Phase One: The unwrapping
I had a 9lb Lil Butterball turkey (for 3 people it was perfect). I defrosted it for 3 days, then the night before, I unwrapped it (in the sink), and pulled the neck out of the main cavity. I found a packet of the giblets in the BACK of the turkey, it wasn't in the main cavity, then I rinsed it once and patted it with paper towels.
Phase Two: The "dry brine" or, The salting
I plopped it breast side down on a cookie sheet with a lip, then sprinkled kosher salt all over, plus some very finely ground Himalayan salt (I had previously ground it up in a coffee grinder, so it was very, very fine). I rubbed it into the bird, all over the skin and in all the crevices. Then I flipped it right side up and did the same thing. I then took a sprig of dried rosemary and a few small sprigs of thyme and tucked them into the main cavity. Then I covered the whole cookie sheet with plastic wrap and stuck it in the fridge.
Phase Three: Morning of
The next day (Thanksgiving) around 11am, I pulled out the turkey and rinsed off the excess salt, pulling out the rosemary and thyme also. NOTE: if you do the salting, it IS best to do it for 2-3 days instead of the night before, but I didn't plan right. I rinsed salt off the cookie sheet and plopped the bird back on it, dried it with paper towels, and then prepared my dry rub.
Before the dry rub, I preheated my oven to 325 degrees.
Phase Four: Dry rub
So I did an interesting mix of herbs for my dry rub. It was kind of just by feel. First, I took a mortar and pestle and put in a small handful of dried rosemary, some whole cloves and allspice, some thyme leaves, and dried pieces of orange peel. I didn't grind them completely to a powder, but I did break up all the whole cloves and allspice and generally blend them up a bit. I then mixed this with a delicious seasoning packet that I got in my Love With Food box last month: All Purpose Salt Seasoning Blend by Whole Spice. This seasoning packet is quite flavorful and a bit like a high-end Lowry's seasoning salt, but uses a bit less salt, in my opinion. The packet was 1oz and I mixed it all with the spices I used. I probably would have been fine with a little less though, and I have saved the remainder to use for roasted potatoes later. So I rubbed this mix all over my turkey, bottom first, then the top (like I did with the salt). I did not rub it underneath the skin, however. I am close enough to a vegetarian as it is, I couldn't go that far as to pull the skin up. Then, I put a WHOLE stick of unsalted butter inside the main cavity.
Phase Five: Roasting pan prep
I would recommend getting a real roasting pan with a rack to let the turkey sit raised up from the bottom of the pan. I'm a cheapskate though, so I had one of those single-use pans. I took several lengths of foil and rolled them together to make a large donut shape, probably about the same size as a bratwurst or something. Then I formed a circle and set it in the middle. I set the turkey on it breast side up and slid it into the oven.
Phase Five: Cooking additions
About half an hour in, after the dry rub had started to kind of cook in a little bit (I was "winging it"), I pulled out the turkey and liberally spooned and drizzled rosemary-infused olive oil all over the turkey. I also stuck a meat thermometer into the thigh (I think? I kind of just stuck it into the thick part of the body next to the wings.) Then I placed foil over the whole of the roasting pan and put it back in for another 90 minutes. Then I pulled it out quickly and drizzled more olive oil on. I also removed the foil. It took about another 70-75 minutes after that and then the turkey registered over 165 in all the areas I checked with the instant-read thermometer.
Phase Six: Let it sit
We pulled the turkey out and then let it sit for about 20-25 minutes.
And that was it! We cut it up and the breast meat was the most flavorful, moist delicious thing I have ever eaten. We had forgotten to make the turkey gravy, but we didn't even need it. We hardly needed salt and pepper. We just ate it plain, it was so good! All in all, it took about 3:15 hours to actually cook. For a 9lb turkey, that may seem like a long time, but we just cooked it slow and low at 325 degrees and I'll absolutely do it again.
