You can cook a turkey as large as you can fit into your microwave oven, but anything larger than 16 pounds will require a lot of turning over and will probably be a lot more trouble than it's worth. No matter what size turkey you want to cook, be sure there is at least a 3-inch space between it and the side walls and at least 2-inches between the turkey and the ceiling of your microwave.
Because of a turkey's size and uneven shape it needs to be turned over at least once during cooking so that it can receive the most even penetration of microwave energy.
It's better not to use a microwave safe roasting rack when cooking a turkey because the turkey needs to be cooked breast side down and a roasting rack will leave marks on the bird.
A turkey will brown in the microwave because of its size and length of cooking time that allows it to build up enough surface heat for browning. That's why the turkey is not covered in the microwave. A cover would keep the surface too moist and limit browning.
If a crisp skin is desired, a conventional oven is necessary because a microwave oven does not provide dry heat like a conventional oven does.
It's important to remove cooking fats with a bulb baster because large amounts of fat can slow down cooking.
If any area of the turkey seems to be overcooking cover them carefully with foil.
Because of the size of a turkey it needs a 20 minute standing time to complete the cooking process. The turkey should be tented with foil to reflect the heat back to the turkey.
DONENESS: The turkey leg should meve freely at the joint and the flesh should feel soft when pressed firmly. The internal temperature of the thickest part of the thigh should register 180oF after 1 minute (However, use a conventional meat thermometer, because a microwave cooking probe is not always accurate when cooking a turkey. It may touch a bone or fat might run down the probe and raise the temperature). When the breast meat is pierced under the wing, the juices will run clear and not red, before the standing time.
If the temperature has reached 180oF, but the juices do not run clear, continue cooking, but cover the wing, leg ends and upper breast with foil to keep them from overcooking. Cook for 5 additional minutes at a time until the bird is done.
OVERDONE: Certain areas such as the top leg or breastbone areas that could become overcooked and will be hard, dry and striny. Cut these areas off, set them aside for soup, and serve the rest. If they are drier than normal, slice the meat thin and bathe in juices or serve with gravy. Even this meat is not likely to be any drier than most conventionally cooked turkeys.
