To dread cooking the blasted turkey every year?

[Mrswhatsit40]

It's always dry and tasteless no matter what I do. I'm generally very laidback but this is the worst bit about Christmas for me - worrying about cooking the turkey. Worrying it's going to defrost properly in time then wrangling with a beast the size of a large toddler, removing the disgusting giblets, then in and out of the oven for hours from 9am onwards basting, giving myself third degree burns in the process, stuffing inside or not blah blah.

What the the absolute BEST way you cook your turkey to avoid meat dryer than a nuns crotch? And please don't suggest that Jamie Oliver thing of smearing butter underneath the skin bc I tried it last year and it was impossible (disclaimer:I am not a great cook).

Help me please oh wise MN-er's so I can sleep tonight..what's your failsafe tip for tender turkey? Or does it not exist?

YANBU: It's a pain in the bloody arse and turkey tastes terrible no matter what
YABU: It's easy to cook a nice turkey and you are clearly doing it all wrong

"Think I'll have to risk the frozen turkey as I don't fancy lugging it back to Waitrose and I just looked at the fresh ones from Kelly's - start at £90 for 3kg!!!!"

The frozen turkey will be absolutely fine!!

Why do you cook it? It's a horrible dry meat. I'd have something else, a goose or a ham.

I’m still reading all the replies!

I think I’m going to go with dry brining the turkey with kosher salt, lemon and rosemary overnight as a pp suggested as the nigella wet method looks like a bit of a faff and has about 100 ingredients - il then put streaky bacon all over it, and cook it until it’s 72 degrees (is that right?)using my meat thermometer (£8 from Amazon being delivered today!)

OR I may do the Phil Vickery method as that looks pretty easy too and I fancy omitting the basting.
I’m definitely keeping the frozen turkey as I can’t return it and it’d be a waste.

And if it’s still shite hopefully the gammon will turn out ok - I’m quite looking forward to doing that and sticking the cloves in (I’ve watch the nigella video 5 times - it’s very therapeutic!) il slow cook it in cola & onion first - does anyone know if you can do this in the slow cooker instead of the oven & how long it should be in for (it’s 2.5kg)? As it would be nice to just bung it in and ignore it.

Thank you all and il try to report back when the turkey has been consumed 😂

I'm sure you can cook the gammon in the slow cooker, @Mrswhatsit40 - but I don't have the instructions to hand. Hopefully someone better informed will be along soon.

If you do want to do the wet brining, you absolutely don't have to use all of Nigella's ingredients - salt, water, onions, clementines, and some herbs/spices would do.

Here is BBC Good Food's recipe for slow cooker gammon in coke, @Mrswhatsit40.

If you definitely aren't going to do another meat, then this is how I get good results:

1. I do stick with a crown - easier to get an even cook all over than a whole bird, and easier to manouvre and carve.
2. The night before, make a mixture of salt (I prefer to use Maldon salt flakes), crushed black pepper, oregano and any other herbs you fancy. You could also add some lemon or organge zest. and rub the mix all over the inside and outside of the turkey. This is a 'dry brine' method that essentially draws out the liquid of the turkey and which is then reabsorbed with the salt/herbs infusing it. The salt tenderises the meat and both the salt and herbs flavour it. Let the turkey rest in the fridge overnight - uncovered (this allows the skin to dry out and become crispier).
3. On the day of cooking, remove turkey from the I don't do stuffing inside turkey but stuff it if you like. I tend to just pop some halved oranges in the cavity - the juice will steam during cooking. Rub the excess salt off with kitchen towel. Cream some butter with black pepper, lift the skin carefully from the breast, using a knife to pry it away from the body. Using your hands, gently push it under the skin on each breast and massage it down so that there's a thin layer of butter between the meat and the skin on each breast.
4. I don't stuff the turkey but you can if you like. Would suggest if you stuff it do so with a stuffing that will create moistness rather than soak up moistness - so a sausage meat stuffing rather than purely breadcrumb/paxo based.
5. I line roasting pan with a double layer of foil - one going lengthways, one going width ways, making a cross shape. Leave lots of foil on both strips. Lay the turkey in the pan, pour in chicken stock to about a third of the way up the pan. Then bring the four sides of your foil together to make a sort of tent. There should be plenty of room between the turkey and your 'tent to allow steam to circulate.
6. Don't overcook it. Don't worry about basting it - the butter will do that itself. Don't worry about browning it (you'll see why). Just cook until a meat thermometer is reading about 65 degrees celsius. For a mid sized crown you're talking maybe two hours.
7. When it's cooked, or close to cooked, gently peel off the skin in one piece (this is easier with a crown than a full bird, and is made easier because it's already been prised apart from the mean before cooking). Please it on a baking tray with some oiled foil. Cook it in your oven until it is fully crispy - you're aiming for a crackling type texture. About 15 minutes on a high heat should do the trick, but cook as long as you like to get it to your preferred level of crispiness. Separating the skin and the mean was a gamechanger for me.
8. Let the crown rest for half an hour before carving. Easiest way to carve is to carve off both breasts first, and then slice them, rather than cutting slices straight from the crown.
9. Pop your turkey slices into a pan with some of the cooking juices and leave them until about 15 minutes before they are ready to serve. Give them another blast in the oven to get them piping hot before serving.
10. Break up the skin crackling into shards and sprinkle over the turkey slices.

The biggest thing for me was separating out the crispness of the skin from the moistness of the meat. To get crisp skin means high, dry heat. To get moist meat means moderate, wet heat. They're not compatible objectives. By removing the skin and cooking high and dry at the end, you can do your meat in a steamy, wet heat environment that won't dry it out.

Also, by doing it in advance and having your turkey slices carved, ready to go and reheated (with liquid so it doesn't dry out in reheating) you aren't trying to time everything perfectly (and you don't have to worry about the reheating stock making the skin soggy).

I think 72 degrees is too high. Did one last week for another meal and at 65 degrees it was perfect. No pink juices, but really very moist.

Plus, make a foil steam tent over the turkey in the roasting tin- it really does make a difference.

Only two things are worth doing in my opinion.

1. Get your turkey boned and rolled. Much simpler to cook and fit in the oven. The stuffing helps to stop it drying out.
2. Cook a chicken instead. Or a ham. Or anything but turkey.

Basically, yes. I still make the gravy from the juices (day of cooking) and portion it up into tupperware with the gravy so I'm only reheating what we need (queen of leftovers). The rest is frozen in gravy and reheated whenever (quite handy on a january week night when it only takes 25/30 mins to heat up).

Are you letting it rest for 45 - 90 minutes after cooking? That's what keeps it moist. If you cut into it too soon it loses the moisture. You need to let it rest in order to reabsorb its own juices.

Try Raymond Blanc method of cooking turkey, always very good. Succulent and tasty.

Frozen turkey really should be brined, Nigella Lawson recipe online.

I have just bought a fresh turkey off the shelf (i.e. not pre-ordered) from Sainsbury's for £15 using my nectar card.

So you don’t carve the turkey at the table? Part of the joy and occasion of Christmas dinner for me is seeing everything set out on platters and serving dishes, with the turkey and ham being carved at the table and everyone helping themselves. I can see the benefits of then portioning up and freezing the remainder of the meats and gravy.

Everyone is different though and what I think of as festive is not necessarily anyone else’s idea of festive! The important thing is what works for you and your family - I find it really interesting hearing about the way other people do things, especially Christmas which is so laden with tradition….yet everyone’s traditions are different. Vive la difference!

My parents collect turkey crown on CE. Then keep it in cool box in garage with ice packs. Rotate them every 4 hours.

Never had a problem

We only have a crown these days anyway (there are only 3 of us) so generally, I tend to slice some of it but it still gets presented on the platter. Not as impressive as a turkey but it's just how it is. I think the years I cooked it the day before, we had more people over and it was easier to be sociable rather than spend the morning in the kitchen.

Everything is still put in naice serving dishes (courtesy of our wedding guests decades ago we have a tres tres posh dinner service). and everyone then gets whatever they like...

Including (shock horror!) yorkshire puddings ;) which I know is incredibly divisive.

You're right though, it is interesting to see how other people do things and what everyone's traditions are :)

We had a turkey today for various reasons and it was one of the best I've had, flavourful, succulent, delicious, nothing dry about it, everyone loved it.
No idea if it was the turkey itself or the way I cooked it which was different to usual. Bird was a Chesham Bronze from Aldi, and I cooked it the Jamie Oliver easy way, it really was easy, veg trivet with giblets in the tray and butter all over it, no faffing round with putting it under the skin. Taking his advice I cooked it for 27 mins per kg as free range good quality birds cook in less time.
Then made delicious gravy using the veg and giblets left in the tray.
Would definitely do that way again.

Frozen is very often actually better than so called 'fresh' according to many recent reports.

Honestly, the amount of hype surrounding Christmas dinner. My wife is/was a professional cook with a modest restaurant, and to her, preparation of Christmas dinner is easier than falling off a log, certainly much easier than the constant pressures of running even a small restaurant.

How is that helpful though? How does that help the average person who feels pressure on the day? It sounds like you are just boasting about your wife’s ability. Which, given she is a professional chef, doesn’t really help the average person with only one oven, cooking a meal that’s completely different to what they usually cook at any other time.

Well don't torture yourself. Buy beef or lamb, we had salmon en croute one year. It was lovely. As pp has said I have never cooked a turkey ever and have no intention of ever cooking one.

Why didn't you cook it instead? Give her a break from being a PROFESSIONAL CHEF AND THERFORE PROBABLY FINDS COOKING STUFF QUITE EASY ANYWAY

Can't cook. Besides, the microwave's broken.

To be fair though it’s just a roast dinner with a few added sides - we gave up turkey up in 2013 and have never had one since, none were bad I just don’t like the taste much . Lived in Oxford at the time and the splendid butchers in indoor market had some really good looking organic cockerels on display around 4 days before Xmas - around 4kg, I ordered one to pick up 2 days later and the butcher said, you won’t regret it and I never have - prefer it on sandwiches, it’s like the most succulent meaty chicken , fantastic hot or cold, in pies, doesn’t dry out - done the same every year since. My FIL pulled a face first year and said ‘what , no turkey’ - even he thought after the first year that it was better option - not cheap though, I pay about £48

DH does ours and he has a rack in the roasting dish, puts the turkey on there. Then he fills the roasting dish with water so as that water exporates the steam goes up through the turkey, keeping it moist. Obviously the foil then traps a lot of that moisture in too. He just uses some butter to baste it, tops up the water as the cold water going in creates more steam. Boom…turkey isn’t dry.