24/12/2022
Here are my tips for cooking your turkey:
The Christmas or Easter or Thanksgiving Turkey
Line the large roasting tin with foil and put a piece of Bake-o-Glide onto the foil. Place the turkey in the large roasting tin.
Stuff the neck cavity only. If not putting stuffing into the bird, peel and cut up an onion and push that into the cavities, with a little butter. Weigh the turkey after it has been stuffed, to calculate the cooking time.
Smear the bird with some butter, then cover it with more Bake-o-Glide and wrap tightly with the foil.
Slow roasting the turkey:
If your turkey weighs more than 7kg, set the oven at 210, 3 oven right hand oven at 6, 4 oven right hand oven at 210 and put it into the top oven for an hour, then transfer to the bottom oven overnight.
For turkeys under 7kg, just set the oven to 120, 3 oven right hand oven at 120 4 oven hot cupboard at 8 and put into the top oven and let the ElectricKit do the rest!
3 – 4½kg turkeys will take about 8 – 10 hours
4½ - 7kg turkeys will take about 9 – 12 hours
7 – 10kg turkeys will take about 10 – 14 hours
Next day, check the turkey mid-morning, it should be cooked. Pierce the thigh with a skewer and if the juices run clear from the hole, it is cooked. It will not be browned at this stage, so don’t worry if it is very pale looking.
If it is completely cooked at 11am and you plan to eat at 3pm, DON’T PANIC! Re-cover with the foil then lay a large bath towel, folded into quarters, over it and place it beside the cooker (on a 4 oven, put it onto the warming plate) and just leave it. It has taken about 12 hours to get really hot and cooked through; it won’t cool down in any sort of hurry!
If it is not cooked through, re-cover and return it to the bottom oven. Check it again in an hour.
Fast roasting the turkey:
Put the foil-covered turkey into the top oven set to 210 and cook it.
Timing:
3 – 4½kg turkeys will take about 2 hours
4½ - 7kg turkeys will take about 2 ½ to 3 hours
7 – 10kg turkeys will take about 3 to 3 ½ hours
Finishing the turkey, both methods:
When you and the turkey are ready, pour off the juices - this is easiest if you have a second, clean roasting tin and just transfer the bird from one tin to the other, leaving the juices in the first. Put the turkey into the top oven, set to 210, 3 oven right hand oven set to 210, 4 oven right hand oven set to 210, uncovered, for half an hour to brown the skin, while you make the gravy. Once the breast is browned, transfer to a serving plate and allow to rest for 30 minutes before carving.
Gravy
Serves 6 – 8
550ml turkey stock or giblet stock or stock mixed with wine or water and a stock cube
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp turkey fat or the juices from the roasted bird
Salt and pepper
Oven: Main oven set to 200
Prepare ahead: Yes
Freeze: Yes
1. When the turkey has cooked, pour off the juices from the roasting tin. This is easiest if you have a second, clean roasting tin and just transfer the bird from one tin to the other, leaving the juices in the first. Cover the bird with foil and allow it to rest while you make the gravy and dish up all the vegetables.
2. Pour the juices into a jug, leaving a tablespoonful or two in the bottom of the pan. Stir in the flour, then gradually blend in the stock and seasoning.
3. Put the tin onto the floor of the top oven to boil. Stir after about 5 minutes, then return to the oven for a further 5 minutes until boiling and thickened. Strain and serve.
