There are fewer things more daunting than perfectly timing a turkey, especially when you’re staring at that gigantic bird on Christmas morning having never cooked one before.
But it doesn’t have to be a Nightmare Before Christmas! We’ve teamed up with our friends at Kelly Bronze Turkeys to put together a checklist of helpful tips, tricks, turkey timings and advice to make sure your centrepiece is a real showstopper. This includes how long to cook a turkey, how to tell when it’s cooked, and how long to rest it for (spoiler alert – it’s longer than you think!).
Not cooking a whole bird this year? We’ve still got you! Check out our top tips for cooking a turkey crown below.
First things first...
Make sure your turkey is going to fit into the oven. Does it? Good. (If it doesn’t? Whip off the legs and cook them separately – pull the leg away from the body, cut through the skin down to the bone, then pull it out of the socket and cut it off.)
You’re going to need a roasting tin that’s big enough for the bird with room to spare, and deep enough to catch all the fat and cooking juices. You’ll need them for your gravy.
Turkey cooking times
To calculate the turkey cooking time, make a note of the weight of your bird, and check it again if you have scales big enough at home. Knowing the exact weight will ensure the cooking time is correct, and thus avoid an overcooked and dry bird or – crucially– a raw one.
And don’t forget to allow time for your turkey to rest for at least 1 hour when it comes out of the oven.
Heat your oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4
4-5kg – cook 2¼ to 2½ hours
5-6kg – cook 2½ to 3 hours
6-7kg – cook 3 hours to 3½ hours
7-8kg – cook 3½ to 4 hours
8-9kg – cook 4 to 4¼ hours
9-10kg – cook 4¼ to 4½ hours
Before you cook your turkey
Get your turkey out of the fridge 1 hour before you cook it. You’ll get less shrinkage when it goes into a hot oven, it’ll give you more reliable cooking times, and juicier, more tender meat.
And always preheat your oven for at least 20 minutes before cooking your turkey.
How to prep your turkey
Place a trivet of veggies and onions in the bottom of the tray to help make an epic gravy with all the juices.
Cover the turkey loosely with foil, but remove it just under an hour before the timing is up to get the turkey nicely browned. Check out our recipe for prepping the turkey.
How to know when your turkey is cooked
Roast your bird for the calculated time, or until the juices run clear from the thigh if you pierce it with a knife or a skewer.
Supermarket high-welfare or standard turkey should be cooked to an internal temperature of 70ºC. If you have a dry-plucked, dry-aged, top-quality bird, you can cook it to 65ºC, as it should be a safer product to eat. The temperature of the cooked turkey will rise as it rests, and is safe to eat once it reaches an internal temperature of 75ºC.
Once cooked, carefully lift the turkey out of the tray and rest on a board, ideally with a lip to catch the juices (add this to your gravy for bonus flavour!). Cover loosely with foil for at least an hour while you get on cooking your roast potatoes and any other sides.
Help! My turkey is undercooked
The key is not to put the whole turkey back in the oven, but cut it into smaller pieces, then put them back into the oven to finish cooking. Slice off the breasts, cut off the thigh and arrange them in a single layer with plenty of room around them.
Help! My turkey is overcooked
That’s where your gravy swoops in to save the day! Carve up your meat and place it in a warmed dish, then cover it with your gravy, so it soaks up all the juices and revitalises your meat.
How to carve a turkey
We've got three brilliant methods for carving a turkey: whether you want to tackle the job behind the scenes, make it a grand event at the dinner table, or simply serve it the easiest way possible.
Tips for the perfect turkey crown
When cooking a turkey crown, apply the same rules that you would if you were cooking a whole turkey:
- So firstly, get your turkey crown out of the fridge 1 hour before you cook it.
- As a guide, you want to cook a stuffed higher-welfare bird for 25 to 30 minutes per kilo, and a standard bird for 35 to 40 minutes per kilo. For a 3kg turkey crown, roast it for 1½–2 hours.
- To check the meat is cooked, the simplest way is to stick a knife into the breast – if the juices run clear, it’s done. If you’re worried, you could also use a meat thermometer (see temperatures above).
- Rest the turkey crown as you would a whole bird.
- To carve a turkey crown, cut along the backbone with the length of your knife all the way down it until you hit the carcass. You can then lift the whole breast off the bone. Remove to a board and slice.
Watch Jamie’s fail-safe roast turkey recipe...
