Any tips? Never done it before! Just taken delivery of a 10kg bird for an early Chrimbo meal we’re cooking for 11 people tomorrow. We’ve only got a single oven, so wouldn’t fit anything else in there along with it, so my initial though was to do it on the gas BBQ outside, although today a customer suggested slow cooking it in the oven overnight as it’ll keep warm for ages (although the meal isn’t actually until the evening tomorrow!)

so my initial though was to do it on the gas BBQ outside,

Yes, do this. Video the carving please😀

Seriously though, that’s a terrible idea.

Cook it first and leave it to rest while you cook the rest of the meal. You can always reheat it a bit.

The turkey doesn’t need to piping hot – the veg and gravy will be hot enough 😋

Slow cook overnight would be sensible for lunch, but given you’re eating in the evening just cook it in the morning. You don’t want to leave warm meat sitting around all day. Time it so it comes out a couple of hours before eating so you can get on with the veg in the oven.

Cook the turkey, then leave it to rest under foil while you roast potatoes and parsnips for 40 mins

Time it so it comes out a couple of hours before eating so you can get on with the veg in the oven

A couple of hours to cook veg?? You’re either making soup or charcoal!

Cook turkey – wrap in foil with a few towels over it. Cook everything else.

Oh and you need more pigs in blankets. 11 people = at least 100 I would say.

Parboil your pots and any roast veg so they don’t need as long in the oven: 40-50 mins- and time the turkey cooking so it comes out then.

I hope it fits in your oven! That’s quite a big bird 🦃

Not using an Air Fryer? Not very 2022!

Cook as normal, to be ready 1hr before eating. Double cover in foil and cover with a heavyish towel to rest while you do roast veg, stuffings and the rest of the trimmings in the oven.

Get it in the oven as soon as you wake. Oil, salt and pepper and cover in foil.
When it’s cooked like 3/4s take the foil off and peel the skin off the breast. Salt it and pour it’s juices over the breast every 30mins. This will make the top of the breast a wee bit crunchy.
Once the whole thing is cooked, take it out of the oven and let it cool. Once cool or nearly cool break it all down with your hands and discard the bones. You can then reheat some for dinner in a much smaller ceramic pan.

DEEP FRIED:

As others have said (and Tom Kerridge on some TV program the other day), the turkey should have an hour to rest which is plenty of time to cook everything else that goes with it so fitting stuff in the oven shouldn’t be an issue. You can also cook some of the veg in advance and reheat. The roast potatoes I’d par boil as you start cooking the turkey so they have plenty of time to dry (after draining…) before roasting.

Brine it. The turkey will cook quicker and the meat is juicier. Use the giblets to make your gravy in advance, so one thing less to worry about.

When it’s cooked like 3/4s take the foil off and peel the skin off the breast. Salt it and pour it’s juices over the breast every 30mins. This will make the top of the breast a wee bit crunchy.

I’ve read some weird shit on here…this is right up there as

Thanks all! Turkey brined & in the fridge. Yeah it’s a pretty big bird but does just about fit in the oven! Quick Google suggests just under 5 hours cooking time, so will put it in late morning which should give a good couple of hours resting time. I have a meat thermometer which should take the guesswork out of it.

Cover in foil for cooking, or leave off & just baste? Does it actually make any difference stuffing the turkey with anything, if so what (onion, lemon etc?)

Not using an Air Fryer? Not very 2022!

We did get one recently (actually a ninja multi) and I would use it if I could (it did a mega job at the weekend on a pork loin joint, including awesome crackling, with the steam-roast function!) but the turkey is WAY too big. I’ll probably do the pigs in blankets in it though!

It really doesn’t need to rest for 2 hours

Cooking for 11. Everything will take longer than you expect. I’d aim for it being ready 2 hours before serving personally. Gives you 30 mins error margin, 1 hour for potatoes (45m + time for temp increase), and 30 mins faffing with carving and plates.

Leave it out the fridge tonight so it starts at room temperature.

Massive foil parcel, open at the end of the time to brown but might not need to.

Stuffing it?

Thanks all! Turkey brined & in the fridge. Yeah it’s a pretty big bird but does just about fit in the oven! Quick Google suggests just under 5 hours cooking time, so will put it in late morning which should give a good couple of hours resting time. I have a meat thermometer which should take the guesswork out of it.

Excellent. Do keep an eye on the temperature, I find brined turkey cooks a lot quicker.

Good luck!

Back in 1981 watching Russell Harty at Home I saw John Tovey cook Turkey wrapped in muslin – smear a whole pack of butter over the bird and wrap in a muslin cloth. It self bastes without any need of attention. The bird was fabulous but making a gravy out of the buttery mess in the roasting tray was a bit fiddly. I haven’t done it again. Mind you I don’t think I’ve done turkey again.

Turkey in the oven to roast, parboil veg and air fry for roast effect. Keep them warm in the gas BBQ – you can slow roast the veg in the BBQ too (I am presuming it has a lid). Or not cook turkey (can’t stand it myself)

I have a meat thermometer which should take the guesswork out of it.

Really useful, I seem to do most of the cooking for my wife’s lot, the first year I cooked at her mother’s, I asked about a meat thermometer, she said she had one that came with the oven but she had never used it in the 15 odd years she had it. It was amazing, you stuck the probe into the bird, plugged the other end into the oven and then it automatically turned off when the internal temperature was high enough which was at least an hour less than we expected, but we kept it warm and it was perfectly moist.

Which bird did you stick the probe into – wife or MiL?

Meat thermometer is essential for turkey and gives the lie to it being a dry meat.

The butter and muslin technique is great too, I always melted the butter and soaked the muslin in it as recommended by Felicity Cloake

That’s a huge 10kg bird!

Can everyone actually stomach about 1kg of meat? LOL!

Can everyone actually stomach about 1kg of meat?

I can, but probably not 1kg of turkey. Oh and bear in mind 10kg of turkey does not yield 10Kg of meat.

Oh and bear in mind 10kg of turkey does not yield 10Kg of meat.

Ah yes that’s true. I have never eaten a turkey that size LOL!

My mother will be putting the Brussel sprouts on to boil about now

Stuff the turkey with a chicken. Stuff the chicken with a quail. Deep fry.

the modern way?

1 hour for potatoes

1 hour? Is that baked potatoes? Or a full sack of roasties?

1 hour? Is that baked potatoes? Or a full sack of roasties

Potatoes 45 mins
Oven going from 160 to 220 and getting the roasting tin super hot 15 mins

Oh and bear in mind 10kg of turkey does not yield 10Kg of meat.

plus leftovers for a few days of turkey rolls & curry 😀

I do the butter under the skin thing with added mushrooms to keep the keep it moist and herbs for poshness.

How did it go then?

Awesome! Thanks all for the tips! Two more people than I’d accounted for turned up but there was still far, far too much turkey… must’ve googled a US site when I was working out how much I’d need 😂 Worked out ok though as I soon realised I didn’t have a clue about carving it, so just inexpertly hacked off bits of breast until there was (more than) enough – still got legs etc for (many, many) curries 😀

Ended up putting it in about midday, which was way too early but I’ll know for next time! The meat thermometer I used has a great app which calculates cooking time based on how quick the internal temp is rising, and takes into consideration resting time etc. Was in the oven about 3 ½ hours, out at 70°, rose to 76° (Covered it in towels as suggested!) then even though I didn’t carve it for about 4 hours or so had only dropped 10° in that time so still piping hot for serving. 😋 Nice and moist too!

The Meater is great, I got one the other day in preparation for Christmas. I’ve done 1 cook so far and it’s the best chicken I think I’ve ever had, lovely.

@zilog6128 what was the target temperature?

I usually aim for the big bird to be ready a good hour before I want to eat it, the amount of oven opening for shuffling potatoes and sausages etc slows it down and a decent rest is good for it too. If it’s looking a bit underdone there’s easily 30 mins leeway to finish it off.

Don’t often have turkey but goose seems off the menu this year locally.