Oven Cooked Turkey, The Perfect Meal For Christmas Day
Roasted turkey is undoubtedly the most common meat eaten on Xmas Day. In fact research has shown that over 80% of the English families would not have anything other than roast turkey and all the trimmings at Xmas!
As with all poultry, turkeys must be cooked properly. Salmonella food poisoning could be contracted if the meat is left even slightly undercooked. This is particularly relevant to frozen birds. They must be thoroughly defrosted.
Most turkeys nowadays come specially prepared, no need for removing the feathers or removing the insides. The first thing that needs to be done is to remove the giblets from the plastic bag inside the bird. These giblets can be boiled in a pan to make a basic meat stock for gravy or stuffing and the liver can be finely chopped and used in stuffing.
If the turkey is going to be stuffed the turkey will take much longer to cook completely and time must be allowed for this. Cooking times will also be increased if the legs are trussed up inside the bird. Streaky bacon should be placed over the breast of the turkey and the whole bird should be wrapped in aluminium foil. The foil should only be removed when the carcass is fully cooked to crisp and brown off the skin.. And don’t fprget the gravy boat for that perfect turkey gravy.
When placing a turkey inside the oven ensure that it is in a dish that is large enough to catch all the fat and juices that will ooze out. Also, do not place the pan that is too high in the oven as this will result in the skin and outer meat being cooked but the inside will still be raw. The darker meat takes longer to cook than light meat so always place the turkey in the oven legs first as the back of the oven tends to be hotter. When carving the bird, make sure you have a chopping board that is large enough to hold her.
Make sure that family and friends have been invited round well in advance of the big day and on Christmas Eve make sure that preparations are well advanced. An early start will be needed to Christmas Day to make sure everything is cooking prior to the meal. When the oven cooked turkey is cooked, serve everything up and enjoy. The dishes can be washed later!
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