How to roast the perfect turkey

Start with a scrupulously clean container big enough to hold the turkey.

Using only kosher salt, mix it in the container in a dilution of 1 cup of salt to 16 cups of water. Repeat if you need more liquid to cover the bird.

Dissolve the kosher salt by stirring in cold water. You may have to stir vigorously to dissolve the salt.

Remove turkey from package, rinse and remove giblets. Check both ends of the turkey! I found the neck in one end and the giblets in the other.

After you have immersed the bird in the brine breast side DOWN, cover any exposed areas with some Saran Wrap. Soak in brine for 12 hours in the refrigerator.

Remove from brine and rinse well with cold water inside and out. Discard the brine solution and dry the container and turkey. Cover with Saran wrap and return to fridge until ready to cook.

Cut out enough cheesecloth to cover the bird, and make it 8 layers thick.

Melt 3/4 pound of unsalted butter with one bottle of white wine over very low heat.

Add cheesecloth to the wine and butter mixture.

Lightly stuff the turkey with fresh sage. Make sure to scrunch up the sage so it releases its wonderful flavour.

Season the bird with whatever you like but don't use any seasoning containing salt. Having brined the bird, it will be salty enough without having the need to add any further salt.

Drape the bird with the wine/ butter soaked cheesecloth. Put into a 450 degree oven for 30 minutes.

450 degrees F.

After 30 minutes remove the turkey from the oven and turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees. Baste the bird with more of the wine/butter mixture. The cheesecloth will get quite dark in colour.

Continue to baste the bird every thirty minutes with the wine/butter mixture. About 1/2 hour before the bird is done, remove the cheesecloth and baste again.

Once the bird reaches 160 degrees F., remove the bird from the oven and cover with foil. It can easily sit on the counter for another 30-60 minutes while you finish preparing the other side dishes.