Turkey was great and moist- It was my first turkey ever so I was very happy it turned out ok, but I would not add balsamic vinegar to the gravy next time, did not like the flavor.

A nice basic formula for cooking a turkey. The herb and seasoning choices are very good. The two key things to take away from this recipe is spreading the butter under the breast skin and putting foil on the breast in the beginning. This makes a juicy and moist breast. This was the first time I cooked a turkey and the breast meat was moist. The celery carrot and onion is a nice touch. I feel compelled to add potatoes. Like chef John says the possibilities are endless, experiment with the seasonings.

juicy and delicious!!!!

Our family ruled this the best turkey we've ever made! The turkey was moist and the homemade gravy turned out. We enjoyed it so much at Thanksgiving, we made it again for Christmas Eve. There's a lot of seasoning, so we sprinkled the turkey nicely and had quite a bit left over. I saved that for the next time we bake a chicken. Thanks for sharing!

This is the second time I am making the turkey. One was made for the saturday after thanksgiving, which came out great and the next one was made today. I used all of the ingredients with only one addition to the herb butter, garlic. Just used a small amount. The presentation of the bird is wonderful! the flavors were fantastic and it was so very moist and tender! The steps from the video were spot on and very helpful. Can't wait to try more Chef John recipes!

I'm a novice home cook and this was my first Christmas turkey. It was easy, fun, and the most delicious turkey I have ever tasted. The breast meat was juicy and the fresh herbs made the house smell fantastic for many hours. Can't wait for next year!

wow...that was excellent. for cravy I added 1 Tsp of cornstarch to thicken

The turkey was perfect! The video along with the recipe made it very simple to prepare, I'm looking forward to trying more of Chef John's recipes!

What an easy, and beautiful, and flavorful, and crispy, *and* moist turkey!(however, I must admit that I did turn down the heat during the last hour thinking we would have to hold the turkey for late comers, but the bird was done 'on time' anyway?!) Made up the butter mixture, the spice mixture, & cut up the veggies ahead of time; helping us get the turkey into the oven so easily come Thanksgiving day. I was shopping for a recipe because it was time to help my daughter learn to roast a turkey, & I want her to learn to cook better than I myself can cook. Yes, my 12 year old daughter & I had prepped a turkey together once before following another method, which didn't work as well as my 'decent' turkeys of the past. So we went shopping together for a new recipe. She was utterly sold on your approach. I let her take the lead. She loved watching your video, and her jaw dropped when she watched you loosen the skin on the breast with a rubber spatula (yes, another thing I'd missed out on in the past, but thanks to you, my daughter will have an easier time of it!). I do plan to obtain a fresh turkey which we can brine next time, but I want to incorporate much of what we learned from you modifying for a brined bird. Will try to remember to let you know how that goes if we proceed as planned..... Either way, thanks so much for helping my daughter's second turkey far exceed anything my mother or I put on the table throughout our entire lives! Gotta love it! Thanks, Chef John!

This was my first time making a turkey and it turned out amazing! The flavor was so good and it turned out a nice golden brown and was so incredibly tender and juicy. This will be my go to for any turkey.