I made my first turkey this past thanksgiving and I followed this recipe. IT TURNED OUT PERFECT!!! I used chicken stock because I could not find turkey stock but I dont think it mattered. Everybody was so impressed with my beautiful moist tasty turkey. I did not stuff mine and it still took the time stated to cook. I used a v shaped rack. Thank you so much!!

This turned out simply gorgeous, and soooo juicy. The best turkey my husband and I have ever eaten.

This was my first time roasting a turkey for Christmas this year, and I have to say this recipe made everything so easy! I did have a self-basting turkey that I got free from the store, but I did rub light margarine inside and out, as well as under the skin, then I brushed the outside with olive oil, seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley, savory, rosemary, thyme, and crushed bay leaves. I put a quarter of a white onion, a quarter of a celery stalk, and a baby carrot in each corner of the roasting pan, along with the turkey stock. I did take one other reviewer's suggestions and put my stuffed 12 pounder in at 425 without covering with foil for an hour, and then turned it down to 325. After another 30 minutes, the breast was nicely browned. I brushed it with more olive oil, and although it was self basting, I still poured some turkey stock over it. I tented the entire pan with foil. An hour later, the turkey was done! The white meat was so juicy, and the gravy only needed cornstarch to thicken -- no seasoning necessary. My in-laws were impressed. A really wonderful experience for a first timer. Thanks for such an easy, straightforward recipe. Editing to add that I did this again last night using a stuffed (bread stuffing) chicken, and scaling the ingredients down to the size I was using. I didn't add the onion, carrot or celery to the drippings because I wasn't planning on making potatoes at first. I never even covered the chicken, and it was delicious in 1 1/2 hrs

I followed other reviewers suggestions of putting butter under the skin. I think this helped to make it more moist. I love this recipe and I plan on using every year from now on! Thank you for sharing such a great recipe!

I made followed this recipe for our Christmas dinner. Its great. I even made it the day before Christmas and reheated it in the oven the next day and it was still moist and wonderful . I roasted a 22 lb turkey and it took 5 and a half hours at 325. It made the best gravy too!!

I have cooked many turkeys, but this was the best !! Simple and so moist - loved it !!

This is such a good, old standard recipe!! I do this when I roast chickens and turkeys- it's always so moist!! I don't stuff my birds and I baste when I think of it- less than every 30 mins. I put some onions and carrots into the cavity - also around the bottom of the pan. I add more stock as it cooks off and I keep the bird tented with foil for the last hour or so- I keep an eye on how dark the breast it getting and when it gets brown enough for me, I tent with foil. Thanks!!

This is the only way that I will EVER roast a turkey again. It was picture perfect, moist, full of flavor, and just like the name says...simply perfect! The whole family commented on how delicious it was, and also that it looked like something out of a fine dining magazine. Thanks so much!

Talk about perfect -- the finished product really lives up to the name! Thanks so much for thsi recipe, as I am now regarded as a culinary genius!

I have been making Thanksgiving dinner since I was 21 years old (which was a while ago!) I have never heard of adding stock to the pan - it was a great idea! I used chicken stock - 2 cups- and it turned out great. It took longer than the guidelines on the turkey to cook, so my famished family would not let it sit and rest for 30 minutes when we finally took it out of the oven. But it was tender and juicy. I will make the stock a regular addition to turkeys from now on!

This was only my second time making a turkey - last year's Thanksgiving was my first (and I forgot to take the giblets out which gave my mother in law a good laugh!). This year it turned out much better! I followed the advice of this recipe and used fresh ground sea salt and black pepper, and in place of the butter sprayed olive oil all over the turkey (much less likely to burn the skin than butter is). The aluminum foil tent worked great because it helped keep moisture in and also kept the skin from browning too quickly. We pulled the tent off with about a half hour cooking time left in the oven. Instead of stuffing this bird with bread stuffing, I did that in the crockpot (see 'Slow Cooker Stuffing' recipe on this website, it worked great!) and in the bird went a few cut up onions and some minced garlic. Smelled amazing while roasting....a 19lb. bird took exactly 5 hours. Also let it rest for a half hour out of the oven. Also, I had a self-basting turkey (one of those free frozen ones that have the 8% broth solution added) so I did not baste at all which made things easy, and used chicken broth in place of the turkey stock for the bottom of the pan. When I want a good old easy standby turkey recipe, this is what I will make. Thank You!

This was my first turkey for my future in-laws. It was the best turkey I've ever had! They're still raving about how good it looked and tasted. They also say I'm making Thanksgiving dinner every year from now on. You can't go wrong with this one!

I'll try this now as we're having a delayed holiday meal. For Mandy- the general rule for cooking a turkey is 20 minutes per pound and extra for a stuffed turkey. So even an unstuffed 21 lb. turkey might've taken 7 hrs. When basting- if you're not quick about it, it'd be better to remove the pan and shut the oven door to do your basting. This way, you're not constantly lowering the temperature of the oven.

A beautiful turkey! My boyfriend said this was the best turkey he's ever had, and I agree! It was very flavorful and moist. Nice and easy, too. Last year I tried a brined turkey, it was a lot of work and tasted no different from any other recipe. This one is actually better! I will make this recipe from now on.

Thank you! This was truly perfect.

A beautiful, moist, perfect turkey!

This was my first turkey ever and it turned out great. My husband said it was the best turkey he had ever had! The only problem I had was that the turkey didn't get done in the time it should have (5 hours for a stuffed 21 lb bird). I believe that is from opening the oven every half hour to baste. I thought it might be too simple of a recipe, but really, it turned out very moist and delicious. Even the leftovers remained moist. I'll probably adjust it just a little next time..perhaps putting some fresh sage and butter between the skin and the breast. Great recipe, thanks!

This is it !! Just the perfect basic Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe. Send this one on to all the new cooks you know.

The results of this recipe were amazing! I did not stuff my turkey, so it cooked in 3.5 hrs - the meat was tender and juicy and very flavourful. A great simple recipe - a keeper, thanks!

This is a simple, delicious, classic way to cook a turkey. Use this recipe as a solid foundation each time you cook a turkey. Experiment with different herbs, and rubs etc. Always keep the ingredients mentioned, but feel free to add some new ones! I always make sure to rub the butter underneath the skin where I can too. Especially right underneath the skin on top of the turkey's breast. Delicious! To the reviewer who stated that her turkey was not completely cooked after 5.5 hours: There is a really good chance that you did not properly thaw your turkey. It is supposed to take almost 5 hours per pound to thaw in the fridge. Some turkeys will even take longer!