About four days before you plan to cook your turkey, take it out of the freezer and place it in the fridge to thaw.
The day before cooking, take it out of the fridge and unpack it. (This is a messy job so it’s nice to have this done the day before but isn't totally necessary). Remove packaging and remove the neck and giblets from cavity. Remove any ice blocks that may still remain in the cavity as well. Place the turkey in either a large Ziploc bag or a large baking dish covered well with plastic wrap to prevent leaking and place it back in the fridge.
About 1-2 hours before you are ready to put it in the oven, take the turkey out and allow it to warm up a bit from the fridge. It is best to not go into the oven straight from the fridge.
When ready to cook, dry thoroughly with paper towels. This will help it to brown nicely.
Put one cup of chicken broth in the bottom of roaster oven or roasting pan.
Rub the 2 T. of kosher salt both inside and outside of the bird.
Rub herbs de provence all over outside of the bird.
Lightly sprinkle the smoked paprika over the bird. This gives it both nice flavor and a little color.
Take the thinly sliced garlic and tuck beneath the skin anywhere you can find a good spot, evenly spaced over the bird.
Place thinly sliced butter all over the outside of the bird as well.
Tie the legs of the bird together with cooking string.
Cover and cook at 325 according to package or roaster oven directions for size of the bird. In my roaster oven a 20.5 lb bird cooked for 3.5 hours.
