JDW | Butterball Turkey & Gravy, Oven Roasted @JDW- | Uploaded January 2016 | Updated October 2024, 2 hours ago.
This was my 2nd time to roast a turkey. The 1st time was several years ago when I BBQ'd one of the same size on a Weber charcoal grill using the rotisserie module. Because my residence now lacks outside AC power, I decided to oven-roast the turkey this time. The bird came out well, although a tad undercooked beneath the wings. The saltiness was satisfactory. The gravy didn't turn out well (not thick enough) mainly because I followed a YouTube chef's recipe who wasn't specific. I hate the lack of specifics. I never get things right without them. Hopefully this video will serve as a help to those following in my footsteps, especially if you're in Japan like I am, which can be a big handicap when cooking non-Japanese meals like this.

If you live in Japan and buy from Costco, note there are 2 huge mistakes on the free Japanese language instructional paper they have sitting next to the turkeys:

1) The thaw time they claim is bogus. You need, at minimum, 3.5 days for a 13lb turkey, and as you will see in my video, there was still a bit of ice inside the turkey at that point. Just read the English instructions on the Butterball packaging for the truth.

2) The recommended cook time is too long. They suggested 5 hours for this 13lb bird! Just read the English instructions on the Butterball packaging, which says 3.0 to 3.5 hours. But of course, you need a thermometer to know exactly when to remove it. I didn't have an oven-safe thermometer for this roast. I want 2 of those for next time. They save you the trouble and heat-loss of having to open the oven multiple times to check temperature.