My mom was the turkey cooker. She put it in an aluminum pan, which had a rack inside, added a bit of butter all over the bird, water on the bottom of the pan (added more when needed), and let it cook.

This year (I won a 25 pounder last year and cooked it in Sept) I cut the bird up..legs, split the breast, cooked all as above. All got cooked, evenly, juicy, yummy.

Oh, I brined the bird in a huge Glad bag (the ones they advertising for storage) for 24 hours in Kosher salt before cooking.