Turkey is my jam. And everything about making a whole roasted turkey is calculated for creating as much flavor as possible.

I make my own turkey stock, as soon as I get my hands on the bird.

I make a herb compound butter, to compliment the flavor of the turkey, the stock, and to flavor my pan gravy.

But here’s the thing. Roasting a turkey is not an exact science. You need an oven safe thermometer. You need a baster. You need to be flexible and adjust your temperature as you go to adapt for cooking time, to coincide with your other dishes.

And it’s really hard to know how much or how little of an herb or vegetable you might need, because everyone cooks different sized turkeys.

So this guide is a “general” one. All the things you need to make the perfect turkey, but you have to give it some grace, because different sized turkeys need different things.

I like to cook my turkey at 300. I like to cook it low and slow, with lots of basting. The general rule at this temp, is approximately 15 minutes per pound of turkey. So I calculate the total time, add an additional 30 minutes for resting, 15 for carving, and 45 minutes to prep, and loose some of the fridge chill before cooking to start. It gives me a starting off point; but at no point do I take it as a guarantee. I let my oven thermometer be the guide.

And that guide should take you to 160 degrees, before you remove from the oven, take the bird out of the pan, and tent. Leaving the pan free to make gravy in, and the bird to come to temperature.

Ingredients:

whole turkey, giblets and neck removed the day before cooking and reserved for stock

2 whole onions, peeled, halved, and quartered

6 carrots, tops and bottoms removed, and chopped

8 ribs of celery, chopped

1 bunch of thyme

1 bunch of rosemary

1 bunch of italian parsley

compound herb butter

salt

pepper

warmed turkey stock

warmed milk

flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

1 1/2 hours before cooking, remove compound herb butter from the fridge to thaw.

45 minutes before cooking, remove turkey from fridge and place in a oven and stovetop safe roasting pan, pat dry

30 minutes before cooking, using your hands, spread compound butter all over turkey, inside and out, making sure to get butter in between skin and meat.

Using a heavy hand, salt and pepper outside, and inside of the turkey.

Stuff the turkey’s neck and body cavities with equal amounts of vegetables and herbs. Place any leftover herbs and vegetables in the bottom of the pan to create a “shelf” for the turkey to rest on.

Place turkey in pan, breast side down.

Place in oven, inserting thermometer in turkey thigh, and roast for 45 minutes at 300.

After first 45 minutes, open oven, and baste turkey, using juice that has collected at the bottom of the pan. Rotate pan 180 degrees. Reposition thermometer.

After a second 45 minutes, open oven, and baste turkey, using juice that has collected at the bottom of the pan. Rotate pan 180 degrees. Reposition thermometer.

After 30 minutes, open oven, and baste turkey, using juice that has collected at the bottom of the pan. Rotate pan 180 degrees. Reposition thermometer.

After 30 minutes, open oven, and baste turkey, using juice that has collected at the bottom of the pan. Remove pan from oven. Using tongs, flip turkey over so that it is now breast side up. Baste top of the turkey. Reposition thermometer in turkey breast.

Continue to baste, turn, and reposition thermometer every 30 minutes, until thermometer reads 160 degrees.

Remove turkey from the oven. Remove turkey from pan and place on platter. Tent with tin foil. Discard vegetables and herbs from the pan, saving liquid for pan gravy, and removing pan to the stove top.

Stove top gravy is also subjective, because you just don’t know how much liquid your roasted bird will generate.

Place the stove safe pan over two burners turned to medium-high.

Add flour by the tablespoon, whisking to incorporate after each addition. Continue adding flour until a thick roux has formed (i.e. it’s no longer liquid, but a paste like consistency). Add in 1 cup of warmed liquid at a time. 2 cups of stock to 1 cup of milk. Whisking after each addition, until it reaches the consistency of gravy.

Turn heat down to simmer until time to add to gravy boat before dinner. Then turn off heat and serve.