Okay, I put the bird in this morning on 200 degrees at 6:30 am as I had to work. I'm home now and the little pop up timer has popped up but it doesn't look done. Had it covered until the kid took the tinfoil off about an hour ago. And no, I don't own a meat thermometer. I've heard it's done if the juices run clear or the leg falls off easily. How do I tell if the dang thing is done? And if it's done, is there anyway to get it to darken up without drying it all out? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to time everything else so we're not eating bone dry turkey, cold mashed potatoes and lumpy gravy, and burnt rolls. I think I can swing the corn. LOL

Thanks in advance for any advice.

you can try sticking a big fork into the thickest part of the dark meat to make sure the juice is not bloody.
spooning the pan juices over the turkey will help it brown.
you may need to turn the oven up to 325 to help with the browning.
Hope this isn't too late!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Best method I've found is to prick the leg joint with a fork...if the juices run clear or just slightly pink, you are good to go. Good luck and happy turkey day!

the thickest part of the dark meat would be between the leg and the thigh.

Thank you both!! I just turned it up and think it's actually gonna work out well, will hopefully brown while I get everything else ready. Hope you both have a great day!

Just stick a few times with a fork in birds breast, when juice is clear it's oke.
To brown put the bird under the gril of your oven for 5-8 minutes.

Have a nice meal

To brown, melt some butter and brush it on...then crank up heat slightly (25 degrees or so) and go another 15 min's.

Good job. Enjoy the feast!!

Thanks folks, juice is clear, buttered it this morning, so we're good to go. I'll let ya know later how it turned out. Bless you all for responding!!

Next time save your 1.25 for a meat thermometer. I never used one till recently and it's been useful. That way all the homeless you trucked over to your home won't get some stomach virus :)

Happy Gobble Gobble day (man I wish that meant something different)

I see you have been reading my posts! Nice!

as for the lumpy mashed taters, heat up a little milk in the microwave...add a little to the taters as needed...if you have an electic hand mixer...use that to whip 'em up! Should turn out nice & fluffy.

Oh, my bad...it was lumpy gravy! DUH! If you are using pain drippings...mmmmmmmmmm, yummy!...mix up some cornstarch with COLD water...heat up pan drippings over medium heat, adding corn starch mixture a little at a time, stir constanly until it starts to boil...to get smooth, thick gravy.

"pain drippings"

sounds like an S&M thing

Thanks shutter and everyone else that gave advice.

Dinner's been devoured by the kid and I, made enough to feed an army so we'll have leftovers for a week but it came out wonderfully. Okay, burnt the bottom of the rolls a little tiny bit but everything else came out damn near perfect. Miracles do happen. Time to go weeble wobble to the couch and watch the rest of the game through my eyelids!