Cluck cluck, gobble gobble . (Poultry)

Member Name: mumsymary

Product:	Poultry
Date:	22/12/06 (335 review reads)
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Cluck, cluck, gobble gobble, I thought I would say my piece about cooking poultry today since a lot of people will be cooking and eating poultry this Christmas time .
Are you going to have turkey, chicken, pheasant, duck, goose, ostrich, pigeon, or maybe a dove?

Many moons ago when I was a child we only ate chicken for special occasions. It was expensive to buy and Turkey was only eaten at Christmas time. We did keep a few chickens but rarely ate them as we kept them for the eggs. Now Chicken and turkey are available all years round somehow it is not so special.

This year I shall be cooking and eating an organic Norfolk bronzed turkey. My Dads contribution to the Christmas feast is a bird from the organic farm in the village I grew up in.
I usually buy organic poultry as having kept chickens as a youngster I can not bear to think of them in small cages.

The turkey I shall be cooking will weigh about 12 pounds/5.4 kilos dad says.

For Christmas dinner I will be feeding 7 people, it is recommended that you allow 1 to 1 ½ pounds of turkey per person
We are collecting our Turkey from the farm when we collect my dad the day before Christmas Eve. The turkey we will get is not a frozen one; I know a lot of you will have frozen chickens and turkeys. For you I have written the defrosting times here.

Before I touch the raw turkey meat I shall wash my hands and after touching it too.

A turkey /or chicken is best thawed either in a cool room below 60%f /17%c or in a bowl of cold water If I was cooking a frozen bird I would need to change this water frequently. (I can leave the bird in its packaging.)I could thaw it in a fridge too.

If I use the cold water method I would allow about half an hour for each lb/0.5kilos of turkey. This is about 6 hours then for a 10-12 pound/5 kilo turkey
If I leave the bird in the fridge it takes about 24 hrs to thaw 5 pounds of meat. I would Remember to thaw it on the bottom shelf so the juices do not drip onto other foods.

If I use a cool room or the garage I would allow 3 or 4 hours per kg , longer if it’s a really cold room, I will check it to see how its doing in case I need to thaw it in cold water. So for a 10-12 pound 5 kilo turkey I really need 2 days. When I cooked a frozen turkey one year I used the garage to defrost it and needed to immerse the turkey in water to speed up the thawing time.

When we get our turkey it will be a fresh one so I shall keep it in the garage in a cool, cool box till I cook it its v cold out there nearly as cold as the fridge. I will only have the turkey a day before I cook it no room in fridge, but I would advise best keep your fresh turkey in fridge, I do not know the temp of your garage.

Now to prepare the beast.

Luckily I do not have to pluck and gut my turkey.
First I shall remove the giblets (yes in my youth I cooked a chicken and found the plastic bag of giblets still in the chicken when I served it.)
I will then wash the inner cavity of the turkey with cold water, and then dry with a kitchen towel.
I shall make my stuffing and stuff the neck end of the bird only if you stuff the whole bird it takes longer to cook. I shall make some stuffing balls to accompany my turkey and cook these separately. I will probable stuff an onion up its . sorry in the inner cavity
Turkey breast meat is known for drying out to prevent this I shall brush the turkey with melted butter and then lightly season with salt and pepper then put some rashers of bacon across the breast. This is the traditional way to season a turkey , if I was cooking on a different occasion I would use some cooking oil add a couple of tablespoons of crushed garlic, two of rosemary one of basil and brush this onto the turkey skin, Or I might season with oil, lemon juice and garlic. However my dad liking traditional food for Christmas I may be add some rosemary and parsley but that’s all.

I shall get up bright and early or preset my oven to heat to 180%c mark 4 Allow 20 minutes cooking time plus 20 minutes so if my bird weighs 11lb that’s umm 4 hours I think. So I shall be up between half seven and eight and hope to eat at about 1 to 1.30pm, no later as sister and family have a few hours travelling to get home and are staying for tea so we need a few hours between meals. I will check the temperature of the turkey meat when the thigh meat reaches an internal temperature of 180 degrees F, and when the breast meat reaches an internal temperature of 170 degrees F. the turkey will be cooked. I expect I shall be running around the kitchen like a headless chicken testing the turkey by prodding the deepest part of the thigh with a skewer when the juices run absolutely clear no pink at all then I shall be happy that the turkey is cooked. It is very important to make sure turkey properly cooked to avoid food poisoning.
If I was to stuff my turkey I shall add /allow some extra time. I will baste my turkey often keeping the meat moist. I bought some large foil to tent over the turkey if the skin looks as if it will get too brown. I shall then take it out of the oven to allow it to rest cooking my Brussels sprouts for 12 minutes then, nothing worse than soggy over cooked Brussels with no vitamins left in them.

My dad will have the honour of carving the turkey it will make him feel good and useful we will all say how hopeless we would be at it.
I will serve the turkey with sausages and, bacon rolls; I might wrap some sausages in bacon to make pigs in blankets. There will be stuffing, lots of gravy, cranberry sauce, and bread sauce. I have already made and frozen Yorkshire puddings Vegetables to accompany it will be roast potatoes , this year I shall make more than last year as my rather large rapacious nephew helped himself to more than his fair share and I had to go with out. It is recommended that 8oz 225g about 3 potatoes per person is enough so 7 people is 3 ½ pounds but I shall do more like 5 lb of roasties.) . I shall boil mine for 10 mins before I drain and shake them and then place in a roasting pan with hot fat and cook them for about 50 minutes and will also make a pan of mash. I shall also roast a few parsnips too. (Left over’s always good.) I shall also serve Brussels sprouts, peas and carrots and chestnuts too

After eating this and feeling extremely stuffed I may eat the Christmas pud or some fresh fruit salad, then I shall retire to the sitting room with a glass of wine /or a cup of tea and snooze while hubby and son in law wash up.

Thank you for reading I thought I would write this so if anyone was unsure about cooking a large turkey this would help them. Do read your cookery books or a recipie site on line to get the best recipie / advice for you . Enjoy your Christmas dinner everyone.

Summary: my Christmas dinner