Whole Roast Turkey

The size of your Thanksgiving turkey depends on how many people you’re cooking for. In general, you want to aim for around 1.25lbs (560g) per person. So, if you’re cooking for 4, you’ll need a 5lbs turkey, for 6 you’ll need an 8lbs turkey and for 8 you’ll need a 10lbs turkey, etc.

While I understand that buying a frozen turkey is a lot easier and is the best option for some, if you can, I recommend you opt for a fresh one. Fresh turkeys retain their moisture better than turkeys that have been frozen.

Plus, from a practical point of view, if you go fresh you won’t have to worry about defrosting your turkey.

If you do opt for a frozen one, the safest method to defrost a frozen turkey is by leaving it in the refrigerator. You might need to do a bit of rearranging, depending on how large your turkey is, but it’s definitely worth it!

It might also take a long time to get a thawed turkey, depending on its size. Allow a day of defrosting for every 4-5 pounds. So, if you have a particularly big turkey – say, 16 pounds – you’re going to need around 4 days to defrost.

While old school foodies will no doubt tell you that leaving a turkey outside on Christmas Eve or the day before Thanksgiving is the way to go, modern food safety standards advise against this method.

Despite what you might think, it’s not recommended that you wash your turkey before roasting it. For a start, cooking should kill all the germs on the turkey. If you do wash your turkey, you only increase the likelihood of spreading harmful germs and bacteria.

Instead of focussing on washing your turkey, you should wash your hands and surfaces during the cooking process.

I like to cook my turkey on a lower temperature, with regular basting, to ensure a perfectly juicy taste.

My advice is to cook turkey at 180°C/fan 160°C/355°F/gas mark 4. 

If you cook your turkey to the above temperature, your turkey cooking time will be approximately 4 to 4 and a half hours.

If you bring your turkey to room temperature before placing it in a preheated oven, it will cook evenly and quicker. So, be sure to remove it from the refrigerator around an hour before you plan to place it in the oven.

No. You should always stuff your turkey just before placing it in the oven. This is because when you leave stuffing in a raw turkey for a certain period of time, harmful bacteria can potentially grow.

So, always leave the stuffing until last!

Lots of cooks insist on covering a turkey with aluminum foil, in order to prevent it from drying out. However, if you baste it regularly, it’s not necessary to cover your turkey.

There are two ways to find out whether your turkey is cooked. First of all, you can use a meat thermometer.

Using a meat thermometer is the most accurate and reliable way to ensure your roasted turkey is fully cooked. Insert it into one of the thigh bones, but make sure it’s not touching the bone, only the meat.

When the temperature reaches 158°F/70°C, your roasted turkey is ready to roll! 

If you haven’t got a meat thermometer, you can use the simple ‘juices running clear’ test. All you need to do is to pierce the turkey in the thickest part of the thigh with a fork. If the juices run clear, as opposed to a pinkish or red color, your turkey is done.

Absolutely! Letting a turkey rest for at least 30 minutes allows the turkey juices to work their way through the meat and keeps everything nice and juicy.

It also helps the turkey fibres to relax. Let your turkey rest and you’ll end up with juicy dark meat in the thighs, as well as perfectly moist turkey breast meat.

You can rest your turkey for up to an hour and a half. Don’t worry about it going cold. If you cover it with aluminum foil, most of the heat will be retained. Either way, if you make sure your gravy is piping hot, you’ll have the perfect turkey meat at the right temperature.

It’s easy when you know how!

Before you start carving, make sure your turkey has had enough time to rest, so that all the juices have had a chance to redistribute.

First, slice through the turkey skin between the breast and the leg.

Pull the leg away from the breast until the connecting joint is exposed.

Cut through the joint and any attached skin. Repeat on the other side.

Find the joint that connects the leg and thigh and cut through the middle.

Cut the thigh meat from either side of the bone and transfer the meat to your serving platter. Keep the legs whole and add them to the platter.

Slice through the skin between the wing and the breast. Pull the wing away until you see the joint. Then slice through the joint. Add everything to the serving platter.

Run the tip of your knife along the breast bone. Use your other hand to pull the turkey breasts away from the center until each one fully comes away.

Slice each turkey breast lengthways and add to the platter.

Definitely use them to make stock! Check out my turkey stock recipe to find out how to get the most amazing cooking liquid, using the leftover turkey carcass and bones.

One way to make this turkey extra juicy and extra tasty is to drape bacon rashers over each turkey breast. 

This will keep each turkey breast incredibly tender, salty and rich, preventing it from drying out. It also means the pan juices will be extra lovely.

Another idea is to spread butter underneath the skin of each turkey breast. Carefully peel the skin away from the bottom of each breast and work your hand underneath, spreading the butter all over. You could even use garlic and herb butter. This method ensures amazingly tasty breast meat.