HuGE fresh Turkey Gift - HELP !!!

[52andblue]

Today I was given a fresh Turkey. Ive no space to freeze it. I'd planned on gammon & trimmings but I do have a 2nd (non fan) oven avail. The Turkey is huge. (4k) & I've never cooked one before. Would you cook that in the fan oven or the ordinary one please ? The packaging says 3hrs 40. Would this be fan oven timings ?

That's probably a bit long. Mine is 5kg, will be in for 2 and a half hours at 180 fan. I'll check the temp then let it rest for an hour before serving.

I'd do the Turkey in the fan oven, and the gammon in a pressure cooker and finished off in the oven if I were you.

BBC have a good food roast timer on their site , it is good if it's first time .

That cooking time sounds very long. Ours is 6kg and I expect it to take between 2hr45 & 3hr15. Test the temperature of it rather than rely on timings, which often are overstated to avoid the risk of undercooked meats. While that makes sense from a safety standpoint, it leads to dry Turkey.

I would use the fan oven, just remember fan ovens require a slightly lower temp.

Id take the legs off and cook those slowly covered in a casserole dish with goose fat if you have it .. or stock if you dont...
Or id freeze those for later and just remove the breasts or cook the crown .
The rest you can freeze raw for soup or casserole later

I'm hoping to cook it whole for the Wow factor for the kids. No pressure cooker so it'll be fan oven / normal oven for Turkey and t'other oven for everything else. Not sure which oven will cook the Turkey best though?

Try this

www.raymondblanc.com/recipes/the-perfect-roast-turkey/

My turkey is 15lbs (7kg approx) and will take Labour 3 hours according to the booklet it came with. I don't have a fan oven, so either of your ovens will do.

@thegcatsmother

My turkey is 15lbs (7kg approx) and will take Labour 3 hours according to the booklet it came with. I don't have a fan oven, so either of your ovens will do.

Wow I didn't know you could get them this big! How many people do you have for dinner? I bet it looks amazing when cooked!

Do I just put lemons inside the cavity and butter and bacon over the breast ?

Maybe a daft question and you have already done so but check on the back for instructions as mine was over three hours on the packaging but when you looked at the small print on the back it was at 180 (fan) for the first 45 mins then140 for the remaining hence the long cook time.

Mrs Cratchit??!!?? Merry Christmas!!

And don't worry - he's going to pay off your mortgage as well!!

@falseperceptons - wouldn't that be nice !!

The Turkey was really good - but there is SO much left ! What with the leftover ham, I think there will be enough for about 4 more Sunday Lunches for the 3 of us - thank goodness for freezers :) Hope everyone else's Christmas Lucnch / Dinner went to plan (burp!)