The Best Xmas Turkey?

Binxy

Evening everyone. I hope I'm not posting in the wrong place - I went through the one stop xmas thread for the cooking of the turkey and found this one.

My question is this:

It's my first time cooking a turkey and I am totally confused about which way up to cook it. I could conclude that I can cook it inside out of I want as opinion varies so widely, but I really want it to be moist and not dry out.

Can someone (perhaps the board guide) more familiar with this board start a poll asking people if they cook their turkey on side/breast/back/change it through cooking? I'd love to know what the general agreement was for best results.

I'm bewilderd, and admittedly starting to panic as I've left it a little late to work out what on earth I'm doing with a 5 kilo bird :eek:

Sarahsaver

take it out of the freezer tomorrow if it is frozen
you can either cook it on one side then the other, or upside down(breast downwards) or the 'right way up' I always use the latter method as its too much faffing about, i put a lemon in its butt to stop drying out, and possibly an onion for flavour, I don't stuff it whats the point if you just have to take the stuffing out anyway?
My top tips would be
*cook it long and slow
*put some kind of juicy fruit inside - lemon, orange or apple for example
*baste it
*cover the top in bacon for the last half hour to prevent drying out (this also serves as a bit of meat dd will actually eat!)
HTH

thriftlady_2

I would agree with Sarahsaver's tips except to say that I follow Delia's advice to give it 40 mins at 220c before cooking it long and slow,I also wrap it in a tent of foil which I take off about 45mins before the end of cooking time,then it gets lots of basting.

I do stuff the bird -it saves using another dish and I wouldn't want OH to have too much washing up :rolleyes: I use a sausagemeat stuffing to help keep the beast moist-see my post on the stuffing thread.The recipe's from Delia Smith's Christmas, truth be told, :xmastree: which has a handy Christmas Day timetable.

Alfietinker

Hi, a bit late now but perhaps for next year? This is only the 2nd time I've cooked a turkey and it was much better than my first attempt! We had a 7lb crown.

This is what I did after asking loads of questions and getting the seal of approval from people on here.

I rubbed loads of lemon butter under the skin and cooked it upside down for 1.5 hours, gas 5. I covered it very loosely with foil. For last half hour I took the foil off, spread cumberland sauce on the breast and turned it the right way up. When cooked I wrapped it in foil and left it to rest upside down for about 20 minutes. The meat was actually really moist!

Think this is how I'll do mine from now on.

Hope yours went OK.

lou06

Hi

Some people may think that I'm not being festive and traditional with cooking the turkey on Christmas Day and looking at doing it in advance.

As we always go to my mum's for xmas day I was thinking it would be a nice gesture to bring the Turkey with us already cooked and sliced up (to be honest it can sometimes be a bit dry and we never really do the big carving up at the table, my poor mum does it in her postage stamp kitchen

Does anyone have any inspirational ideas on how to prepare this as I would probably just slice it and make a gravy and reheat it that way.

My thinking that when I do this with chicken it seems to be more juicy this way.

Lou x

Fruball

That is what I would do, heat it up in the gravy

fishing-girl

i always cook my turkey on christmas eve,get it all sliced ,make stock from carcas etc makes christmas day so much easier,just warm the sliced meat through in gravy.yum

psso

I`ve cooked the bird on Christmas Eve and heated it through in the gravy on Christmas Day.

Nice and moist and far less hassle and you don`t have to get up at silly o`clock to stick the bird in the oven if it`s a big one.

lou06

Morning Frugal, fishing-girl & psso

Many thanks for your replies, defo think it's a winner of an idea for me to ask my mum if I could do it this way as you all mention it will taste moist and minimal of washing up, nobody ever strips the carcass and washes the roasting tin there and then and ends up in the oven again just to get it out of the way, then the long soak before washing.

Thank to you all again!
Lou x

Meadows

http://www.britishturkey.co.uk/cooking/faq.shtml
Can I cook my turkey on Christmas Eve and reheat it the next day? It would save a lot of hassle!

The short answer is no! The only safe way to reheat turkey is to slice the cooked, chilled meat and reheat. The best way to do this is to lay the slices in an oven proof dish, cover with gravy, cover the whole dish with a lid or foil and place in a hot oven. Make sure the turkey is piping hot before serving. Alternatively, reheat in a microwave, using manufacturer’s instructions.