The Best Xmas Turkey? 8 December 2005 at 7:50PM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Old Style MoneySaving 66 replies 7K views

ChocClare

How big is your turkey? It will need to "rest" for half an hour after coming out of the oven anyway. I take it your grill is not above your oven? There isn't room for it to "rest" in there?

I would put it on a red-hot dish (ie warm it up in the oven until you need oven gloves even to touch it), then take the turkey out, wrapped in foil and wrap the whole lot up in a big bath towel folded double.

Failing that, you could leave it in the roasting dish, still wrapped in foil etc. and take a shelf out of your oven or the grill pan out of your grill and put it on the side with four or five tea light candles underneath - like the chafing dishes they have in Indian restaurants. If you have space for this somewhere, that should keep it hot without letting it get to the lukewarm temperatures where bacteria start multiplying.

The only other thing to do would be to rest your turkey, then carve all your meat and put it on a plate covered with foil and put it in the lowest part of your oven while the other stuff is cooking. You'd probably need gravy on it to stop it drying out completely.

OR you could do what my mum does and cut off the legs completely and cook them separately from the rest of the turkey. That way you don't need such a huge dish (and the breast doesn't risk getting so dry) so you don't need so much room in your oven.

Happy Christmas whatever you do!

Fruball

I wouldn't worry about it - turkey takes so long to carve that the first person's is usually cold by the time the last person has been served

I would just make sure your dinner plates are hot hot hot, and that the gravy is piping hot too.

And I would usually rest a large joint of meat for a minimum of half hour - sometimes longer

Hope that helps

Merry Christmas

Pitlanepiglet

Don't worry about it, the chef on the TV this morning was suggesting resting turkeys for 2 hours!

We rest ours for an hour - as long as it takes for the roasties to do. Stick it on a plate (hot or otherwise) and cover it in foil. I've done this for 20 plus years and never killed anyone!

Concentrate on making sure it's cooked properly rather than worrying about it standing for an hour.

Dawning

Thanks so much everyone - I don't want to food poison anyone so you've all put my mind at rest.

kippers

I always rest my turkey for over an hour...it's the only way in my little oven to be able to cook roast pots, pigs in blankets, other roast veg. It's fine if you cover in foil and a couple of tea towels

Essex-girl_2

I cover it in a double layer of foil then a tea towel over the top, stays warm for ages.