Help! Anyone cooking their turkey in an Aga or similar ...

[Millie1]

Just collected Tillie the Turkey and it's hit me that I'm an Aga-turkey-cooking virgin. Yikes! Please tell me how you cook yours ... roasting oven for x minutes per pound (if so, which set of runners, covered or uncovered) or simmering oven overnight (again, at what height and covered or not). My top oven cooks quite quickly at the back so have nightmares of having to turn a 15lb turkey every few hours .

Thanks!!

We too have an Aga - I am husband of Emma just to let you know my gender. I am going to place in the roasting oven for 30 mins to seal. Then in the simmering oven overnight.

Aga book says Roast in for 30 mins until lightly browned then in the simmering oven.

8-10 lb (3.6-4.5kg) allow 8-10 hours
11-16 lb (5-7.25kg) 9-12 hours
17-22lb (7.5 - 10kg) 10-14 hours

We have an 8lb turkey and so I should allow 8-10 hours. Based on the Aga book then I need to put in the oven at 5.00am. However, I believe that the simmering oven will reduce in heat as soon as the turkey goes in. So those who put in the oven overnight may have the best idea. By the way it states that only a 22lb turkey needs to be put in the roasting oven first. So now I am going to put straight into the simmering oven at about 11.00pm.

Oh well here goes..

Rod

Me too! First time AGA-turkey-roast.
About to stuff the bird (also first time) and want to do it overnight as tomorrow will be enough of a challenge without risking undercooked meat. Am doing meat, pots & parsnips then shipping it all to MIL's who's doing veg etc. I was expecting 12lbs from the butcher but the bird is only 9lb7oz - hope it's enough for 6??
Rod - are you no longer going to brown it in the top oven then? Will it go brown in the bottom oven I wonder?
I usually cook my roast chickens upside-down for the first hour to keep the breast moist. Does one do this with a turkey? Mind you, flipping a stufed 9lb bird may be more than my wrists can take!
Anyone got further advice??
Giblets here I come....

Millie - I just found this...

www.aga-web.co.uk/Brochures/1343_Aga%20Xmas%20Guide%202008_WEB.pdf

Have a lovely (yummy) Christmas!

Shit, I hadn't thought of this and am staying at a house with an aga. What is a simmering oven and what is a roasting oven? Does it really take that long?!

Gawd! No tips I'm afraid. My parents have one so I always used to use on but IME it's a bit hit and miss. Just expect it to take longer, have an electric oven on stand-by and don't let anyone use all the hot water on Christmas morning

Woohoo ... other first timers!! I've looked at the Aga book and a couple of Aga websites and because we're a 2 oven Aga and therefore can't do the medium method, am going for the fast cook method tomorrow ... so 1 hr in the roasting oven uncovered, then 'she' gets a foil tent and another 2-3 hours. I was really tempted by the slow cook, overnight method but like Rod, my timings meant I had to get up at 3am or something to put it in and also my Aunt said she tried this years ago and the bird fell to pieces because it was so tender ... sounds great but hard to carve .

Mamanicky ... I think I read somewhere that if you give them a blast without the foil at the end, then it will brown nicely.

Oh heck,such fuss for one meal. Have just prepped all the veg and am only at computer to "check whether Mulberry's sale has started online" find a chocolate mousse recipe!

Good luck everyone ... will you please come back on Boxing Day and update us on how the turkeys fared?

Darn, meant to strike through the Mulberry bit ... like check whether Mulberry's sale has started online

Ok, I give up!!

I have a wood fired Rayburn and though I don't eat meat myself my friends and family always rave about joints cooked in our Rayburn. They say it's moist and tender.

We have to cook the turkey tomorrow morning then drive it to my brother's in London. Could be interesting.

Millie I think you have to strike each individual word.

Thanks Minceppiedermama! Hope tomorrow goes well ... you won't be tempted by the aroma of the turkey en-route but your fellow passengers may well be!

Well, she/he/it's ready I found some great videos on UTube on how to stuff the bird.

I've got a 4mo baby, so am used to getting up in the night heheh...I will do the overnight thing and brown it off with the spuds in the roasting oven. I can't carve properly anyway, so if it falls of the bone we'll get to eat it quicker eh?

Giblets are bubbling on the simmering plate ready for yummy gravy...

Good luck & Happy Christmas everybody!

No I do not intend to put the turkey in the Roasting oven now. I will put it in the simmering oven and then finish off in the roasting oven. Wife given me advice but since we both are doing this for the first time I am sticking to my guns. In laws said they had a coke fired aga and started off a 14lb turkey in the roasting oven then put it in the simmering. Coke is not so controlable. Our is a LPG aga and we keep it on the normal mark.

ok so I will post the results on Boxing day.

Rod

Interesting... I have a 24lb bird which I was planning to cook in the roasting oven for 5 hours tomorrow, had no idea I could 'simmer' it overnight... will it not dry out? Am tempted to do this as it'll save hassle tomorrow!

A 24lb bird - wow! Aga recommend starting in the Roasting Oven for 30 mins to lightly brown. Then transfer to simmering oven for another 14 hours. Personally I would do this at 10:30 tonight and place in the summering oven until you are ready to eat. If you intend to eat at 1.00pm then start at 7.30pm this evening. Make sure the heat is up to the black line before starting..as the oven loses temperature immediately the bird goes in and takes a while to heat up again.

I agree with Rod. Don't forget the weight/cooking times are for the STUFFED weight if you have stuffed your ostrich turkey. (Most chefs now recommend stuffing just neck end not cavity, for safety)

The initial roasting-oven period for the larger bird is to get the cavity up to cooking heat before putting it down into the low oven, again for safety.

How many are you feeding tomorrow??

And it shouldn't dry out when rubbed with butter/oil and loosley tented with foil.

Thanks Roddles for your advice. I think I may do 5 hours in the roasting oven tomorrow though as I haven't stuffed my bird (ho ho).

Will need to crank up the beast to a higher temp before bedtime tonight.

I went on a Cooking for Christmas on an Aga course last week and was advised to do 1 hour in the roasting oven the night before then bung it into the simmering oven. Take it out a few hours before you're due to eat and wrap it up in more foil, and some towels or an old blanket and leave it on the side, close to the oven, or on the warming plate if you have a 4-oven aga.

She said it will keep hot for hours.

Fingers crossed it will be fine.

OK just asked my mum. She said cook it in the top oven for about half an hour a a hottish heat. Then put the plate thing in above it to cool the temp down for the res of cooking time. If you want it extra moist put an extra oven tray with water in in the bottom of the top oven.
Her first answer was, "it's pretty hit and miss really, not sure what to do..." that explains Christmas then!

Pennies ... I read exactly what you have said on one of the Aga websites. I reckon they'll all be perfect!!

Well the folks have gone and I think they enjoyed themselves.

The turkey was excellent if a bit late and I am cross at myself for not being more organised. Wife and f-i-l said I should not put turkey in overnight. So I bowed to pressure and goy up at 7.30am and put but and parsley under the skin. Got the bird upside down first and then wife pointed out my mistake. I then put the turkey the right way round - and stuffed butter and parsley under skin of breast. WE=e trotted off to church for the festive matins at Sherborne Abbey and then it all started...

Did now decide to roast for 15 mins until lightly browned and then placed in the simmering oven for 9 hours and finally in the roasting oven for 30 mins. We were planning to eat at 4.00pm but actually sat down at 6.00pm.

The roast potatoes parsnips and stuffing should have been done much earlier but I was panicking and telling everybody I should have put it in the oven overnight! Having been told to shut-up by my wife we did sit down to a family Christmas. It was lovely.

Well, we did ours over night.

I put butter, seasoning and bacon on it and put about 3 cms of water in the roasting tray, covered it with foil and at 10pm it did an hour in the roasting oven then at 11 I put it into the simmering oven.

It was done at 8am when we got up but I left it in for a couple of hours anyway. It was left resting all wrapped up nice and warm on the warming plate from 10am until 3pm and it was absolutely fine. The meat was moist and perfectly cooked. Will def cook it this way in the future - not least because it frees up the rest of the oven and is totally hassle free.

Well done Roddles & Pennies ... it sounds like they turned out perfectly. I put ours (around 17lb) with sausage stuffing in the neck end, in at 12 - 1 hr in the top oven uncovered, then tented with foil and gave it another 2 hours. Unbeleivably, at 3pm the juices ran clear ... although I did give it another 15 mins covered, and 15 mins uncovered to brown the breast. It was delicious ... just finishing it up today although enough for a sandwich tomorrow and have some ready for the freezer for a pie in a few weeks.