Roast Turkey, The Perfect Meal For Xmas Day
The most common meat eaten on Christmas Day is oven roasted turkey. Research has shown that eighty percent of British families would only eat oven roasted turkey and everything else that goes with it at Xmas, nothing else will do!
A family sized turkey must be cooked all the way through as there is potential for those that are to eat the meat to contract salmonella. If the bird is frozen it must be defrosted thoroughly before cooking.
Nearly all shop turkeys are now oven prepared, no need to remove the insides or pluck feathers. The only thing that needs doing is removing the giblets from inside the carcass. The giblets should not, however, be just thrown away. They should be boiled in a saucepan to make very tasty gravy stock or the liver can be used finely chopped in stuffing.
If the turkey is going to be stuffed the turkey will take much longer to cook to a specific interior temperature 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.
If the dish holding the oven is not large enough the fat and juices will ooze out and make a mess in the oven. Place the turkey on the bottom shelf of the oven. If the turkey is placed in an oven that is too hot, the meat will only cook on the outside and will be raw inside. Light meat does not take as long to cook as dark so the turkey should be placed inside the oven legs first as the back of an oven tends to be hotter. The best cutting boards will hold a full size bird
Make sure that family and friends have been invited round well in advance of the big day and on Xmas 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 roast turkey is cooked, serve everything up and enjoy. The dishes can be washed later!
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