If you think that "turkey is a dry meat" then I can confirm that you're wrong! Only badly cooked turkeys are dry. My How to Roast Turkey guide has easy instructions to perfectly cook a wet brined turkey that's not only succulent and moist, but blooming delicious too!
Prepare and Brine the Turkey – 12 to 24 hours Before Cooking
Pop the kettle onto boil.
Prepare your 3kg Turkey Crown by removing the packaging and drying off any juices. Use sharp scissors or a sharp knife to trim away and large pieces of excess skin. Remove the wings if still attached. Set aside while you make the brine.
Cut 2 Oranges into quarters and add them to a large stock pot. It needs to be big enough to fit in the crown with some liquid around it.
Add 80g Fine Salt and 150g Sugar to the pot. Pour over 1 litre Boiling Water from the kettle. Stir until all the salt and sugar has dissolved.
Peel and halve 2 Onions then add them to the pot. Pour over roughly 1.5 litres Cold Water and stir to mix. The overall water temperature should be not hot. It doesn’t need to be cold, just not hot.
Put the turkey crown in the pot, add more cold water so it is fully covered if you need to. Set the turkey aside somewhere cold with a lid on. Make a lid out of foil, clingfilm or a large board. Whatever works.
Prepare the Flavoured Butter
Cut fresh herbs so you have roughly 1 tbsp Sage, 1 tbsp Oregano and 1 tbsp Thyme.
Cut 250g Salted Butter into cubes and add to a mixing bowl with 2 tbsp Olive Oil, 1 tsp Sea Salt Flakesand the chopped herbs. Soften the butter a little first if you need to.
Mix the ingredients together and pop in the fridge. I use my hands to mix – this is easiest.
Prepare the Bacon Lattice
Use 16 Rashers Unsmoked Streaky Bacon to make a lattice. Further how-to instructions are given in the post. Store the lattice in 2 layers of foil or clingfilm in the fridge until needed.
Cook & Serve the Turkey
Remove the turkey from its brine mixture 5 to 6 hours before you want to serve. Pat it dry with paper towels and set it aside to come up to room temperature (2 hours).
Prepare a roasting tray by adding a rack and putting in the onion and orange pieces from the brine. Dry these off a little too. Dispose of the brine.
Once the turkey is at room temp, preheat the oven to 190c fan | 200c | 375f. Smear the flavoured butter all over the visible top surface and skin. I just use my hands for this and smush on a chunk at a time.
Carefully lay the bacon lattice over the top of the turkey and put the whole thing onto the prepared roasting tray/rack.
Roast for 1 hour. If you oven is uneven like mine, you can turn the turkey tray in the oven every 20 minutes or so. If you want to use a spoon to baste the turkey every 20 minutes or so, you can do.
After 1 hour take the turkey out of the oven and drain any juices/butter into a bowl. You might find it easier to briefly transfer the turkey crown onto a plate while you do this. I also remove the bacon lattice at this point.
Replace the turkey into the roasting tray, spoon over a little of the drained butter and return to the oven for another 1 hour. Again it is a nice to baste the turkey every 20 minutes or so.
Check that the turkey is cooked, you can make a cut from the underside. If the juices run clear then you are good to go. Drain any more juices which have collected in the pan and cover the whole thing with foil and a couple of towels.
The turkey can now sit for up to two hours but please try to leave it for at least 1 hour to rest. Make sure to use the drained juices in your gravy.
Once ready to serve you can either cut large slices from each side of the breast or remove each breast in one go then slice it on a board.
Notes
Please note that the total cooking time will vary depending on the size of your turkey crown. Please allow 40 minutes per kg or 2lbs.