That sounds similar to how I cook turkey. My 5kilo/12lb turkey gets a cut lemon, chunks of onion and a wodge of butter stuffed up its arse. The whole top bit gets covered in unsmoked streaky bacon. Then foil goes over the top. The oven is preheated to 180C fan. The bird MUST have been at room temp since at least the night before. In goes the turkey, which is then left alone for two hours. After that, the foil comes off and a good basting is applied. After about another 20 minutes, the bacon comes off, the turkey is basted and back in, uncovered, it goes. After exactly three hours in total, the bird comes out to rest, covered loosely with foil. You have at least 45 minutes to fire up the oven for your roasties, parsnips, stuffing balls and chipolatas.

The key points are:

Buy the very best quality free-range turkey you can find.

Don't be tempted to have it bigger than about 6 kilos. Only big ovens or Agas can hack huge birds.

It absolutely must be at room temp before you start, and that means all the night before out of the fridge.

Don't be tempted to overcook. Fear of food poisoning has ruined many a good turkey and given it a bad reputation for dryness and tough texture.

Don't put stuffing anywhere near the turkey. Any meat that's next to stuffing won't cook properly. It won't kill you but you won't eat it.

Final point: if I'm in your house when you cook a turkey, you will not be getting the pope's nose. Comprenez?