If the turkey is frozen allow 2-3 days to thaw in the refrigerator.

Brine the turkey overnight in the refrigerator. Butterball turkeys have already been brined so you can skip this step. I much prefer to brine the Turkey myself, so skip the butterball version.

Preheat the oven to 180°

Rub dry the cavity. Rub dry the skin. Stuff the turkey in the neck end leaving the rear cavity empty. Seal the neck using wooden skewers. Tie legs. Tuck wings under.

Make a cut in the skin from between the legs to about 75mm towards the breast. Slide your hand under the skin and loosen from the breast and on top of the legs. Stuff under the skin generous amounts of salted butter. Seal the cut in the skin by folding over and stitching together with a skewer. Spray or rub the skin with oil and season heavily.

Place in large roasting pan. Cover with foil and bake for 2 hours.
Remove the foil and continue to bake. Check the internal temp after 30 minutes. Turkey is cooked when internal breast temp is 72°. Total cook time will be about 3.0 hours. Remove from the oven and let stand uncovered for 1 to 2 hours before serving.

Make the Au Jus just before serving. You want really hot Au jus. Collect the pan and resting juices and bring to a boil in a small saucepan. The butter stuffed under the skin will have melted down through the turkey collecting lots of flavour that ended up in the pan. With the pan and resting juices you should have a perfect Au Jus. Nothing else needed. If not, begrudgingly, supplement with some packet mix and chicken stock to get enough.

Carving::
Forget what you have seen on TV. Its all wrong. Everyones cutting with the grain. Terrible. Heres how its done. Remove the thighs and legs. Cut the Wings off. Then remove each sides breast in one large piece. Set this on the board and slice perpendicular across the grain to create the perfect 8-10mm thick slices. You can only cut across the grain after the breast has been removed from the carcass.

1 Turkey 4.5kg
150g Salted Butter
Salt Pepper

Stuffing:
Crusty bread roughly cubed
Finely chopped onion, Melted butter, Mixed herbs, Thyme , Salt Pepper
Stock

Au Jus:
Pan Juices and Resting Juices
Chicken stock and or Gravy powder

All being correct you will not need the Gravy powder and stock as there should be the right amount of juices with the perfect balance of flavour.

Brine is 4L water, 1/2 cup rock salt, 1/2 cup oil, and your mix of spices such as thyme, clove powder, allspice, pepper. Whatever. Boil 1L of the water with salt and oil then add spices and 3L of water, cool to tepid. Add Turkey and refrigerate overnight.

Failsafe Recipe with a wonderful AuJus. A Roast Turkey for Christmas has become quite the tradition in recent times in Australia. The previous generation rarely cooked a turkey. Almost unheard of.

In my foolproof recipe there are 4 ideas that garauntee success. First, Brine the turkey. Can't say enough about how important this is to the flavour and texture. Second, stuff large amounts of butter under the skin. The butter actually cooks down and through the turkey and stuffing, moistening the meat and creating a fabulous Au jus. Third, cook to the right internal temperature. Finally, a very long resting time.

I have tried the slow roast method (5 hours at 100°) and I don't think the outcome is any better. Maybe not even as good. Baste occassionally. A bit of a brush with pan juices when you remove the foil and then twice more is all that is required.