Puerto Rican Pavochón (Turkey Seasoned Like Pernil)
A Thanksgiving turkey with the flavor of a Puerto Rican pork roast: garlic, oregano, olive oil and adobo spread under the skin, butter tucked in, two days in the fridge, then basted with dark beer.
The name gives the recipe away: pavo (turkey) plus lechón (roast pig). Pavochón is a turkey seasoned the way Puerto Ricans season a holiday pork roast, and some cooks stuff it with mofongo, mashed fried plantains (Wikipedia:).
Writing in The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2022, Jessica Van Dop DeJesus remembered her late father in their kitchen in Guayama, Puerto Rico, seasoning the Thanksgiving turkey with the same mix he used for his pernil, the garlic and oregano smell that still means home to her. She made her own first pavochón in 2003 for the Marines under her command in Okinawa, and later added a bottle of dark Belgian beer for basting while keeping her father's seasoning. Whether pavochón was born on the island or among Puerto Ricans on the mainland is DISPUTED (see Rules).
Why it works the kitchen science
Seasoning under the skin
Garlic, oregano and salt spread directly on the meat, then left for a day or two, season it deeply, the same way a long marinade works on pernil.
Butter inside, beer outside
Butter tucked under the skin bastes the breast from within as it melts, and the beer, added once the bird is partly cooked, adds a malty brown glaze to the pan juices without burning.
Step by step
- Step 1
One to two days ahead: stir the marinade ingredients together. Pat the turkey dry. Slide your fingers under the skin of the breast and thighs to loosen it, spread about a third of the marinade under the skin and brush the rest all over the bird and inside the cavity. Tuck the butter pieces under the skin, cover with foil and refrigerate 24 to 48 hours.
- Step 2
Take the turkey out 15 to 20 minutes before roasting and heat the oven to 350°F. Fill the cavity loosely with the vegetables and herbs, set the turkey breast side up on a rack in a roasting pan and cover it loosely with foil.
- Step 3
Roast 2 hours, lifting the foil to baste with the pan juices every 15 to 20 minutes.
- Step 4
Start checking the temperature at 2 hours. When the thickest part of the breast reads about 130°F, take off the foil, spoon the pan juices over the bird and pour the beer over it.
- Step 5
Keep roasting uncovered, basting every 15 to 20 minutes, until a thermometer reads 165°F in the thickest part of the breast and the innermost thigh and wing, about 45 to 75 minutes more. If the skin darkens too fast, lay the foil back over the breast.
- Step 6
Rest the turkey 30 minutes. Discard the vegetables in the cavity, carve, and spoon the skimmed pan juices over the meat.
Puerto Rican Pavochón (Turkey Seasoned Like Pernil)
Serves 12 · one 14 lb turkey · 4 hr 15 min total
Marinade
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 2 to 3 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tbsp minced garlic (about 6 cloves)
- 2 tbsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp adobo seasoning or sazón
- 2 tsp black pepper
Turkey
- 1 turkey (12 to 15 lb), thawed, neck and giblets removed
- 2 sticks (1 cup) cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
For roasting
- 1 onion, 2 carrots and 2 celery ribs, cut into 2 inch pieces
- A few sprigs each of fresh rosemary, sage and oregano
- 1 bottle (12 oz) dark beer, at room temperature
Method
- One to two days ahead: stir the marinade ingredients together. Pat the turkey dry. Slide your fingers under the skin of the breast and thighs to loosen it, spread about a third of the marinade under the skin and brush the rest all over the bird and inside the cavity. Tuck the butter pieces under the skin, cover with foil and refrigerate 24 to 48 hours.
- Take the turkey out 15 to 20 minutes before roasting and heat the oven to 350°F. Fill the cavity loosely with the vegetables and herbs, set the turkey breast side up on a rack in a roasting pan and cover it loosely with foil.
- Roast 2 hours, lifting the foil to baste with the pan juices every 15 to 20 minutes.
- Start checking the temperature at 2 hours. When the thickest part of the breast reads about 130°F, take off the foil, spoon the pan juices over the bird and pour the beer over it.
- Keep roasting uncovered, basting every 15 to 20 minutes, until a thermometer reads 165°F in the thickest part of the breast and the innermost thigh and wing, about 45 to 75 minutes more. If the skin darkens too fast, lay the foil back over the breast.
- Rest the turkey 30 minutes. Discard the vegetables in the cavity, carve, and spoon the skimmed pan juices over the meat.
Adapted from Jessica Van Dop DeJesus's pavochón in The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 21, 2022. Her bird is 12 to 15 lb; we use 14 lb. She roasts at 350°F, adds the beer when the turkey reaches 130°F and finishes at 170°F between the breast and thigh; we keep the 350°F oven and the beer step but finish at USDA FSIS's 165°F, checked in the breast, thigh and wing. Her "sazón/adobo" is a store-bought seasoning blend; choose either. We fill the cavity with her aromatic vegetables, not mofongo, because USDA FSIS recommends cooking stuffing outside the bird; serve mofongo on the side. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- Adobo seasoning is salty. If yours lists salt first, cut the kosher salt to 1 tbsp.
- Serve it with the pernil sides: rice with pigeon peas (arroz con gandules) and mofongo.
- Basting means opening the oven often, which slows cooking; budget the longer end of the time range.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Pavochón was born on the island. Disputed: the Inquirer essay describes it as a family tradition in Guayama, Puerto Rico, while Puerto Rican food writers we could read only in excerpts argue it grew up in the mainland diaspora, where Thanksgiving is a bigger holiday.
- Pavochón is stuffed with mofongo. Disputed: Wikipedia describes it that way; the Inquirer recipe fills the cavity with vegetables and herbs. USDA FSIS recommends cooking any stuffing outside the bird.
- Cook it to 170°F. Disputed: the Inquirer recipe finishes at 170°F; USDA FSIS's safe minimum for all turkey is 165°F (UGA Extension:).
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