Foodie Flashback: Butterbake Your Turkey

November 20, 2007

The only thing better than vintage recipes and cookbooks are vintage-cooking videos. While looking for Thanksgiving ideas, I came across this vintage commercial for a turkey made with real butter. You pat lots of butter all over, cover it with cheesecloth dipped in melted butter, and bake it slowly, basting with butter. Sounds like a recipe Paula Deen could really get behind. If you're interested in how to butterbake a turkey, or are just looking for a bit of Thanksgiving circa 1959, then check out the commercial, just read more

20 Comments

aimeeb 5 years 24 weeks

Love this vid

aimeeb 5 years 25 weeks

reeeeka I like your mom's idea...

aimeeb 5 years 25 weeks

vintage all the way!!

michichan 5 years 25 weeks

Oh wow, sounds delish

reeeeka 5 years 25 weeks

My mom does the butter between the skin and meet...but she spices the butter up with garlic and other seasoning and sometimes stuffs it with lemons and sprigs of herbs...0o0o so nice and juicy!

michichan 5 years 25 weeks

Ever try that old Ina Garten secret of buttering between the skin and meat?

urbngirl 5 years 25 weeks

This is how I've cooked my turkey every year. I rub a stick of butter all over it. I sprinkle some salt and pepper for taste. I put the stuffing in the turkey and tress it up. Cheesecloth goes on top. The turkey will come out so juicy and tender. The trick is to baste it every 20-30 minutes. You won't be disappointed.

aimeeb 5 years 25 weeks

Oh and a little salt too.

aimeeb 5 years 25 weeks

I do this all the time.

clbailey1 5 years 25 weeks

This went away?? My mom taught me to cook a turkey by smearing butter all over it before you stick it in the oven. I did this once and it...was...FABULOUS! It's a good thing that this a meal eaten only once per year, though!

celebrity_soup 5 years 25 weeks

wow, imagine all that fat inside my body. eeewwww, i have to say though, it must be very tasty though!

mamaseacat 5 years 25 weeks

I never ate the turkey he made. I'm guessing it didn't have any flavor but it must have been very moist.

Daisie 5 years 25 weeks

That seems like a bit too much! I just asked my mom how to cook my first turkey and she told me to put some pats of butter underneath the skin.

michichan 5 years 25 weeks

shortening? But where's the flavour?

mamaseacat 5 years 25 weeks

OMG... I remember working for this old man many years ago. And when we ran out of office filing to do, he asked me to help with the turkey. He wanted me to cover the whole turkey in shortening! I did, and it was disgusting. After watching this commercial, now it totally makes sense. This was what he was used to. I bet it's good with all that butter.

michichan 5 years 25 weeks

ah, the good ol days, when nobody cared about trans fats.

ragus 5 years 25 weeks

lol

GiggleSugar 5 years 25 weeks

Butterbaked, the American Dairy Association way. Yummers! :drool:

BlairBear 5 years 25 weeks

I want to try this but I'm afraid I might have a heart attack! It's looks so good though.

Rhiannon 5 years 25 weeks

Thanks for finding this, I love a look into our culinary past. It's so amazing how many ways there are to cook Turkey. Everyone thinks their method is the only way to go. It took weeks of lobbying, but a few years ago I eventually convinced my family to let me brine the turkey. Until that time we had only eaten dry flavorless turkey, that had been cooked to death. My grandmother would start cooking the bird at dawn. I don't remember her using the butter soaked cheesecloth, it probably would have helped.

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