Roast turkey - my principles

Turkey roasting should be done in the most natural way:

The tastiest way of roasting by which the turkey keeps its original unique flavors is to keep it simple.

To me, like with any other meat type roasts, brining turkey meat or marinating takes away its distinctive flavours at an additional costs, e.g. for vegetable stock (although some people find the brine scent as an essential step to roasting turkeys.)

1. Salt the whole turkey (before roasting.)
2. Fill the turkey with stuffing (if using one.)
3. Stitch the turkey tight like a surgeon. Thread or a wire works well.
4. Place the turkey into the roaster.
5. If you wish to uplift your turkey away from the bottom (if there is the room in height) position it onto a bed of unpeeled garlic cloves or whole carrots.
6. If you wish sprinkle finely chopped garlic or a favorite herbs over its skin.
7. Pour large mug of natural spring water or filtered water into the roster (not over the bird.)
8. Cover the roaster with lid or wrap well with AL foil (you don't want the steam running out.)
9. Place the roaster with turkey into preheated oven to 355 degrees F = 180°C.
10. Leave it to roast
11. Roasting timings can be calculated in the calculator on this page (or manually.)
12. For skin browning uncover the lid (or AL foil) 30 minutes prior turkey's roasting END.

Why unbrined bird?

Unbrined slow roasted meat in closed roaster, then skin browned towards the end, is beautiful and natural. Tender, moist, gets perfectly of the bones, totally delitious. There will be plenty of liquid juice for making the gravy.

Smoking flavour of turkey

Consider smoking if you are using a wood burning oven.

To add the nice smoke aroma and flavour to your turkey; introduce the smoke inside the oven at the browning time. Smoking goes on for 30 minutes.

Small twig or any other clean dry wood, or even natural hay can be used. Although hay burns out fast. I usually throw a dry twig laying around onto the ashes in one corner and then I close the oven. The twig starts to produce smoke on its own in a minute.