to think that you could feasibly cook a turkery overnight on xmas eve

[DamnBamboo]

on a very, very low temperature?

What do you think?

I'm talking the lowest setting on the oven, on at 11pm off at 7am.

What do you think would happen? Has anybody ever done this?

[fortyplus]

DamnBamboo - modern intensive farming methods have led to around 30% of poultry being Salmonella carriers. In the 'olden days' this wasn't the case, so an undercooked turkey wouldn't have been so risky. My mum used to keep it in a cool room and we'd still be eating it a week later - she always used to buy a 26lb bird so she didn't have to worry about running out!

[Bunbaker]

Turkey needs a long resting period so that it remains juicy. If you cover it in foil and several towels it will stay warm for an hour or more - Jamie Oliver does this so I tried it a coupe of Christmases ago and it really does work. Just cook the turkey as normal on Christmas day and roast your spuds and other bits while the turkey is resting.

[lovebunny]

i've just googled this and found lots of advice - why not check it there? they don't like people cooking stuffed bird, apparently, but that's how it was done. look it up, i don't want to responsible for your family coming down with food poisoning at christmas!

[lovebunny]

covered! deeply wrapped in tinfoil, more than one layer, and lots of butter everywhere.

[poncyettia]

Loads of butter under the skin and layers of streaky bacon on top, stuffing in the neck and about an inch of water in the bottom of the roasting tin. Cover with a couple of layers of foil and stick in the oven.

When I take it out in the morning, I turn it upside down in the tin ie so it sits on its breast and pop it on the top of the aga to rest with a couple of bath towels on top to keep the heat in. All the juices drain down into the breast meat and leaves it lovely and moist.

The only prob with using the butter is that the juices need skimming to remove the fat before you make the gravy.

I have never brined a turkey yet - might have a go this year if I can be bothered

[ceeveebee]

I always take whatever meat we are having out of the oven for any roast dinner before increasing temperature and putting the roasties, vegetables etc in. A turkey needs an hour or so to rest before carving.

[whois]

Google 24h pork.

Either river plate, river cottage or nigella (he weights are well off tho, use RP weights)

Yum-bloody-O

So basically sack off the turkey and do pork :-)

[DontmindifIdo]

It's best if you leave the turkey to rest for a while anyway, so cooking it early on Christmas morning then letting it rest for an hour while the spuds etc are doing. Don't spend good money on a turkey then make it dry and ruin it.

[oldraver]

My MIL used to half cook then finish off on the day, I also know people who get up at the crack of dawn and put the thing on --never figured out why they need to do this

Why doesnt she cook the bird take it out and while its resting put everything else in. If she par boils the potatoes then they dont take long to cook

[ohforfoxsake]

I'm doing mine in the Aga overnight. An hour at a higher temp to get it going, overnight in the simmering oven (low temp) and then the next day an hour at a higher temp to brown it. Leave it to rest for an hour (with a bath towel over it to keep the heat in) whilst you do the roasties etc.

[usualsocksprezzie]

It will stay warm for an hour while you cook the potatoes and stuffing etc.

[JellicleCat]

We cook ours overnight in the Aga. Works wonderfully though it does get a quick blast at a higher heat to start off - 30 mins I think.

[wigglesrock]

That's how my Mum does it - she has been known to get up at 3am and put the turkey in

[AMumInScotland]

My oven is quite a normal size, but I don't attempt to have the turkey and everything else in there together. Since the meat carves better after it has been out for a while, I don't put the bits and pieces in until the bird comes out. Just turkey and potatoes together, then potatoes & everything else. In fact even the potatoes don't need to go in till the bird comes out if you have parboiled them.

[germyrabbit]

i remember my mum (born in 1930) being so excited about her double oven, so she could cook yorkshires and warm plates without disturbing the main oven

[DamnBamboo]

My guess is before modern ovens, many people (with much larger families) will have to had to have done this and probably not many will have died on boxing day from food poisoning, so the alarmists among you need to relax.

It was more about the quality of the meat, not food poisoning.

Slow cookers never get to high temps like an oven and I have never been poisoned by meat cooked in one.

[DamnBamboo]

It's not for me. I always find reheated poultry never as good, especially after it has been refrigerated, and especially after it has been slice and refrigerated. She also doesn't have room in her fridge

I will get her to read the whole thread, so thanks everyone. I think she wants a freshly cooked turkey rather than a reheated cooked one so at least I now know that people do it.

Poncey and lovebunny do you cover the bird,or brine it? How do prevent it from drying out?

[germyrabbit]

my mum also did this for 20 years or so wouldn't have got owt else in the oven otherwise

[DewDr0p]

Great minds think alike beanandspud

[beanandspud]

It sounds a bit like a recipe for either food poisoning or a very over-cooked turkey.

If the oven is small you could put the turkey in at 6am. Depending on the size it would be cooked by late morning and if you keep covered with foil and maybe a towel it'll still be fine for lunchtime.

[DewDr0p]

But potatoes, stuffing etc take an hour or less to cook.

She could simply put the bird in an hour earlier and then cover with double layer of foil and a few towels while she roasts potatoes etc. Or cook it on Christmas Eve.

[AMumInScotland]

Why not just cook it at normal temperatures during the day on Christmas Eve, let it cool down and put it in the fridge? Or carve and put in the fridge if her fridge is also teeny. Serve up cold or pop in oven or microwave if you feel you really have to warm it through.

[lovebunny]

my parents' turkeys were big - 24lb, and the tenderest, juiciest most delicious...bought from a local farm and stuffed with parents' homemade sage and onion stuffing (more properly called butter, onion and a bit of sage with a couple of loaves of breadcrumbs and lots of salt and pepper stuffing) and i think they probably started it off at a higher temperature then turned it down to do for hours and hours. it was a traditional way... there's probably stuff about how to do it if you google.

[poncyettia]

Mine goes in the aga when I get home from Midnight mass - my gran did it, mum did it and I've just followed suit. It wouldn't be Christmas without trying to wrestle the turkey into the oven while emptying the Christmas Port

[DamnBamboo]

don't know if a whole bird could overcook if put in at 100 surely?

If it is a brined turkey, much-reduced need for basting