loves2cook--thank you for your great tips! I always cooked the turkey the way my mom did. Of course, her oven was installed in 1958. . . . I would never have thought either to bring the turkey to room temperature or to heat the stuffing first. We had amazingly good luck with our ancient wall oven, so I have very high hopes for what the Miele will turn out. If the stuffing in the bird gets messed up, our youngest will never forgive me, so I will be careful about that aspect of the turkey preparation.

I have used the master chef function with the probe placed as loves2cook states. Last year I had an 18 lb bird and it took 2 hr and 15 min - perfect. I did use a brined turkey - last year dry salted, year before wet brine - both were moist with a crisp beautiful skin. The first year I wasnt prepared for how quickly the turkey cooked. I did cook the stuffing in the bird. I think I will go with the suggestion to remove the stuffing when the bird comes out of the oven. Make sure you don't allow the probe to touch the bone.

I used Auto Roast and had a great result also. I was not prepared for how fast it got done either. I don't stuff so that does speed up the baking. I also dry brine and the result is really tender and juicy.

I guess I didn't place the probe correctly though...when you say straight down from the top but along the breast bone....what does that mean ??? Breast bone runs along the horizontal plane of the turkey but I think of top to bottom as straight down towards the roasting pan...so which is it LOL??? c

trailrunner--this is what the Miele directions say: "Looking straight down at the top of the bird, insert long end of probe into breast meat vertically along one side of the breast bone as deeply as it will go." I guess that means the probe ends up perpendicular to the horizontal breast bone. My problem is that I don't remember where I put the probe . . . .

ha stei that is funny. I did the spatchcocked turkey last year so I didn't need the probe although I guess I could have used it. I took Martha's timing as truth and when I checked with my regular digital thermometer it was done.

I have only 3 of us this year for T day so we will probably do Chinese LOL. My DD loves to make egg rolls and DH loves to make his stir fry so that is prob. what we will do. Good Luck ! c

trailrunner--may we come to your house after Thanksgiving to have home-made Chinese leftovers?! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, plus it leads, inevitably, to spicy turkey okra soup (the recipe for which I lost and have had to recreate by memory, sort of), much beloved by our younger son. I don't mind cooking for days for this holiday since the menu is that of my own family's Thanksgiving and thus evokes wonderful childhood memories, including approximately 37 pounds of butter for one meal. Well, at least it seems like I use 37 pounds of butter . . . .

So why do you prefer auto roast to the master chef setting? I wonder if I should try auto roast - I'm so stressed about the turkey every year....

We probably won't have leftovers...but you can come and have something NEW ! I wish I could do all the " old" dishes that my Momma and Grandmother's made. I have for 39 years. This will be the 1st time I havne't had enough folks to bother. I am trying not to get too down about it. Maybe we will come to YOUR house on the Tday and you can come here for the day after ...K ???

Lucy I don't really know. I guess rococco will have to tell you why. If it were me I would do a 13 # and have the backbone cut out and flatten it and if you need 2 turkeys then do 2. It is so easy and you can fit it perfectly on the black pans that come with the oven. You can presalt it 2 days before and trust me it will be done in 1 hr 30 min and it will be wonderful. See Martha's website for last year's spatchcocked turkey. Also the presentation is still pretty and boy is it easy to carve. Just my .02. And even better you can stop worrying and enjoy making pies ! c

I used masterchef first year for an unstuffed turkey. It was ok but as I recall it look forever.

I'm a big autoroast fan because it starts in cold oven -- no maneuvering, and AR kickstarts the cooking. IMO that eliminates 90% of the problems people have with turkeys. That and the probe makes it a snap.

Two things I'd add. First, I don't brine or debone because I use the bones for soup afterward. I do loosen the skin over the breast from the neck end (vinyl gloves) and make a pocket on each side. Then I push the stuffing in over the breast -- just shove it all down in the pockets and in the neck skin and also the cavity. That is guaranteed to keep the breast moist not matter what and is self-basting. Also, if you like turkey skin with crisp stuffing....

Second thing is about temperature. I really think it's not safe to put hot stuffing in a turkey. Both stuffing and turkey should be room temp -- that's 72 not 80. I took the raw egg out of the stuffing 25 years ago. With those as given, no safety issues.

Is good to dry it out overnight in the fridge on a rack as 246 suggests.

My interest in brining waned one year when my sis bought a brined turkey and I kept removing salty water from the roasting pan. I make natural gravy by adding broth to the bottom of the roasting pan after all the fat's removed and then I reduce it. Can't do that with brined as it's too salty (but I know this varies regionally).

Turkey's my favorite, favorite. We're going out this year but I'm making a small one anyway for leftovers, weekend and an elderly neighbor. If anyone wants a sourdough-mushroom-herb stuffing or direx on the pocket say so and I'll post.

I swear I thought i posted earlier about my lack of familarity with poultry anatomy but my post got "lost" and anyways stei got it right with the Miele directions.

I can tell you why I prefer AR over MC. Last time I cooked a big bird using MC, I didn't watch it because I thought that was how I had always done it in the past and it had always come out perfectly. Now this was a big bird I was cooking for a local shelter and the food needed to be there by1:30 pm. That meant cooked, rested, carved plated and out the door by 1 pm. So at 9 am I grabbed the turkey out the fridge, rinsed it, patted it dry, spice rubbed it, inserted the probe and put it in the COLD oven. Set the master chef for poultry over 11 pounds and went about my day. I smelled the Turkey and thought yumm. Went back into the kitchen and saw that it was almost BLACK, grabbed some foil, tented it and continued cooking. I couldn't understand why the temp in the program was only 305 when it should have been 325. And my black turkey wasn't cooking fast enough. I panicked and trued to desperately figure out what I was doing differently. I do make turkey often as it's an easy meal with lots of leftovers for my big family.

A frantic call to Miele and the HE lady and I finally figured it out that I was using the wrong program. She had no idea why my Turkey got so dark but we saved mine by switching off the oven and then just doing convection roast at 335 till the probe temp was 165. The turkey took longer that I thought, I had to toss all the blackened skin but I was out the door at 1:10 and just drove like crazy to get it there on time.

I have cooked about 15 Turkeys using Auto Roast and every one of them has been perfect so I don't know why I made that mistake. But I do learn from them LOL so won't do that again.

If anyone else does a MC Turkey, please report back.

C, you are welcome to join us for a traditional TG dinner. And we can eat Chinese on Friday.

Thanks to everyone for all these wonderful tips.

Trailrunner, you are welcome to come here. We have only five this year because various family members have moved away. Two pies and a 22 lb. stuffed turkey--we should have plenty for you although given the cooking prowess in your family, I might be a bit concerned about our humble fare. I do a toasted challah/corn bread stuffing that my mom created (thus the tons of butter). I realize that since the dry and wet stuffing ingredients are assembled Thursday morning, and the last thing I do before mixing and seasoning is to melt another(!) stick of butter into the celery and onion mixture, the stuffing will actually already be warmish or, at least, not cold. Two years ago I discovered "turkey stuffing bags" at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I find them to be a great aid for Thanksgiving because we don't have to dig the stuffing out of the inner carcass of the bird which wastes both time, energy, and, worst of all, stuffing. I highly recommend the stuffing bags although I have no idea why the description on the Bed, Bath site indicates that the bags are hand washable--I throw mine away.

Here is a link that might be useful: Turkey stuffing bag

Rococogurl, yes, I would be interested in the stuffing recipe and trying your method. If it keeps the breast tender, I'm all for it. I'm so excited that this year I can just do what everyone else already tested in the Miele. Remember, my oven has already 'friended" you on Rococogurl Roasted Chicken on autoroast. I have only used the Rotiss once since you gave that tip out, because its just as good that way. I've made probably 50 of those chickens, maybe 100.

Hey chinchette -- So nice to know I'm a friend and a favorite LOL.

Here's the stuffing

Recipe and stuffing method:

Turkey Stuffing

Makes 10 cups

Enough for cavity and breast of a 12 pound turkey. This can be prepared several days in advance. It should be brought to room temperature before stuffing the turkey. The recipe doubles and triples easily and a variety of mushrooms can be used

1-pound day-old sourdough French bread (I use a sourdough boule), cut into 1-inch cubes
2 cups boiling chicken stock
6 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 medium onions, minced
4 medium celery ribs, sliced thinly
1-pound fresh mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced thinly (can be combo of white mushroom & portobellos or can be any mixture of fresh mushrooms or fresh combined with dried porcini (cepes) in which case I sub the strained mushroom soaking liquid for the stock
Salt and ground pepper
1 teaspoon dried or fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon dried, crumbled sage leaves, or ½ teaspoon chopped fresh sage
½ teaspoon dried summer savory, or 1 teaspoon chopped fresh savory
½ cup minced parsley

Put the bread cubes in a large mixing bowl. Pour over the hot chicken stock or mushroom broth and mix thoroughly; set aside to cool.

Heat 3 tbsp. oil in a large skillet. Add garlic and onions. Stir over low heat until softened. Stir in celery and cook over medium-low heat until celery softens; add to bowl with the bread.

Heat 3 more tbsp. oil to the skillet. Stir in the mushrooms and cook over medium-high heat until they darken and all the juices have evaporated. Add mushrooms to the bowl. Add salt, pepper, thyme and savory; mix thoroughly. Adjust seasoning to taste. Can cool, cover and refrigerate up to 3 days.

Remove stuffing from refrigerator 2 to 3 hours in advance. Stir in parsley. It is ready to use.

Note about additions: 1 pound of bulk pork sausage can be thoroughly cooked, drained, crumbled and added to the stuffing. It is delicious but makes it much heavier (of course).

To stuff the turkey

Remove everything from the turkey cavity. Rinse turkey in ice cold water, drain well and pat it dry inside and out with paper toweling. Be sure to blot out any excess liquid inside the cavity. Pull all the fat out of the neck end and pull away anything clinging to the neck skin (be careful not to cut with a knife or make any holes in the neck skin.

Turn the turkey so the neck end faces you. Lift up the neck skin, remove any fat, and with your fingers, gently find the connecting membrane the holds the skin onto the edge of the breast. Carefully break the connecting membrane, wedging your fingers in between the skin and breast meat, to make a pocket for stuffing the breast. Work carefully to avoid making holes in the skin.

Move your hand down all the way towards the cavity end but leave 1-inch margin of skin firmly attached along the cavity opening, otherwise stuffing will fall out. Repeat to make a pocket over the other side.

The skin will remain attached along the breast bone.

To stuff, lift up neck skin and push small handfuls of stuffing into the pocket on one side, working it down towards the cavity end. Fill the pocket evenly in a 1-inch thick stuffing layer. Repeat to fill the other side. Press from outside to equalize stuffing and mold it to the counters of the breast. Neck skin may be stuffed loosely.

Fold the neck skin under the turkey, then secure it by twisting the wing tips back and under so they hold the sides of the skin in place. Wing tips are flexible and will stay put so the neck-end of the turkey rests on them. (It should not be necessary to sew or trust but it’s ok to do so).

Pat the inside of the turkey dry again with paper toweling. Spoon stuffing into the cavity. Tuck the legs under the apron of skin left on top or tie them together, catching up the tail with string. It is not necessary to sew the turkey closed at the cavity end.

The turkey is stuffed and ready for roasting. It can be tightly covered and refrigerated overnight. Remove it from the refrigerator at least 4 to 6 hours before roasting.

How the breast looks when stuffed (after stuffing I pat the turkey dry and rub with some olive oil)

And finally, how it looks after roasting. Before the Miele I roasted at 425 for 20 minutes to kick start it then turned down to 325. Autoroast sears and defaults to 325. Handy. Forgive the blurry pic -- I'm living proof that beaujolais nouveau doesn't improve camera skills.

Thanks!! That was very complete! Okay, questions: Is it really okay to leave out for 4-6 hours? Did you add any spice to the olive oil on the outside of the turkey?

I'm going to use the dried mushrooms from Costco that you reconstitute. Looking forward to trying this. Moist breast will be good. I hope I get the probe right.

I've left mine out way longer than 4-6 hours with no problem. However, you want a cool spot -- should be in the low 70s, not near heater, lights etc. SIL in Mass left hers out on the screen porch. Our laundry room is quite cold in winter etc. I leave stuffing out separately. What I don't do is leave it out after stuffing -- even though it has no egg -- it should be roasted soon after.

I only use oo on the skin. Those bits are from the stuffing or the finely diced veggies below (probably thyme leaves). But of course you can add herbs to the olive oil.

I've used the dried mushrooms in the past -- Yumm. Thing with those mushrooms is to soak till very soft in boiling water, chop fine and use the liquid -- but strain it first through a coffee filter or paper towel as it's very gritty otherwise.

You'll get the probe right. Fleshiest part of the thigh.

rococogurl--do you put your temperature probe in the turkey thigh and not the breast? As I noted before, this is the first time I'll be roasting a turkey in the Miele oven, and the Miele instructions indicate the probe should be put in the breast. Since I'm relying on the oven to cook the bird correctly, I want to make sure I put the probe in the right place (although it does seem a bit like poultry surgery . . .). Thanks.

I don't want to contradict the oven manufacturer but I have no idea what temp they are looking for on the turkey breast. IOW what's the setting they give for white-meat doneness with the probe?

I've made a turkey for 35 years and always tested the thickest part of the thigh, away from the bone, which I cook to 165 F. Then it rests and continues to cook -- I tent and let it sit for at least 30-45 minutes before carving.

The Bittman book also recommends cooking to 165 F and testing the thickest part of the thigh.

But there's not one way. If in doubt get a skewer and stick it deep into the joint near where the leg meets the body -- those juices should run clear. Lots of pink means not cooked enough. Same would be true for the breast.

hi rococogurl

can that stuffing recipe be using for stuffing outside of the bird? or would it need modifications? thanks!

gooddogs -- I've done it in, out every way. Throw it into a baking dish, cover with foil and heat until it's hot. If done with sourdough or country bread it stays very moist. It reheats well in the microwave too. I also like it on leftover turkey sandwiches with Russian dressing.

Also can be served with chicken, pork, or duck -- adjusting broth as needed. It's my grandmother's recipe that, between us, has been used for over 60 years. It had butter, eggs and cooked pork sausage at various stages. I took all those out and subbed in olive oil about 12 years ago. It can be done also as a vegetarian stuffing with veggie broth or porcini bouillon cubes.

I'm in Florida. No such luck on 70 degrees! I think I should leave mine out less time. Good tip on mushrooms.

Okay, one more emergency question. I don't tent, because I don't use aluminum foil. I have a consideration about that which is unchanging. Can you tent with something else? What should I do?

My mom always used a piece torn from an old all-cotton sheet. She would wet it with warm water and wring it out before putting it on the turkey which then went into the oven. She would re-moisten the cloth each time she basted the bird. I've used that approach in previous years; I believe you could also use cheesecloth. This year, however, I'm trying the probe/no-baste technique. Happy cooking!

Thanks. What I meant was that Lovestocook and I think some others tent when they take it out to rest. Do you really have to?

I'd be careful about putting cloth or parchment over the turkey in this oven as it uses the broiler to sear. After would be ok. My choice would be cooking parchment.

Chinchette, you shouldn't need to tent it while in the oven -- in theory at least. The breast skin can get very dark and crisp but there's stuffing under there and it gets nice and crackly.

When it comes out, I let it rest so it's easier to slice and stays hot. I'd put some cooking parchment over and and a couple of dishtowels on that to hold in the heat.

Also, forgot to mention. Before I bought the oven I had a long talk with the Miele consumer people who emphasized that when you open this oven it loses 30% of the heat. I see people open an oven, baste leisurely, then wonder why the turkey takes so long. Big bonus to no-basting.

rococogurl--I want to clarify that I used cloth when roasting in our mid-century oven, and I wouldn't do so in our new Miele. I'm following your directions for roasting the turkey, and I expect having a glorious bird to serve tomorrow. Thanks. Lisa

We have a 22-lb. bird which will be stuffed. The regular roasting guidelines indicated about a five-hour roasting time (I know I have to allow time for it to rest, too). Does anyone have any idea how long I should plan for the bird to cook in the Miele? Coordinating the timing of everything on Thanksgiving is my bane. I'd like to be able to give the other hungry members of the family, including two teenage boys, an idea of when they'll be able to sit and eat.

Thanks. That was also a selling point for me on the oven, that I would not have to baste. Just set it and never once open the oven was the advice.

I'll take your advise with the parchment paper or towel on the cool down.

Anyone going to do auto-roast turkey this year? I'm going over this thread for today.

Last year, my first big experience with the new combo steam oven was a challenge (though possibly because I didn't put the probe in the breast), the outside was lovely and moist and the deep dark meat was all raw. I can't remember if I used auto roast or not. Thanks for all of the tips! Why doesn't miele provide better directions on their website. I am not crazy about the auto chef features that cater to more of a European style of cooking.

Also, has anyone adapted the NYT Jacques Pepin's Steam powered Turkey recipe to a miele steam oven? Thanks!

zolfavm, would you mind explaining what you mean by Miele catering to a more European style of cooking? I am intrigued.

I made a 13.5 lb stuffed turkey using the Auto Roast function. It cooked in about 3 hours and turned out great! The sear function browned the turkey really quickly and I was afraid that it was going to burn or that I would have to tent it. It turned out perfect. A deep golden brown and the meat was juicy. I tried the Master Chef function a couple of years ago and Auto Roast was far superior.