Roast Turkey

Method

1. cure1440 min
   dry brine: salted all over, uncovered in the fridge, 1-3 days
   the thawed bird patted dry, salted everywhere including inside, and left UNCOVERED on a rack in the refrigerator — the salt travels in over a day and the fridge air dries the skin to parchment; this one step replaces the wet brine, the basting, and most of the anxiety, which is why the modern canon converged on it
2. prep20 min
   herb butter under the breast skin, aromatics in, legs tied
   butter + thyme + sage + pepper worked under the loosened breast skin, onion + lemon in the cavity (aroma, not stuffing — the stuffing bakes in its own dish where it can crisp and can't undercook), legs tied, wings tucked, breast up on a rack, stock in the pan below to keep the drippings from scorching into bitterness
3. rest60 min
   at room temperature, breast iced if ambitious
   out of the fridge an hour before the oven — and the gap-engineering trick from the serious sources: a bag of ice laid on the breast for that hour chills the white meat a few degrees behind the legs, so both arrive at their different finish lines together
4. roast170 min
   325°F, legs toward the oven's back, untouched, to 160°F breast / 175°F thigh
   roughly 13 minutes a pound, with the probe telling the truth the skin can't — the door stays shut (no basting; the crisp skin was earned in the fridge), foil shields the breast only if it races ahead, and the bird comes out when the BREAST hits 160°F, carrying to safe temperature in the rest
5. rest40 min
   tented loosely, 30-45 minutes — longer than feels right
   the most violated rule in the holiday: a big bird needs a big rest, and carving at ten minutes pours the breast's juice onto the board instead of down chins; the drippings become the catalog's pan gravy while the bird stands
6. slice15 min
   broken down, then sliced — not carved at the table
   legs and thighs off first, breasts removed WHOLE from the bone and sliced crosswise on the board — the kitchen breakdown beats table-side theater on every axis: even slices, skin on every piece, and the carcass goes straight to the stock pot, where next year's gravy begins