How to Cook Turkey

If you are expecting a fairly large number of guests and need to put together a big meal, whether it’s for Christmas or any other special occasions, a big turkey can feed a good few people – especially when accompanied with plenty of tasty vegetables. As the turkey needs to roast in the oven for hours, this gives you plenty of time to prepare the other food. If you are not buying a fresh turkey and want optimum results, do remember to take your frozen bird out of the freezer a couple of days in advance and let it thaw slowly in the fridge.

Preparing

Rinse the turkey inside and out in cold water before patting it dry with paper towels. If you want to stuff the turkey, do it just before it goes into the oven. Stuffing can however interfere largely with cooking time, so it’s sometimes easier to prepare this separately. Now get your hand between the turkey’s skin and breast meat, and rub on some butter and herbs. Don’t butter the outside of the skin, but salt and pepper it to make it crispier. Place the turkey, breast up, in a shallow roasting pan in order to let air flow freely around it while cooking, and add half a cup of water to the bottom of the roasting pan for easier clean-up.

Cooking

Preheat your oven to about 165°C. Insert the meat thermometer into the inner thigh area near the breast of the turkey, but not touching the bone, and place the roasting pan on the lowest oven rack. Many factors can affect the roasting time on a turkey – the most obvious being its weight. Allow about 0.45kg per person, which will normally give you some scrumptious leftovers. According to the US National Turkey Federation, refer to the table below for approximate cooking times when roasting in a conventional oven at approximately 165°C, on the lowest oven rack.

Weight	Unstuffed Turkey	Stuffed Turkey
3.6 – 5.5 kilos	2 ¾ to 3 hours	3 to 3 ½ hours
5.5 – 6.4 kilos	3 to 3 ¾ hours	3 ½ to 4 hours
6.4 – 8.2 kilos	3 ¾ to 4 ¼ hours	4 to 4 ¼ hours
8.2 – 9 kilos	4 ¼ to 4 ½ hours	4 ¼ to 4 ¾ hours
9 – 10.9 kilos	4 ½ to 5 hours	4 ¾ to 5 ¼ hours
10.9 – 13.6 kilos	5 to 5 ¼ hours	5 ¼ to 6 ¼ hours

Always use the meat thermometer to decide when the turkey is done. When the interior breast meat is 76-77°C and the thigh meat is 82-83°C, your bird should be ready. Remove it from the oven and leave to rest for 20 minutes – allowing the juices to redistribute themselves and making it easier to carve the turkey.

Serving

You can serve your turkey with roast potatoes, parsnips, Brussels sprouts, squash, corn, green beans, sweet potatoes or other popular vegetables. Gravy and cranberry sauce also add flavour to this popular Christmas meal. And don’t forget the stuffing!