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1
Remove skin if desired, and brine turkey the night before. (I used a mixture of water and apple juice to total 1 gallon, with 1 cup kosher salt, 1 cup of brown sugar, peppercorns, rosemary, dried thyme, cloves, bay leaves, allspice, garlic and sliced onion--but use any brine you like).
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2
Rinse turkey thoroughly and pat dry.
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3
Rub with olive oil, followed by seasonings and spices.
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4
Place carrots, onion and celery in bottom of slow cooker.
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5
Place turkey on top of vegetables.
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6
Add enough stock to cover vegetables.
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7
Cook on high 1 hour, and low until done, 3-6 hours depending on your slow cooker (mine cooks fast and too hot) and size of turkey (mine was 5 lbs). I checked the temperature after 3 1/2 hours and it was done at 165 degrees, but I kept it on warm until dinner since it was done much earlier than I expected.
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8
Remove turkey and let rest while you make gravy.
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9
To make gravy, measure 2 cups of broth from the slow cooker. Even though you only added about a cup or so of stock, the turkey and veg. make more juice. Careful, it's hot! I turned off my cooker about a half hour earlier so it wouldn't be as scalding.
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10
Melt butter over med. heat and whisk in flour for 2-3 minute to make a blonde roux.
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11
Slowly add stock while constantly stirring until desired consistency reached. Season with salt and pepper to taste, but taste it first because mine needed no salt.
