In asking for your last min tips for turkey cooking?

[cantpooinpeace]

Its a 13 pounder.

It has a lemon in the cavity, smeared with butter & topped with bacon.

Had a look at cooking times on the web but they do vary quite widely.

I'm reckoning stick it in on 170 @ 0700 and it'll be perfect by 1200.

Advice please :)

Hope it turned out well, OP.

Mine was just a 7lber (there's only 2 of us eat it) and an organic bird, so needs less cooking anyhow. I put mine on a bed of celery, carrot and onion with rosemary and thyme sprigs, shoved a clementine and a lemon up its bum, rubbed with a little butter and crossed some bacon over its chest. Salt and pepper over the skin. Gave it an hour to come to room temp, then poured a cup of boiling water into the base of the tin, foil over the top, shoved it in a fan oven preheated to 200C and immediately turned it down to 155. The package suggested 2.5 hours, so I took the foil off after 90 mins and checked when 2 hours were up - cooked perfectly!

It was bloody delicious and I'm actually looking forward to the several meals and lunches worth of leftovers (the juices in the bottom make the best gravy ever with all the stock veg and herbs in)

Pigletjohn - I always cook all my extras while the turkey's resting. I cooked my parsnip (just the one, for me) with the taties, in duck fat, once the turkey came out of the oven.

I took everyone's ideas on board- shoved an onion, lemon and clementine (had to chop it up to fit) up the birds bum, smothered in butter and bacon, seasoned well, used a rack, water and foil and basted often. If I'd had a bag I'd have used that too. I cooked it for 40 mins per kilo on 170 then a bit more without the foil. It was lovely but next year we are still eating out.

I put the onion down the neck.

Why do people prefer the other end?

It was perfect, put it in pre heated oven and bird at room temp. In at 7 at 165 with foil cover. Last hour foil off oven hotter. Out of oven 12.15 totally foil wrapped 3 times with tea towel on top. Ate it at 3 and was perfect and still warm. Very pleased with myself :)