Method

1. To start, if the turkey has been refrigerated, bring it to room temperature before cooking for about 30 minutes. If you get a frozen turkey, you will need to defrost it in the refrigerator for 3 or 4 days first. Allow about 24 hours of defrost time for every 2kg of turkey. Example: a 10kg turkey will take 4-5 days to thaw.
2. Remove the giblets.
3. Preheat the oven.
4. Wash out the turkey with water.
5. Lather the inside with the juice of half a lemon.
6. Take a small handful of salt and rub all over the inside of the turkey.
7. If you are stuffing the turkey, pack the stuffing loosely into the neck and body cavity, allowing room for it to expand when it's cooked. Any leftover stuffing can be baked in a casserole dish alongside the turkey in the oven, or if you'd rather, all of it instead of inside the bird.
8. Rub either melted butter or olive oil all over the outside of the turkey, then sprinkle with flaked salt and freshly ground black pepper.
9. Place turkey BREAST DOWN on a rack over or in a stainless steel roasting pan (Cooking the turkey breast down means the skin over the breast will not get so brown. However, all of the juices from the cooking turkey will fall down into the breast while cooking. And the resulting bird will be succulent and moist.)
10. Add several sprigs of fresh (if possible) thyme and rosemary to the outside of the turkey.
11. Close up the turkey cavity with either string or metal skewers.
12. Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the dark meat on the thigh, making sure not to touch any bone with the thermometer needle.
13. Put the turkey in the oven at 180°C for the first ½ hour, then add enough of the chicken stock and white wine to the pan making sure it doesn't touch the bottom of the turkey and reduce the heat to 160°C for the next 1-2 hrs, then reduce the heat further to 145°C for the rest of the cooking time. Top up the stock and wine over this period as required.
14. Cook turkey for 30 minutes per kilo. For more detailed poultry cooking times see Chicken and Poultry Cooking Times chart.
15. To test for doneness, remove the turkey from the oven. The dark meat in the thigh should be about 82°C. The white meat in the breast should be 74°C to 77°C. It's handy to also have an instant read thermometer for checking the white meat as the oven thermometer will take a while to read this meat after having been in the turkey thigh in the oven.
16. If you don't have a meat thermometer, spear the breast with a knife. The juices should be clear, not pink. If the turkey is done ahead of schedule, it is safe to hold it in the oven at a reduced temperature of 93°C. Leave the thermometer in the turkey and make sure that the temperature of the turkey does not drop below 60°C during holding time. Keep the turkey covered so it does not dry out.