Roast Turkey with Butter Under the Skin

1. 1Two days ahead, pat the turkey dry and rub the flaky salt and pepper all over it, including inside the cavity. Sit it on a rack over a tray and refrigerate uncovered. This is a dry brine: the salt draws out moisture, dissolves, and is drawn back in seasoned, while the skin dries for crisping.
2. 2Take the turkey out an hour before cooking. Mash the soft butter with the lemon zest, thyme and rosemary.
3. 3Slide your fingers between the skin and the breast meat from the neck end, working carefully so you loosen the skin without tearing it. Push two thirds of the butter into that gap and spread it flat from outside. Rub the rest over the skin.
4. 4Heat the oven to 180°C fan. Scatter the onions, carrots, garlic and bay in a large roasting tin and pour in the stock.
5. 5Sit the turkey on top breast-down and roast for 1 hour. Upside down, the juices run into the breast instead of out of it, and the legs — which need longer — are exposed to the direct heat they want.
6. 6Turn it breast-up, using a wad of kitchen paper in each hand, and roast for a further 1½–2 hours, basting twice. A 5 kg bird takes roughly 2½–3 hours in total.
7. 7It is done when a thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh, not touching bone, reads 74°C and the juices run clear. Start checking 30 minutes before you expect it, because ovens lie.
8. 8Rest it for a full 40 minutes under loose foil before carving. A bird this size holds enough heat to stay hot, and this is when the juices redistribute. Carving early is the single most common way to ruin a good turkey.

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