Oh god think I've ordered a turkey that's too big-will a 16lb er fit in my oven????

[MilaMae]

Last time I rely on my dad for turkey advice.

The butcher said a 16lber for 6-8 people. I rang dad to check,oh yes says he.

My mum is concerned as she's never cooked one that big and says it may not fit in my oven.

Is 16lb huge and has anybody not fitted it in their oven?

Will I be able to ring and change the order?

You could take off the legs and cook them separately. My mum has even been known to completely bone the turkey to allow for quicker cooking. You could ask your butcher to help with that ?

Well my 4 month old is about 16 pounds. I haven't tried fitting him in the oven

Oh heck,don't want to get into hacking bits off,Xmas Eve and Xmas Day at 7am will be hectic enough. Has anybody squashed one in?

I'm thinking a 4month baby would fit in sooooo.....

Apologies for the unChristmasy thoughts of roasting a baby

Yes ask your butcher to take the legs of. Get him to bone them and roll together and stuff. You get far more out of them and they only dry out anyway if they are left on the bird. 16lb is grand for an average oven. Mine this year will be around 25lb!

Am thinking the butcher added several pounds on to what was necessary, unless you are happy to eat turkey for several days afterwards. But yes, it should still fit in a normal oven.

Rudoph by "grand" do you mean too big or just right?

Yes methinks the butcher sniffed a novice when I walked in.
There will be 7 of us,then Boxing Day. Is 16lbs way too much?

Meant to say go on youtube and watch how phil vickery from this morning cooks his turkey. I did it this way last year. It really cuts down on cooking time especially for a big bird. The best method I have tried in years

Lol sorry grand as in fine! If you put on an irish accent reading my post it might make more sense!

It will take a lot of cooking, but it will go in your oven no problem.

If you have trouble fitting in other things around it - potatoes etc - then you can take the turkey out an hour before you want to eat (obv. need to factor this into what time you start cooking it!), and let it rest under foil and a tea towel while you cook the potatoes and whatever else.

You will have plenty of meat for both days and then some leftovers, but turkey is so much better when you do a bigger bird as it stays lovely and moist.

A few years ago, going to my Mother's on Christmas Eve and takign the turkey with us, I picked it up from the butcher and found that when person A had written "about 12lb" on the order pad, person B sorting out the orders later had read it as "about 17lb"

But it did fit in the oven, though there wasn't much room for other stuff. Thankfully Mum has a double oven so I could use the top oven as well. And yes I did take it out early and wrap it in foil while other things cooked. Just had to crawl out of bed about 6am, get turkey put of the garage (no room in fridge!) bung it in the oven (preheated thanks to electric timer setting) and go back to bed!

Oh and definitely a time to cook stuffing separately rather than stuffed, else cooking time will be even longer.

Would your butcher bone and roll it for you?
It would take up less room in the oven then.

My mum used to cook a 32lb turkey every year! She did have a large oven though.

I figure that one half the size would fit in my standard size oven.

Have you got a large roasting tray?

Jesus. That's two newborn babies! I think the butcher saw you coming. It is an awful lot of meat, unless you really did want to live off it for a few days afterwards.

See, this is why I hate turkey. Aside from the boring taste and dryness, I mean. It is so bloody hard to get a small bird. If there's only 4, or even 6 of you, you are going to be staring at the wretched carcass until New Year's Eve.

Sorry. Anti-turkey rant over.

Yes I agree that's a lot of turkey for 6 people. I have ordered a 4kg (= approx 9 pounds) chicken for 6 of us. And it will be masses.

I would always say about a pound of meat on the bone per person. Mind you, my family are not massive eaters of meat.

Not sure if that is any help...anyway should be fine in oven. Try a dry run with other bits on Chr Eve.

have just bought a 6.4kg monster for 2 adults and 3 young children. Not sure what that is in lbs but we do love left-overs and will happily eat Turkey for days an freeze any leftovers.

We had 16lber last year for 6 adults. While it was a BIG bird, and probably far too much, I've ordered the same size for this year, as really enjoyed having DECENT leftovers and not having to scavenge the carcass for anything edible!

it will be fine. you just have to cook the turkey on its own earlier than the other stuff because it will take up the whole oven. remove the shelves and just have one at the lower bit of the oven. Then do all the extras after.