Brine the turkey for at least 24hrs and temper the bird before it enters the oven. Brine can consist of anything - I usually start with a base of 1 cup coarse salt to 2 cups sugar into about 8L of litres of water and go crazy from there. Cloves, bay leaves, oregano, basil, whole peppercorns, what have you. Before putting it in the oven, I like to slather the entire bird with butter. No basting required as to avoid opening the oven door during the cooking process.
I prefer to cook at 325F with a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh. If presentation doesn't matter, I find it cooks a lot faster and evenly if you detach the thigh portion and cook them seperately so you can pull the bird out first and finish off the thighs in the oven. 165F internal temperature is the time to pull it out and let it rest for 30-40min though I prefer to pull it out earlier.
The biggest obstacle is the cooking element. Every oven I've used has had significant differences in cooking time. Best to rely on the meat thermometer and if you're good, by touch. I just made a turkey on Friday at a friend's home and the 15lb bird took a mere 2.5hrs in an old oven.
Good luck
Posted via RS Mobile