Just wondering, usually we have a mahoosive thing then throw half of it away as it’s too dry….

Mrs Coolhandluke wants a 12lb bird, I think 8lbs is more than enough, with all the other stuff at Christmas and that.

650 lb – it makes the Christmas dinner really come alive.

😀

Depends if you want to have dinner, turkey sandwiches for late supper and then more for Boxing Day curry or salad cold cuts.
My Mum used to get a 20lb bird but it would feed 5 hungry souls for 3 or 4 days

8lbs would be plenty for 5 “normal” people and would probably leave some for sarnies. 5 of me on the other hand – wouldn’t be much left….

Some say 0.5kg per person.

8lb is plenty. With all the other stuff the quantity of turkey that each person eats is actually quite small. I’ve cooked dinner for the last 4 years for 6 people and always found a 9lb turkey to be plenty for dinner, with leftovers for sandwiches and cold cuts on boxing day. So 8lb for 5 is spot on.

Large Goose

8lb is plenty. With all the other stuff the quantity of turkey that each person eats is actually quite small. I’ve cooked dinner for the last 4 years for 6 people and always found a 9lb turkey to be plenty for dinner, with leftovers for sandwiches and cold cuts on boxing day. So 8lb for 5 is spot on.

For various reasons I’ve never actually cooked a full turkey roast Xmas lunch, this year is the year… 6 adults, 2 hungry kids – guessing 10lbs / 4.5kg would be enough? Any links to foolproof cooking instructions?

Turkey crown so you don’t waste as much and great left overs for the cold sandwiches for supper! 🙂

Barbecue it!

did it last year, doing it again this year – t’were teh awsums 🙂

Large Goose

Is not a unit of measurement for turkey…

+1 on the Turkey crown.

Doesn’t dry out and there is no waste.

Doesn’t dry out and there is no waste.

And is boring.

Half the fun of Christmas Day is picking over the bones of the turkey despite being stuffed full already…

for 5?

leg of lamb.

a chicken.

a goose.

anything but ****ing turkey – the whole point of turkey is that you can feed loads of people, it’s not actually nice.

Another vote for a Turkey Crown – unless you like a leg!

Turkey Crowns are rubbish. The reason why people don’t like turkey.

Get one of these bad boys Kelly Bronze

For various reasons I’ve never actually cooked a full turkey roast Xmas lunch, this year is the year… 6 adults, 2 hungry kids –

Me too 😯

9 Adults
2 teenagers
2 kids

I have spreadsheets…

The one on the left is a veggie dont forget

I did a meal for:

Two grandparents
Five adults
Five children

A couple of years ago – all went well until the food went on the table and such a flood of relief went over me that I got immediately pissed on red wine 🙂

errrr, I’d say, about this big!

johndoh – Member

And is boring.

Levels of interestingness were not part of the original request. The OPs question was “what size turkey for five?”.

We’ve had turkey crowns for a few years now and they’re fine. The interesting stuff is what you put with it.

My personal preference would be a goose, but I’m in the minority in our house so Turkey it is.

For various reasons I’ve never actually cooked a full turkey roast Xmas lunch, this year is the year… 6 adults, 2 hungry kids – guessing 10lbs / 4.5kg would be enough? Any links to foolproof cooking instructions?

There’s lots of examples of timings to use, but without a doubt the most important thing is a digital meat thermometer. There’s lots of subjective ways to answer the questions: is it cooked and is it safe to eat, the meat thermometer answers these questions without any guess work.

Lots on Amazon.

It needs to be cooked to a minimim temperate of 165f.

I make a herby butter with dried cranberries that gets pushed between the skin of the turkey and the breast meat, then top the whole turkey in streaky bacon. The butter keeps the meat moist and add lots of flavour whilst the bacon protects the breast meat from the feirce heat of the oven.

A 4.4kg turkey took 2 hours 40 minutes last year and was very nice, fresh turkeys take far less so I’m told.

There’s lots of examples of timings to use, but without a doubt the most important thing is a digital meat thermometer. There’s lots of subjective ways to answer the questions: is it cooked and is it safe to eat, the meat thermometer answers these questions without any guess work.

Lots on Amazon.

It needs to be cooked to a minimim temperate of 165f.

I make a herby butter with dried cranberries that gets pushed between the skin of the turkey and the breast meat, then top the whole turkey in streaky bacon. The butter keeps the meat moist and add lots of flavour whilst the bacon protects the breast meat from the feirce heat of the oven.

A 4.4kg turkey took 2 hours 40 minutes last year and was very nice, fresh turkeys take far less so I’m told.

Cheers mattrgee, and another kitchen gadget! Yay!

What about a capon? Sort of straddles the big chicken / small turkey line.

Meat thermometers are actually quite useful for cooking big birds (though I’m usually against such things; another top tip is to make sure the turkey is at room temperature before it goes in.

What about a capon? Sort of straddles the big chicken / small turkey line.

TBH I’m slightly concerned about the availability of whole turkeys in Spain, now you’re just complicating matters further!

http://www.foodsfromspain.com/icex/cda/controller/pageSGT/0,9459,35868_6908150_6912165_4531437_373749547,00.html

What about a capon?

True capons are illegal in the UK. They are castrated male birds.

I am not sure why it is illegal to castrate chickens when we castrate other farm animals?

I have had large fresh chickens at Christmas, which were described as capons but they I think they were just large bred chickens. Taste excellent, so I would imagine those traditional Spanish ones would be even better.

corroded – Member
http://www.foodsfromspain.com/icex/cda/controller/pageSGT/0,9459,35868_6908150_6912165_4531437_3737

Just seen this, cheers!

Is a cown just a turkey with the legs and wings removed?

The crown is just the breast meat, may have some bone attached.

How bigs your oven?

How much other stuff do you want in it?

Oven size – Other stuff = size of turkey that fills the space.

I find it no harder to cook for loads than a few it’s just a case of extra stuff or an extra side dead easy.

Oh and it’s beef in this house with a freerange chucked and a ham.

Mrs Coolhandluke just told me she ordered the 12lb Turkey a few weeks ago!

Now betting we throw 4lb of it away or get sick if Turkey left overs before New Year

What’s a chucked?

Mogrim try Hestons method , not one of his outlandish methods, but worked great for us last christmas, & I cook roast chicken using a similar method (available online), brining 1st is the main key & doesn’t produce an over salted bird (as you might expect).

& get a baster like this (another useful gadget) not only do I baster under the skin with it but I also inject the hot oil into the bird to assure moistness

Luke, freeze the damned stuff & make it into a pie at a later date (Jamie has a recipe online that works well, just make proper pie with his filling – not a casserole with a lid, as per his recipe)