Cooking the Turkey for the First Time

Molly41

Hello x

Yes I have got away with it for 46 years but now it is my turn to cook the turkey this christmas :eek: Any suggestions and hints/tips to make it a delicious feast would be very much appreciated.

I am actually a very competent cook. My parents have always cooked the turkey but it falls to me this year as my parents are getting frail. I will have to cook it the day before and wondered if you serve it cold or could it be safely reheated?

Many thanks for your ideas and suggestions x

DTDfanBoy

I brine my Turkeys these days, it makes for a nice moist bird

aliama

I'm just wondering what's the point of bothering with a full-blown roast turkey if you're going to cook it the day before? How well would it reheat? Would you be able to get the skin crispy, or would the meat turn dry?

Leftovers are great btw, but I'm trying to picture reheating a whole bird, and having it look like a 'proper' roast -- maybe someone with more experience than me will be able to weigh in on this.

What's your reason for cooking it the day before? Is it to do with oven space, timings,etc or is it because you won't have access to the oven on the day?

If it's to do with cooking times, I believe turkeys that have been hung are quicker to cook than those that haven't. We've bought Kelly Bronze the last couple of years, and a 5 kg turkey only takes 2 and a quarter hours to cook, although you'd have to factor in the resting time as well of course.

Of course, that's no help if you don't have access to an oven.

aliama

Have just done a quick google search, and it seems like the idea may be to cook the turkey and slice it, and then reheat the slices/portions -- I was picturing trying to reheat a whole turkey, hence my confusion.

If that's the case, it may not be worth buying a whole turkey, although I guess people may still prefer the legs and dark meat (I know I do). Just seems like a shame not having the drama of the whole turkey on the day.

zippychick

Can I refer you to the Christmas 2013 mega index!?!?! it contains all the links you need for Christmas dinner

Including

The best christmas turkey - I'll merge this later on

Turkey crown

Leftover turkey

Turkey soup?

Defrosting turkey

Turkey mince

Turkey leg recipes

Freezing cooked turkey

Zip:xmassign:

candlelight_2013

Hi Molly,

I usually buy a turkey crown because nobody likes the dark meat in our family. I cook it upside down, so that the breast is on the bottom of the tin, and consequently all the juices run into the breast. I saw this on the TV many years ago, but for the life of me I can't remember which Cook it was. I have never had a dry turkey using this method.

I cook mine the day before and slice it cold on Christmas Day, but I always cook a joint of beef on the day so there is hot and cold meat. I would put slices of turkey in gravy, but my grandson doesn't like gravy.

Hope that helps and good luck.

Candlelight x

JIL

I did my first last year. I did something a bit different with mine though. I cut its legs and wings off and deboned the body of it. Then i put some stuffing down the middle of it, put it back together and wrapped it in streaky bacon. I left it in the fridge overnight. On Christmas morning, i cooked it alongside one leg (the wings and other leg are still in the freezer)
It took up less oven space and was quicker to cook. Serving was really easy, just used the electric carver and it sliced beautifully.

It wasn't hard to de-bone it there's loads of tutorials on you tube. The bones can be used for stock.