The Best Roast Turkey “Ever”

I have been making this turkey for years.  I got the original out of the Meijer's Thrifty Acres add years ago.  I know that it was part of a spice company add, I think McCormick, but I have updated the processes a bit to keep up with the times.

Ingredients 

1 Tablespoon of Italian Seasoning

2 Teaspoons Seasoned Salt

1 Teaspoon Dry Ground Mustard

1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

½ Teaspoon Pepper, Fresh Ground if you have it.

1-approximately 12 pound Turkey-Adjust seasoning for much bigger bird

2 Bay Leaves

2 Stalks of celery

1 onion, quartered

1 small orange quartered-I prefer the Florida juice oranges, and well washed

1 to 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil-I prefer a good expeller pressed olive oil

Instructions

1.     Preheat oven to 325°F.

2.     Combine first 5 ingredients.

3.     Wash the turkey and remove giblets.

4.     Place turkey on a rack in a shallow baking pan.  Shallow is 1 ½ inch sides or less, just remember they will make drippings, so you want to make sure that those are all caught.

5.     Sprinkle 2 Tablespoons of dry seasoning mix from step 1 inside the turkey.

6.     Stuff bay leaves, celery stalks, onion and orange inside the turkey.

7.     Rub oil over the surface of the entire bird.

8.     Loosen the skin on the breast and rub 3/4 of the remaining rub under the skin, and sprinkle with rest of the seasoning mix on the legs, thighs, and bottom.

9.     Tie the legs together with bakers twine, and tuck the wings under the bird.  Wrap the small part of the leg with foil to keep it from browning too quickly.

10. Loosely tent with foil, I like the heavy duty type best.  Bake for 3 ½ to 4 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 180°F in the meaty underside of the thigh closest to the body.  Get close to the bone, but do not touch it.  If you have a pop-up device, so much the better.

11. Baste several times with pan juices during the baking time.  Remove foil during the last 30 minutes of cooking.

12. Let the turkey set for at least ½ hour before carving.  This gives you time to make gravy from the drippings and set up the food on the buffet or table.

Notes:  I have used lemons instead of oranges, and that was good.  I have placed a couple of slices of the orange and bay leaves under the skin, and this kept the breast a little moister during the roasting process.  I have added Teaspoon of ground bay leaves to the rub mix, which was really nice.

I tried roasting it breast down once, and we didn’t like that.  It didn’t do well in a roasting bag either.

I use the giblets to make broth for the gravy, and add pan drippings to that.