Turkey Cooking
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Christmas 2001:
My Turkey this year is a 21LB frozen bird. It will take 48 hours plus to thaw out completely. Refridgerating a thawing bird is a good idea on the grounds that it is kept at a safe temperature. However it is worth remembering that a cold climate for thawing will slow down the thawing process.
I tend to put my Turkey in a pantry (covered). This is ideal because this time of year the pantry is dark and cold and a bit warmer than a fridge but cold enough to stop speedy bacteria growth. All meat will gather unwanted bacteria no matter where you thaw it. However it is worth remembering that when you cook meat over 100C for 10 minutes all bacteria is killed off or subdued to a safe level for consumption.
By the time Christmas Eve comes, it is ready for preperation.
New ideas suggest that stuffing a Turkey is not safe. This may be so...
New ideas suggest that cooking overnight is not safe. This may be so...
HOWEVER... following tradition, I still stuff the complete bird and cook overnight.
Cooking at around 180C for about 1.5 hours then turn down to 120C till the early hours of the morning and then before I go to sleep around 3 in the morning, I turn the oven down to 100C and leave to cook until lunchtime Christmas Day. The Turkey is covered with foil to help the cooking process and it helps to hold in the moisture. Another idea that I picked up from a butcher, was to cook the turkey, breast side down so that the juices run through the breast and keep it moist. This does work, I do it every year.
At lunchtime Christmas Day when the turkey is ready to serve the meat is literally falling off the bone and the skin is a crisp golden brown.
Don't forget however, that if you want a crisp golden brown skin on your bird, then remove the foil covering 40 minutes to 1 hour from serving time. Also raise the oven temperature to around 160C to complete the cooking process.
As in all cooking experiences, the way individuals prepare any foods will be there own way but following guidelines. Therefore to follow someone elses ideas to the last dot on the I, you may find that results are not what they say they should be. Results change due to various cooking appliances and there ability to keep a constant temperature throughout. The door seel on my oven door is not tiptop and therefore some heat escapes. Hence, my temperatures mentioned will differ on other appliances such as fan assisted ovens and gas ovens.
My Turkey this year is a 21LB frozen bird. It will take 48 hours plus to thaw out completely. Refridgerating a thawing bird is a good idea on the grounds that it is kept at a safe temperature. However it is worth remembering that a cold climate for thawing will slow down the thawing process.
I tend to put my Turkey in a pantry (covered). This is ideal because this time of year the pantry is dark and cold and a bit warmer than a fridge but cold enough to stop speedy bacteria growth. All meat will gather unwanted bacteria no matter where you thaw it. However it is worth remembering that when you cook meat over 100C for 10 minutes all bacteria is killed off or subdued to a safe level for consumption.
By the time Christmas Eve comes, it is ready for preperation.
New ideas suggest that stuffing a Turkey is not safe. This may be so...
New ideas suggest that cooking overnight is not safe. This may be so...
HOWEVER... following tradition, I still stuff the complete bird and cook overnight.
Cooking at around 180C for about 1.5 hours then turn down to 120C till the early hours of the morning and then before I go to sleep around 3 in the morning, I turn the oven down to 100C and leave to cook until lunchtime Christmas Day. The Turkey is covered with foil to help the cooking process and it helps to hold in the moisture. Another idea that I picked up from a butcher, was to cook the turkey, breast side down so that the juices run through the breast and keep it moist. This does work, I do it every year.
At lunchtime Christmas Day when the turkey is ready to serve the meat is literally falling off the bone and the skin is a crisp golden brown.
Don't forget however, that if you want a crisp golden brown skin on your bird, then remove the foil covering 40 minutes to 1 hour from serving time. Also raise the oven temperature to around 160C to complete the cooking process.
As in all cooking experiences, the way individuals prepare any foods will be there own way but following guidelines. Therefore to follow someone elses ideas to the last dot on the I, you may find that results are not what they say they should be. Results change due to various cooking appliances and there ability to keep a constant temperature throughout. The door seel on my oven door is not tiptop and therefore some heat escapes. Hence, my temperatures mentioned will differ on other appliances such as fan assisted ovens and gas ovens.
