If the turkey is frozen: Thaw in the fridge, 24 hours for every 5 pounds of Turkey. To be on the safe side, give yourself an extra day.

Remove the thawed turkey from the fridge 1 hour before roasting. Allow it to come to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 325F and make sure that the racks are arranged so that the roasting pan can fit. 

To prepare the turkey, lift neck skin and remove the bag containing the heart, liver, gizzards, and neck. (Open bag and completely rinse organs including the neck bone if you plan to make my giblet gravy recipe. If not, discard.)

Completely rise turkey inside and out. Before rinsing the inside, unfold the legs tucked under the skin ridge to open up the bird to clean thoroughly. 

Placed rinsed turkey breast side up, in roasting pan.

Pat all the water off with paper towels before preparing to roast.

Begin stuffing the inside with a stick (8 tbps) clarified butter or ghee, lemon, orange and apple halves.  If you don’t have all of these fruits, I’ve stuffed mine with whatever citrus fruit I have on hand. But the butter or ghee is a must!

After stuffing, tuck the legs back into the extra skin to hold legs tightly for roasting.

In a blender, add olive oil, garlic cloves, red wine vinegar and yellow mustard. Blend on high speed for 10 seconds or until combined. Transfer to a small bowl and whisk in the remaining sauce ingredients, oregano, basil, onion powder, salt and pepper.

Pour the marinade over the entire turkey using your hands to massage the oil all over (front and back)

Cover tightly with aluminum foil and place in the recommended temperature preheated oven.

DO NOT open the oven until done. The butter and fruits along with the consistent steam heating with the aluminum foil will result in a VERY MOIST turkey.

Cook for 3 hours and 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165F. Remove the aluminum foil the last 10-15 minutes to ensure a golden brown turkey. 

Allow turkey to rest 20 minutes before carving.