry brush to coat the skin with it. This will help your turkey develop that nice, golden tone as it roasts (plus it tastes really good!) Sprinkle any seasonings your heart desires all over the turkey and inside the cavity. I like to use salt, garlic and onion powder, pepper, and smoked paprika.

Note: if you brined the turkey, you will want to go easy on sprinkling any salt on the turkey, possibly even skip it. The turkey will already have absorbed the saltiness from the brine, so you won’t need much!

Place any herbs or veggies (carrots, onions, celery, garlic, rosemary, thyme, etc.) inside the cavity, then put into the oven.
While the turkey is roasting, use your pastry brush to baste the turkey skin about every half hour or so. Otherwise, you are free to work on your other dinner prep!
A rule of thumb is to roast for about 8 minutes per lb. But always use a thermometer! Sometimes the turkey will cook faster or slower, so go by the temperature of the meat rather than time. You’ll want both the breast and leg to reach 165F. You may find your breast meat reaches 165 before the leg - you can carve off the legs and leave in the oven to keep roasting without overcooking the rest of your turkey.
Once it is finished cooking, take the turkey out of the oven and let it rest for about 20 minutes before carving. This helps all the juices to redistribute through the meat rather than spilling out once you cut it open.
Reserve your drippings from the turkey to make a delicious, rich gravy (recipe coming soon on the blog!).
Enjoy a flavorful, moist, and nutritious turkey!

Want to try this out for yourself? Grab one of our pasture-raised turkeys HERE for the best Thanksgiving turkey you’ve ever had!

Cheers to you and your health!

~Bethany

A Tribute to Wendell Berry from a Farmer Who Didn't Listen to His Advice

If you didn't hear, Wendell Berry passed away yesterday. I am indebted to Berry. In 2005 I had just graduated from college, and Liz and I were just married. And I was floundering a bit. Eager to set to some good work and to make a good life, but at a loss as to how to go about that. In terms of work and career I was all over the place--maybe med school, maybe seminary, maybe start a music festival, maybe go into audio documentary, maybe.... A friend of Liz and mine had recently spent a week visiting Berry, and sent us his short novel, A World Lost. We read it and loved it! It bit me. I was hooked. I read all of Berry's fiction that year. I read any chance I got--I remember reading at red lights. It was his vision of the good life and his critique of our modern life that captured my imagination. A big point of his is that fundamentally humans are happiest when their lives are as integrated as possible. I will get into what that means. But in contradiction to that, modern society has us "dis-integrated"--people don't live where they grew up, families don't live near each other, home and work are disconnected, children's lives and adult lives are disconnected, people are disconnected from food production, the work of the home is outsourced--no one makes anything at their home--it is only a place of ready-made consumption. Modernity is about specialization and outsourcing; and therefore dis-integration. And this has been an effective way to generate cash-wealth. If we all max our earning potential, and outsource all the work we can pay someone else to do more cheaply, then our bank accounts are ahead. So while this modern life has generated lots of cash-wealth, it has not done such a good job of making people happy. And Berry's point is that human lives are most full and most happy when they have this level of humane integratedness, rootedness, connection, localized knowledge, intimacy with your people and place; and when all the parts of your life are all intermeshed as possible--children, work, religion, home-making, neighbors, extended family, and your 3rd grade teacher are all mixed up and jumbled up in inter-crossing lines of familiarity and connection. This made a lot of sense to me, and caught me by the heart. I wanted this life of intimacy, connection, rootedness, care, friendship. That was step 1. Step 2 was coming across Joel Salatin's writings. Berry was the poet that wooed me to this idea of a good life. Salatin was the technician who laid out a compelling and reasonable plan for a novice like me to get into regenerative farming, do some good by healing land/animals/people, and actually provide a living for my family. So after doing a bunch of reading, and befriending farmers like Salatin, I decided I want to write a thank you letter to Berry. In my 1st letter I thank Berry for all his writings and let him know how he has benefited me, and let him know that I am making moves to get into regenerative farming. He sends back the below letter which is very kind and all, but essentially tells me to not go into full time farming. Ha! I remember reading that aghast, and a little angry--"this Berry guy thinks I am a fool and naive and have no idea what I am getting into--well, I will show him!" was about what I was thinking. So I take a deep breath, cool off a bit and write him back--pushing back and saying all the ways I have done my due diligence, and how I have a reasonable plan (and essentially, that "I am not a fool and naive, and I am a big grown up boy, thank you very much!"--Ha!). He then sends me back his very Berry-esque letter, which says essentially--"hey if you really want to get into farming, my advice isn't going to stop you." So Berry. Well, fast forward about 3 years from that letter. Liz and I had moved from Charlottesville back to my hometown of Warrenton (a very Berry-inspired move to be back in my hometown and near my family), and we had started Whiffletree Farm. I was working part time doing handyman work, while getting the farm business going. Berry had just published a new book of poetry and was making a reading stop at UVA. A friend involved with his stop at UVA invited us to a VIP reading. We went, and it was great. And then afterwards, there was some time where I could go up and speak to Berry. I went up and reminded him who I was and about our exchange of letters. And I told him how I was executing on this plan to ease into full time regenerative farming, with the handyman business, without going into debt, and how the farm business was growing, and that pretty soon we would be able to go full time. To this day, I can remember his reaction. It is a highlight of my life. He pumped his arm and said emphatically, "YES! This is how you have to do it!" It was my hero slapping me on the back. Major tingles. I was flying so high. My life could have gone in a lot of directions--some not so great. I was a pretty confused young man, and looking for direction. Liz and I are so grateful to Berry for his influence on us--his challenge to resist the current of modernity that prioritizes cash-wealth, and instead to go after an integrated life that prioritizes rootedness, connection, stability, sacrifice, friendship, care. It is still a daily challenge, but worth the fight! God bless Wendell Berry. Jesse Straight