T-Day dilemma: A turkey without added fat or salt?

Hey everybody!

I wanted to check out everyone's answers to this topic because I'm in a real quandary about Thanksgiving this year. I was hoping to find some healthy alternatives for roasting turkeys that didn't involve slathering it with butter, oil (read: fat) or brine or stock (read: salt).

But seriously....Chef Alton Brown is our favorite chef and he goes with the brine method, so that might be reason enough for me to try a brine this year for the first time ever. But years ago I had heard someone on t.v. (Joan Lunden, maybe?) talking about rubbing down a turkey with orange juice before roasting. I can't be positive, but I think she said she was going to use a can of frozen o.j. concentrate, squeezing a little out of the can at a time as she went along. But I don't know if you'd have to keep basting it, or if you'd need to use a roasting bag or what? Does anybody know the answer to this? I'd really like to try it because, yes, although it would contribute "sugar" to the meal at least it would be "natural sugar" (when buying unsweetened o.j.) and so I'd feel a little bit better about that than I would about adding fat or salt to an otherwise healthy bird.

*sigh* Or maybe I should just say, "Eh...it's Thanksgiving. We watch what we eat the rest of the year, let's live it up today" (and at Christmas, of course!)?

What do y'all think? Is o.j. a viable alternative? If so, would I need to baste or use a roasting bag or what would I do? Does anyone else have any other "potentially healthy" alternative they'd like to contribute? Should I maybe just throw caution to the wind on this one and go with a fat- or salt- laden bird?

I value your opinions! Thanks in advance, and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

I'm salt sensitive so I can't brine my turkey.  I solve the juiciness problem by roasting it breast down.  I've described this method in another post and will edit to provide a link.

edited to add:  http://caloriecount.about.com/thanksgiving-co ming-turkey-suggestions-please-ft120399#3

The orange rub sounds good, you could put some stock in the bottom for some added basting liqui (orange, garlic, ginger and paprika would make a good rub combo)

This may not be the answer you were looking for...but I wouldn't worry too much about the turkey (I wouldn't deep fry it, but do what you would normally do), but instead make all the side dishes as healthy as possible.  No butter/cream in the potatoes (or mashed sweet potatoes or, my family loves, mashed turnip), roast or steam with herbs as many other veggies as you can.  Then you can have a portion (5oz is a serving I think) of turkey without breaking the bank.  Maybe skip the stuffing, if you can....

Good luck.

I'm going to try making turkey breasts in a slow cooker. I expect that to make it moist, although I can't say for sure since I've never tried it before.

Here's the recipe I'm using. I don't eat bacon, and most of the reviews said it should be omitted, so I'm going without it.

You can stuff the cavity of the turkey with orange and/or lemon slices, fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme, etc, a few cloves of garlic. You could use low sodium chicken stock to baste. A good quality turkey will taste great just roasted, even without being slathered in buttery goodness :)

I've always just sprinkled the turkey with poultry seasoning (the herby kind, not the salty kind), quarterd an onion and an orange, stuck the pieces inside and was careful to not over cook the turkey, not basting required.  Its always worked out nicely so far :)...Though I do always cover it in a foil tent to elminate oven mess, but that might help stop it from drying out too, just take off the tent for the last 20-30 minutes to let the bird brown

I rub the turkey with a little olive oil.  No butter.  I have never brined a turkey, and they are fine and moist.  Use a meat thermometer instead of the lottle red pop-up thing.  I have heard roasting breast down is good too as another poster suggested.   I've never tried it.

Anyway rubbuing the bird with a few tablespoons of olive oil shouldn't present a fat concen, you will be roasting out more fat than that while cooking. Don't use a self basting (sodum injected) bird and you won't have a sodium issue.

We (and by we I mean my mother), don't usually use much extra fat or salt when roasting the turkey.

I think the most important part for keeping it moist is to cook it in a covered roasting pan.

Here's what she does.

Take about one tablespoon of soft butter (you really don't need much if it's soft) and rub it over the outer skin of the (washed and patted dry) turkey. Sprinkle/rub some Bell's poultry seasoning on the outside, and distribute some inside the bird's cavity. I think she uses one or two teaspoons total. She then stuffs the cavity with homemade stuffing, which she does not add a lot of salt to.

You can find Bell's seasoning in the cooking/baking section of the supermarket. It's in a little yellow cardboard box. I believe it has no added sodium, or very little.

Wow! Thank you so much for your help, everyone! I appreciate each and every response.

It looks like I'll be roasting it breast side down for sure. As for what fruits, veggies, herbs and seasonings to use, you have all given such great and diverse answers, my d.h. ("bubbadan") and I will go through every one of them together before making a decision, I promise!

And yes, thermal, you have a valid point- we do need to find some balance with the side dishes as well. So thanks for the gentle reminder.

Thank you again to everyone for the time and care you put into your answers, to help us have a delicious yet healthy Thanksgiving dinner. I appreciate it and I'm sure my family will, too! Happy Thanksgiving!

There is no need whatsoever to add salt OR fat to your turkey. There's plenty of fat under the skin naturally, more is overkill. It will roast up just fine if you put a little liquid in the base of the pan and use that to baste it with. It will even roast up fine if you don't baste it at all - just don't overcook it. I've always found that the popup timer they give you works just fine to tell me when my turkey is done and it's never been dry or overdone.

Me..........I would not brine a turkey.

We ordered an all natural, fresh turkey and it was wonderful last yr.  Expensive but wonderful.