will it really work???????

[carlychristmas]

I (stupidly i might add) have agreed to cook christmas dinner for nine people???????!!!!!! But - and here is my flaw- i cant cook meat cos im afraid of giving people food poisoning the only meat i can cook is pork and i will cook them slowly till they are crunchy. Yesterday i seen an iceland ad were they had stuffed turkey crowns that you just put in the oven has anyone ever used anything like this and do they work? Please save my dinner guests from pre cooked chicken for dinner

my mum always buys a turkey crown now! because they're so much easier, and most of it gets eaten!

thats what im hoping as i have no desire whatsoever to put my hand up a turkeys bum and either pull things out or put things in Im just worried because i bought a pork joint with crackling and when i took it out the time it said it was still bleeding [sick] so i left it for another thirty mins and it just got worse and still didnt look cooked i ended up throwing it away!! I cant really afford for that to happen christmas day i might just buy a small one beforehand and try it.

good idea. I saw somewhere these little plastic thermometer thingies that you stick in a turkey and it tells you when it is done. they change colour or something

they were quite cheap... might have been in sainsburys

Do you have an electric oven with which you can set the turn on and off time?

I am cooking for 8 plus 3 children. I am (and have always) cooked my larger turkeys with sausage bacon rolls speared all over the top, covered in foil, on a really low temperature (110 ish) where the oven switches on at 3am and switches off at midday. This way it cooks really slowly, for hours and hours. You can take off the foil turn up the heat and blast it all crispy for the last hour.

You also wake up to the smell of cooking turkey which is really nice

You also have the advantage of leaving it to rest (covered in several nice clean tea towels) for a nice long time before the meal is served (gravy warms it all up again anyway) and you ahve an entire oven again for cooking roasted veg.

Roast your turkey until the pop-up timer in the breast has popped up, if you're using one. Or, use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature. Insert the thermometer in the inner thigh area near the breast of the bird, but not touching bone. (Even if your turkey has a pop-up timer, it's always a good idea to use a meat thermometer to double-check the temperatures.) A turkey is done when the thigh temperature reaches 180 degrees F. For those without either there's a golden rule that when you poke into a cooked turkey with a knife or fork, the juices should run clear, not a hint of pink. For greatest safety, it is recommended to cook stuffing outside the bird, in a casserole dish, or on the stove top until the centre of the stuffing reaches 165 degrees F.

Use an oven temperature of 325 degrees F. If you use a lower temperature than this, your turkey may not cook fast enough to be safe. A 12lb unstuffed turkey will take about three hours to roast while a 24lb unstuffed turkey may take up to five hours. Most turkey packages will give guidelines for approximately how long to cook your turkey. At a chefs college they would teach you the golden rule is 15 minutes per lb plus 15 minutes over. Keep a close eye in those last 20 minutes.

oooh this is what i meant! get it from sainsburys!

thanks for the tips unfortunatley i have a gas oven but fondly remember waking up to the smell of cooking turkey on christmas morning i would love to have a go at cooking one but am so afraid of a huge disaster

followthestarlover wow that looks fab may have a trip to sainsburys as i have vouchers to use there, would def be worth paying a little extra just to keep everyone happy