Cooking the turkey - help

ska_lover

Hi there all,

As we are a small family, (3 of us) - I have never cooked an entire turkey. I normally get joints of gammon and turkey and we will have those for Christmas dinner.

This year however, my hubbys work are kindly giving all the employees a turkey, (how lovely) but eeek - I do not know how to cook it really to be honest. I have asked a lady at work who is a little older than me with a bigger family and is a fab cook, and she advised roasting it upside down? This is alien to me, is this correct?

I have no idea of the weight of the turkey as he gets given it tonight after his night shift, but he did say they were large enough to fill a carrier bag - eek so don't even know if it will fit in our oven to be honest.

So I am just after some cooking tips for a turkey really, what to baste it with - and is it OK to cook it the night before and it wont go dry or horrible? I just do not know

Also, while I am here, one more question, the lady at my work reccomended goose fat for roast potatoes - is this worth while? I did see pots of this in morrisons, so know where I would get it

any help would be very helpful

scaredy_cat

goose fat does make lovely roasties. nice and crispy.

for cooking times - http://www.britishturkey.co.uk/cooking/times.shtml

if the turket is too big for your oven, take the legs off and roast the crown. the legs you can do in another tin.

Loanranger

Goose fat is great for roast potatoes.
Do you know how to cook a chicken? Turkey is the same, but weigh it so you can calculate the cooking time. (weigh yourself on scales then weigh yourself holding the turkey and subtract difference) 20 mins per pound + 20 mins. Sorry, no idea of metric equivalents but Google will be your friend.
Slap some streaky bacon strips over the breast and make sure you baste it well. Test it thoroughly by sticking a knife or skewer into the shoulder and when juices run clear it's done. Let it rest after taking it out of the oven before carving, say 5 minutes.

wallbash

Let it rest after taking it out of the oven before carving, say 5 minutes.

Far too short a time , think 20 + even for a small bird , I will be 'resting' for nearly 30 .

Katiehound

I would say wrap in foil for the first hours so the bird doesn't dry out- possibly uncover for the last hour? Baste regularly.My friend puts her (large) turkey which justs fits in the oven on at around 7am for lunch at 1pm. Better to have a bird that falls off the bone than under done!
The reason it was suggested roast up side down is so that the breast meat doesn't dry out.

ankspon

I used to put the bird upside down when it was resting so any juice left filtered to the breast,not when cooking.

Chris25

that's a lovely present from your husband's employers.

If it's too big for the oven, you can cut off the legs & cook those separately on another occasion or freeze them.

I don't add any extra fat except for streaky bacon across the breast & there's always plenty of juices to baste with.

I have roasted the bird upside down in the past & I've also tried resting it breast side down after cooking right-way up & to be honest, can't see any difference. I think it is easier with a large turkey, to get out of the roasting tin when right-way up though.

Definitely rest the bird after cooking for at least 20 - 30 mins depending on size - I recover mine with foil & then put a clean t/towel over the top of that. Then I whack up the temp of oven to finish off roast pots or parsnips.

ska_lover

Thank you so much everyone. I got up early today and had a good think about it, and along with reading everones replies on here, I decided to cook the turkey today (its in now) . I read instructions on british turkey.co.uk and think ive got the cooking times sorted in my head, and what with sorting veggies etc out tommorow, I thought this seemed the least stressful way to get the cooking of the bird done today.

It does just about fit in the oven, its 6kg - but have to take all other shelves etc out and cant fit anything else in

Many thanks all for your help, really appreciate it xx

mallymal

Watched a Jamie Oliver xmas special. He gave various ways of testing if bird was cooked...

1) pick it up with 2 forks and tip it up to let accumulated juices run out from cavity... if pink at all... not done yet!

2) jab big fork into deepest part of thigh. Then touch the fork to your lip.... if too hot to touch, bird is up to a good temp & done

3) the legs will virtually pull off if done

Happy christmas.