Cooking perfect turkey crown

[chesterlestreet]

I have had to buy a frozen turkey crown for the first time this year. Any tips on how to prepare/cook it to ensure it doesn't go dry?

Defrost thoroughly. Put some water in your roasting tray. Add some herbs, add turkey and cover tightly with foil. Cook as per instructions and leave to rest for half an hour. As long as it's covered will still be hot

Also Jamie Oliver puts his meat on a layer of vegetables, then cooks covered in foil. Never seen him with a dry turkey yet....

I have done this recipe for years now with a turkey crown and it is always delicious

www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/turkey/cranberry-christmas-turkey/

The key is to rest it for ages. I saw Jamie Oliver cover it with foil and a load of towels to keep warm, so this is what I do.

My oven isn't big enough for the turkey and the roasties, so I finish cooking the turkey at least an hour before it is served. I completely cover with rashers of streaky bacon and some goose fat for the first part of cooking, take the bacon off for the last 30 mins.
If you sit it under foil for 45 mins it will stay warm, then carve and cover with delicious hot gravy on the plate it will taste fab.

Dry brining it will help to make sure it doesn’t go dry. It’s avoids the faff of wet brining - don’t need a huge bucket - just add salt (and baking soda for crispier skin) and leave in the fridge. The salt will dissolve and diffuse back into the turkey and change the protein structure so it loses less water as it cooks. There’s a full article here which goes into the details.

I’d also recommend a meat thermometer and removing the turkey from the oven when the breast meat is at 66°C at the deepest part. Cooking fully is a combination of time and temperature and it only needs to hold 66°C for 2.8 minutes to have the same effect at 74°C instantly. With a whole crown resting that is guaranteed. You can even get meat thermometers with alarms which beep when your meat has come to the right temperature!

I am so sorry for taking so long to get back, life stuff got in the way. Cooking the Crown now for new year. Will look through all this advice. Merry Christmas and thank you all