Turkey

Ingredients: Turkey sea salt Fresh organic poultry herb blend (sage, rosemary and thyme) -2 Oil - coconut oil, first pressed olive oil or avocado oil Directions: First, I think the quality of the turkey really makes a difference with the taste.  I always buy an organic turkey either from Costco or from a farm in Pennsylvania. If frozen, must thaw for 25 hours for every 5 pounds of turkey. Now, lets' get cooking! Set oven to 450 degrees. Remove the neck and innards.  (I forgot to do this one year-yuck!) Completely pat dry turkey as you want the skin as dry as possible.  I use paper towels to prevent from poultry contamination.  If you do this in a sink, be sure to clean your sink out with soap and water after you finish drying the turkey and before putting anything back in the sink. Then sprinkle any type of sea salt all over the turkey and rub that in with your hands.  This will help sop up moisture from the turkey as well. Transfer to cutting board or even directly to your roasting pan. Then lightly rub desired oil all over the skin of the turkey.  I prefer coconut oil, although sometimes it will harden a bit after applying if the turkey is still very cold.  However, it still works just fine. Transfer to roasting pan if not done so and position turkey with breast facing up. Then, use a paring knife to make 4 -1 inch slits in the skin only of your turkey. I typically make the slits one on each thigh and one on each breast. Then, very carefully, place a small bundle of your herbs inside the slits between the skin and the meat with care so you don't increase the size of the slits.  Then I add a little oil inside the slits as well.  I prefer using coconut oil as it I like the taste and it is a little easier to scoop as it is often solid in the Fall season. Then, I put the remainder of the herbs in the cavity. Insert the meat thermometer into the meatiest part of the thigh and locate it so you can see it through the oven door. Check to see it is at 450 degrees.  Then, reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Put bird in the oven. Then bake WITHOUT opening oven door for about 13 -15 minutes per pound of turkey. That means if you have for example, a 16 pound turkey, bake it for 208 minutes or about 3 1/2 hours. Do not baste as it is important to keep the oven door closed for the turkey to cook best. When baking time has been reached, check the thermometer.  When it reaches 165 degrees, the turkey should be cooked through.  You may want to insert the thermometer in another meaty section of the turkey to be sure whole turkey is at 165 degrees. Let turkey rest for 20 - 30 minutes before carving. I usually tent a piece of foil over the turkey trying to avoid it touching the skin (to keep it crisp).