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The perfect turkey
It is worth spending a little effort preparing your turkey for cooking because it will dramatically reduce the cooking time from 4 hours to 1½ hours and help make your turkey the most succulent ever, packed with flavour and avoiding any dryness of the meat. You will need to be prepared to work with a knife with a stiff blade (ideally a boning knife). But don't worry – it's really quite straightforward. If you prefer, your local butcher will be able to prepare your turkey in the same way. You can prepare your turkey on Christmas Eve – including removing the legs and stuffing the bird – and refrigerate ready for cooking the next day. Serves 8
12lb turkey
6-8 rashers of streaky bacon
olive oil
salt and pepper
Take off the wings at the joint. You can use these in gravy later. Start to cut the skin between the legs and the body of the turkey. Pull the leg back with a bit of force to snap out the joint from the socket. Cut down the rest of the leg to release it from the body of the turkey. Snap off the "parson's nose" leaving just the turkey crown. Remove any excess skin around the cavity.
Push your hand between skin and breast meat to create a cavity for Thyme and Onion Butter (recipe below). Push the butter under the skin with your hand.
Roll out rindless streaky bacon between baking parchment to flatten and dress the turkey crown with rashers of bacon. Drizzle a little olive oil over the turkey legs and season with salt and pepper. Your turkey is now ready to be cooked.
Prepare the turkey legs
Taking the turkey legs, you will remove the drumstick and thigh bone to leave a single piece of turkey leg meat that you can stuff and roll. It is quite a straightforward process, so be brave and have a go – the results will be worth it. Serves 8
2 turkey legs previously removed from turkey
400g pork stuffing mix
Run the knife down the leg to expose the drumstick bone and the thigh bone. Run the blade under the thigh bone to release the bone from the meat, all the way to the joint between the bones.
Release the drumstick bone by running under the tendons down to the ankle, cutting around the ankle to enable you to free the drumstick from the rest of the leg meat.
Working your way back up to the joint, cut the joint away from the leg meat and remove the entire leg bone leaving just the leg meat behind.
Retain the bones for making the gravy.
Flatten out the leg meat and trim any excess skin and remove any sinews.
Take the pork stuffing and spread over the surface of the leg meat.
Roll the joint and tie with string. The turkey leg joint is now ready for cooking and will take around an hour in the oven.
All of your planning and preparation will now pay off as you simply roast your turkey for 1½ hours, adding your leg joints at the 30-minute mark to cook for an hour.
Remember – resting is the secret to juicy, tender meat. By letting the meat rest in baking foil it will let the heat even out and let the meat relax and absorb moisture, keeping it succulent.
Don't worry about your turkey getting cold – it will not. The cooking process is still going on, and if wrapped in foil you can happily rest your turkey for 45 mins to an hour, freeing up your oven to do your potatoes and heat your vegetable side dishes prior to serving.
Cooking the turkey
Serves 8
1 turkey crown dressed with bacon.
2 turkey legs previously removed from turkey
Cook the turkey in a hot oven at 200C (400F, gas mark 6) for 30 minutes. At this point remove the bacon and reserve for serving. Add the turkey leg joints to the baking tray and baste both them and the turkey crown in the turkey juices. Cook for a further hour, basting regularly.
The turkey is cooked when the core of the bird is at 72C, which you can check with a digital temperature probe.
Once cooked, wrap the turkey crown and leg joints in tin foil. Turn the foil wrapped turkey crown upside down to rest for 45 mins to an hour.
The turkey is now ready for carving. It should be perfectly cooked yet moist and juicy. Serve with the bacon used in the cooking process.
Carving
Unwrap your turkey crown carefully – even after resting for an hour they will still be hot. Use a good sharp carving knife, carve thin slices of the meat and leg. Delicious. Reported by This is 1 day ago.
The perfect turkey
It is worth spending a little effort preparing your turkey for cooking because it will dramatically reduce the cooking time from 4 hours to 1½ hours and help make your turkey the most succulent ever, packed with flavour and avoiding any dryness of the meat. You will need to be prepared to work with a knife with a stiff blade (ideally a boning knife). But don't worry – it's really quite straightforward. If you prefer, your local butcher will be able to prepare your turkey in the same way. You can prepare your turkey on Christmas Eve – including removing the legs and stuffing the bird – and refrigerate ready for cooking the next day. Serves 8
12lb turkey
6-8 rashers of streaky bacon
olive oil
salt and pepper
Take off the wings at the joint. You can use these in gravy later. Start to cut the skin between the legs and the body of the turkey. Pull the leg back with a bit of force to snap out the joint from the socket. Cut down the rest of the leg to release it from the body of the turkey. Snap off the "parson's nose" leaving just the turkey crown. Remove any excess skin around the cavity.
Push your hand between skin and breast meat to create a cavity for Thyme and Onion Butter (recipe below). Push the butter under the skin with your hand.
Roll out rindless streaky bacon between baking parchment to flatten and dress the turkey crown with rashers of bacon. Drizzle a little olive oil over the turkey legs and season with salt and pepper. Your turkey is now ready to be cooked.
Prepare the turkey legs
Taking the turkey legs, you will remove the drumstick and thigh bone to leave a single piece of turkey leg meat that you can stuff and roll. It is quite a straightforward process, so be brave and have a go – the results will be worth it. Serves 8
2 turkey legs previously removed from turkey
400g pork stuffing mix
Run the knife down the leg to expose the drumstick bone and the thigh bone. Run the blade under the thigh bone to release the bone from the meat, all the way to the joint between the bones.
Release the drumstick bone by running under the tendons down to the ankle, cutting around the ankle to enable you to free the drumstick from the rest of the leg meat.
Working your way back up to the joint, cut the joint away from the leg meat and remove the entire leg bone leaving just the leg meat behind.
Retain the bones for making the gravy.
Flatten out the leg meat and trim any excess skin and remove any sinews.
Take the pork stuffing and spread over the surface of the leg meat.
Roll the joint and tie with string. The turkey leg joint is now ready for cooking and will take around an hour in the oven.
All of your planning and preparation will now pay off as you simply roast your turkey for 1½ hours, adding your leg joints at the 30-minute mark to cook for an hour.
Remember – resting is the secret to juicy, tender meat. By letting the meat rest in baking foil it will let the heat even out and let the meat relax and absorb moisture, keeping it succulent.
Don't worry about your turkey getting cold – it will not. The cooking process is still going on, and if wrapped in foil you can happily rest your turkey for 45 mins to an hour, freeing up your oven to do your potatoes and heat your vegetable side dishes prior to serving.
Cooking the turkey
Serves 8
1 turkey crown dressed with bacon.
2 turkey legs previously removed from turkey
Cook the turkey in a hot oven at 200C (400F, gas mark 6) for 30 minutes. At this point remove the bacon and reserve for serving. Add the turkey leg joints to the baking tray and baste both them and the turkey crown in the turkey juices. Cook for a further hour, basting regularly.
The turkey is cooked when the core of the bird is at 72C, which you can check with a digital temperature probe.
Once cooked, wrap the turkey crown and leg joints in tin foil. Turn the foil wrapped turkey crown upside down to rest for 45 mins to an hour.
The turkey is now ready for carving. It should be perfectly cooked yet moist and juicy. Serve with the bacon used in the cooking process.
Carving
Unwrap your turkey crown carefully – even after resting for an hour they will still be hot. Use a good sharp carving knife, carve thin slices of the meat and leg. Delicious. Reported by This is 1 day ago.