Cooking my turkey in a gas fired aga - aaargh!! help me!

[peskykids]

Staying in a beautiful barn conversion nr Plymouth with inlaws from crimbo - but just realised place ONLY has gas fired 4 oven aga.

I've ordered a 14lb turkey - will it fit - what do I do? And will I be able to cook the cakes I am planning to do for splendid puds??

EEEK! Help me please...

from memory cakes are nigh on impossible in a 2-oven aga all sorts of kit and caboodle required the few times i've rubbed up next to one but imagine a 4-oven would be fine. can you ring rental owner and ask?

i'd have thought MN would be heaving with aga-owners who can better advise on that and turkey...

hmm. Think I may need to ring the landlady, good thought, thanks xxx.

Someone said that you might as well put stuff in the airing cupboard to cook rather than an aga! Sorry, don't mean to panic you.

Agas are THE business-had to leave mine behind as we have moved house, but I still drove an 8 mile round trip to roast a chicken when I was in the UK (we still own the house.) God I miss it and hate the shitty electric thing we have in the new place.

Turkey will fit in no problems. I am a keen cook but not of the fancy cakes variety, but there really shouldn't be a problen. I have the Berry cookbook which is pretty straightforward, but the AGA itself can be controlled heatwise. There is a control and also a thermometer on the front-have you got time to fiddle a bit for a day or two beforehand? If the heat is too high, opening the oven doors or lifting the lids will reduce it quickly.

As for me, I'm wondering how I'll cook my turkey WITHOUT my Aga. I think I will go back to the old house again-roads should be quiet on Christmas morning?!

Aaargh.. Furball.. aarrghh..

Waswondering - can I use any roasting tin in the aga? I was assuming we'd just take our own turkey tin just to make sure there was one...?

Moondog we arrive Weds, so get a couple of days grace I guess.. but we're taking dinner for Weds, I'm taking a precooked and frozen posh stew for Thurs, and Fri is lashing of roast salmon and posh cheese.. so not really planning anything worrying before th turkey. Actually, I'm not so worried for myself, but granny is cooking the xmas dinner and I'm worried for her really. she's got enough hassle with doing the dinner anyway let alone a strange oven and an aga at that. Thnaks for the agalinks link...

Perhaps we'll just pass the sherry round...

My mum has an aga and I grew up learning to cook on that - took me ages to get the hang of other cookers. Mum only has a 2 door oven which has one roaster and one warming oven. She puts the turkey in any pan that it will fit in, covers it with foil and chucks it in the warming oven overnight. This means it cooks really slowly and stays moist. She puts it in the roasting oven for half and hour to an hou. or so before serving to crisp up the skin.

amynSaintnixmum

BRILLIANT - thank you - that'll do for us!

was just going to say exactly what amynixSaint said. My friend pops her turkey in the warming oven before bed on Christmas Eve and it's all ready for lunch time. It tastes amazing. Lovely and moist. OOhhh... feeling hungry thinking about it.

Was just about to say exactly the same as amynixSaintasmum and Marselectionboxlady. Honestly, agas are great, a wonderful asset for Christmas.
Really hope you enjoy it!

am so jealous would love an aga

Was going to suggest the bottom oven overnight, but have been beaten to it.... Good luck. I'm on my first Xmas with an Aga, and have visions of the bird stuck in the oven.
As for cakes, you should be fine in a 4 oven, can you borrow a mary berry aga cookbook from the library over Xmas? I have a spare if you want to CAT me.

ok-4 oven aga recipe
for turkey over 22lb
start off in roasting oven till lightly browned (30 min)
cover loosely with foil and transfer to simmering oven for 11-14hrs (top left oven)
check cooked with skewer
remove foil tranmsfer to roasting oven to crisp skin
I did this last year and it was great-frees up ovens for veg etc and lovely to wake up on xmas day and turkey be almost ready-destressing!
also makes meat tender but succulent.
Amy Wilcox aga baking is great for cakes
Basically use bottom right oven (approx 180) and keep an eagle eye on them as take less time than usual.
Be carefulk to keep the heat in the ovens on xmas day ie dont keep hot plate covers up too long.
Good Luck

bless you all!! I think even Granny will be reassured by the advice!

mullged wine, thanks everso for the offer of the mary berry boook - I will order it from the libary I think. Although I am wondering whether just to chance it- I'm quite a slapdash sort of cook anyway and if I just make sure we have fruit and icecream to hand I can at least provide another pussing if all else fails (or turn it into trifle!)

I am looking forward to waking up to the smell of roasting turkey though - yum! (I only said that to make marslady go even greener!)

How heartless can a woman be?????????????? sob sob sob sob sob

Remember as well that you don't get smells from an aga oven, so you won't smell your cakes burning. Set a kitchen timer. And remember that I could appear at any second to eat your succulent turkey sob!!!!!!!!!

was just going to say that you won't smell a thing. agas seal the smells in somehow. when i've made stock in the low oven at a friend's house, i've been amazed that you don't then find the scent of it all over the house (i really had a problem with a slowcooked lamb recipe which found its way into bathtowels/bedlinen etc, but that was with my ordinary oven)

Well it's a Cinderella aga if it's any consolation to you all. Only mine for few days..

Bit worried about not smelling the food burning - I hope there's a timer on the thing as I can't wear a watch and have a memory like a colander.. Actually, my friend's mum once left a fish in their aga for 2 weeks while on holiday - it now lives above their aga like some sort of weird shrinky dink trophy

And marslady - if you're near Plymouth at xmas I DEMAND you join me for Rum punch and turkey!!!