How The Best Chefs In The Country Cook Their Thanksgiving Turkey

This Thanksgiving, you could pull out the same old turkey recipe your family has been making for years (decades! millennia!). Or you could take cues from some of the best chefs in the country and treat the bird like they do.
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BY ROCHELLE BILOW, BON APPETIT

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Photo: Christopher Testani

This Thanksgiving, you could pull out the same old turkey recipe your family has been making for years (decades! millennia!). Or you could take cues from some of the best chefs in the country and treat the bird like they do. Besides excellent taste in poultry, what these chefs have in common are spots on our America's Best New Restaurants 2015 list. If you're not going to take advice from the culinary minds behind the best new restaurants in the country, who are you going to look to for inspiration? Without further adieu, turkey tips from the #BAhot10 gang.

"Here's something I learned as a saucier at L'Astrance in Paris. On Thanksgiving day, I let the turkey sit out for three hours before roasting it, so the entire bird comes to room temperature first. That allows the bones to hold heat like little cinder blocks, cooking the turkey from the inside-out, making it super juicy and flavorful." --Aaron London, AL's Place (San Francisco, no. 1)

"Start with a rad, well-sourced 6- to 8-pound bird. If you're hosting lots of people, get two. Don't go with a massive turkey; they're dry. I cut out the spine and butterfly the bird. Brine it overnight, then rinse and let it dry, uncovered, in the fridge for another night. Take it out early in the day and rub it all over with herb-laced sea salt and olive oil. Place the turkey on a bed of large mirepoix along with the butchered spine and giblets. Dump a bottle of white wine in the pan, with an equal amount of water or homemade turkey or chicken stock. Roast at 425° until nicely browned, with crispy skin all over. Let the bird rest for 30 to 40 minutes before carving!" --Travis Lett, Gjusta (Los Angeles, no. 2)

"I always massage the turkey with cream and salt the night before cooking it. Let it rest overnight in the refrigerator so the mixture can penetrate the bird, and cook it like a chicken: High temperature at first to make it crispy, and then reduced temperature to keep it juicy. It is all about basting, basting, basting. NEVER leave your turkey alone. She needs love every 10 minutes. I love stuffing, but I add dried fruit and meats, like Italian sausage and foie gras. It becomes a stand-alone dish at the table." --Ludo Lefevbre, Petit Trois (Los Angeles, no. 3)

"A 24-hour brine of soy, citrus, parsley, thyme, sage, white wine, water, sugar, garlic, ginger. Butter under the skin and more herbs in the cavity, plus a seasoning of salt and pepper inside and out." --Beverly Clark, Parachute (Chicago, no. 5)

"Here's how we roll with our turkey: It gets a 12-hour brine bath and dries overnight on a sheet tray in the cooler. We then smoke it on a Weber Performer, packed with my wife's stuffing and seasoned with salt and pepper. We keep a little tray underneath to collect drippings, which we use to make a smoked gravy." --Joe Kindred, Kindred (Davidson, NC, no. 7)

"[Once], two days before the big day, I removed the breasts and legs. I cured and confited the legs in orange, Scotch, and aromatics, then brined and pan-roasted the breasts as 'steaks.' Best turkey we ever had. --Jonathan Brooks, Milktooth (Indianapolis, no. 10)

See the 32 Best Thanksgiving Dessert recipes on BonAppetit.com

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