Oven-Roasted, Dry-Brined Turkey with Gravy

1) Remove the neck, gizzard and any other trimmings from the turkey and set aside.

2) Pat the turkey dry on all sides with paper towels and place on a rack on your baking sheet.

3) Mix the kosher salt, baking powder and black pepper in a small bowl and sprinkle onto all portions of the turkey, as evenly as possible.

4) Place the turkey legs up / breast down and refrigerate, uncovered, for 24 hours.

5) Prepare the first part of the gravy: chop the neck, gizzards and trimmings into 1-inch chunks and roast with a little vegetable oil over medium-high heat in a large pan, also adding the carrots, celery and onion at the beginning. Stir ocassionally until golden-brown. Next, add the chicken stock, soy sauce, bay leaves and thyme. Reduce the temperature and simmer for 1 hour. Strain into a container and press out any remaining liquid with the back of a spoon. Set aside and let cook before putting into the refrigerator until your turkey is done roasting.

6) About 5 1/2 hours before you want to serve your turkey, place a pizza stone on a rack on the lowest possible level in your oven, then preheat your oven to 500°F / 260°C. Let the stone pre-heat for 45 minutes.

7) Place your baking sheet with rack (and turkey breast-side down) directly onto the pizza stone and turn your oven‘s temperature down to 300°F / 150°C. If possible, find a way to let the backing sheet slightly tilt towards the back of the oven to allow all the drippings to mostly collect on one side of the backing sheet. 

8) Cook for 3 hours. If you see that the skin has already become golden brown, check that the temperature of the breast meat has reached 150°F / 66°C in the middle of its thickest portion. The dark meat needs to reach 165°F / 74°C (measure in thigh and drum). If these temperatures have not been met, continue to cook until they are, perhaps up to about 4 hours.

9) Remove from the oven and let rest for 30 minutes. Turn over to let any remaining juices run onto the pan below, then set aside (onto a cutting board) for carving.

10) Dump all drippings from the baking sheet into your pre-made gravy mixture. This will be very salty, but will dilute the salt in the following steps, allowing for a large amount of gravy to be made. 

11) Prepare the remainder of the gravy by heating the butter in a sauce pan. When the butter is slightly browned, add the flour and whisk around. You want to cook the flour long enough in the butter so that it loses its raw flour taste.

12) Add the (relatively cold) gravy mixture to your flower / butter sauce pan while whisking. Once whisked together, bring to a boil. This will thicken the sauce as you whisk. Add cream and / or additional chicken broth until you read a desired thickness and saltiness. 

13) Carve your turkey and serve.