Roasting with the door open or closed?

[mkmadan]

I have had our oven for a few weeks now and we are attempting our first turkey as a practice for TG....It would seem to me that the door needs to be in place so the oven does not cool down too quickly. Any tips would be greatly appreciated....
Mike

[dmun]

This is my first wood oven thanksgiving too. I thought about doing a rehersal for the big day, but the thought of two sets of turkey leftovers in the freezer is not an appealing one. I'm going to build a fire the night before, and a big one first thing in the morning. When the fire is down to coals, I'm going to rake it out, put the door on, and let it cool down to about 450. I'm going to put the turkey in and see what happens. I have one of those remote probe thermometers, so I can keep an eye on internal temperatures without opening the door. I figure the worst thing that will happen is that the oven will get too cold, and I'll have to cart it inside to the kitchen.

[mkmadan]

I am happy to report that the turkey turned out fantastic. I made some pizzas after soaking the oven for about two hours...I then waited till the temp went down to about 450, put the bird in as directed in e-cookbook...two and a half hours later we had a great roasted turkey. I did keep the door closed by the way....

[dmun]

Originally Posted by mkmadan

I then waited till the temp went down to about 450, put the bird in as directed in e-cookbook...two and a half hours later we had a great roasted turkey. I did keep the door closed by the way....

Great news. How big was your turkey? Was it stuffed?