Cooking the turkey | Turkey recipes | Jamie Oliver recipes (2024)

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Cooking the turkey

This bird deserves respect

Cooking the turkey | Turkey recipes | Jamie Oliver recipes (2)

This bird deserves respect

“It’s game time, and your timings are key. Remembering to work out enough time for the bird to come up to room temperature, to cook, and to rest for 2 hours will determine when you start cooking and when you eat. Plan ahead! ”

Serves 12 with lots of leftovers

Cooks In3 hours 30 minutes : 25 to 30 minutes per kilo for a higher-welfare bird, and 35 to 40 minutes per kilo for a standard bird

DifficultyNot too tricky

TurkeyChristmas

Nutrition per serving
  • Calories 734 37%

  • Fat 38g 54%

  • Saturates 16.2g 81%

  • Sugars 3.5g 4%

  • Salt 1.3g 22%

  • Protein 91.9g 183%

  • Carbs 6.8g 3%

  • Fibre 1.5g -

Of an adult's reference intake

recipe adapted from

Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook

By Jamie Oliver

Tap For Method

Ingredients

  • 12 rashers of smoked streaky higher-welfare bacon
  • 2 heaped tablespoons plain flour
  • 2 tablespoons cranberry sauce

The cost per serving below is generated by Whisk.com and is based on costs in individual supermarkets. For more information about how we calculate costs per serving read our FAQS

recipe adapted from

Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook

By Jamie Oliver

Tap For Ingredients

Method

  1. Click here for how to prep your bird...
  2. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4.
  3. You want to cook a higher-welfare bird for 25 to 30 minutes per kilo, and a standard bird for 35 to 40 minutes per kilo. Higher-welfare birds generally have more intramuscular fat, which means they cook quicker than standard, lean birds. If you’ve got a 7kg bird, like I had here, do it for just over 3 hours, based on the guideline timings above.
  4. Just under 1 hour before the time is up, get the tray out of the oven and remove the tin foil.
  5. Cover the bird with your rashers of bacon, stretching and weaving them into a criss-cross pattern however you like. Return the turkey to the oven for the remaining time, or until golden and cooked through.
  6. The simplest way to check it’s cooked is to stick a knife into the thickest part of the thigh – if the juices run clear, it’s done. If you’re worried, use a meat thermometer. You want to reach an internal temperature of 65ºC for a top-quality bird, such as Paul Kelly’s turkeys, or 70ºC for a supermarket higher-welfare or standard bird.
  7. Use heavy-duty tongs to lift up your bird so all the juices run from the cavity into the tray, then transfer the turkey to a platter, cover with a double layer of tin foil and a clean tea towel, and leave to rest for up to 2 hours while you crack on.
  8. Use your tray of trivet veg and juices to make your gravy. Place the turkey tray over a medium heat on the hob. Skim away most of the fat from the surface into a jar, cool, and place in the fridge for tasty cooking another day.
  9. Stir the flour into the tray, mashing up all the veg and scraping up all the sticky bits from the base. Pour in up to 2 litres of boiling kettle water and simmer until the gravy is the consistency of your liking, then stir in the cranberry sauce.
  10. Strain the gravy through a coarse sieve, pushing all the goodness through with the back of a spoon, then season to perfection.
  11. Keep warm over the lowest heat until needed, adding any extra resting juices from the turkey before serving.

Tips

Don’t be under the illusion that when you remove the turkey from the oven it stops cooking. The residual heat will continue to cook the bird, giving the juices time to travel back throughout the meat, meaning a juicier bird all round. Piping hot meat is not a clever thing – warm, juicy meat, hot gravy and hot plates is the holy grail

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recipe adapted from

Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook

By Jamie Oliver

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© 2024 Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited

© 2024 Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited

Cooking the turkey | Turkey recipes | Jamie Oliver recipes (2024)

FAQs

How to cook the perfect turkey Jamie Oliver? ›

Preheat your oven to full whack, get the turkey in the roasting tray and cover with foil. As soon as it goes in the oven, immediately turn the heat down to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. As a rough guide, you want to cook the turkey for about 35 to 40 minutes per kilogram, so a 7kg turkey will want about 4 to 4½ hours in the oven.

Should I put butter under the skin of my turkey? ›

There are four essential steps for a perfectly roasted Thanksgiving turkey: brining, stuffing with aromatics, rubbing with herb compound butter, and roasting to perfection. The herb butter does double duty. Part of it is rubbed under the skin and over the meat of the bird for a major boost in flavor.

How does Martha Stewart cook a turkey? ›

Roast 1 hour, then baste every 30 minutes with pan liquids, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of thigh (avoiding bone) registers 125°F, about 3 hours. Remove foil; raise oven heat to 400°F. Continue roasting, basting occasionally, until thigh reaches 180°F, 45 to 60 minutes more.

What is the best way to cook a turkey covered or uncovered? ›

To achieve a perfectly golden, juicy turkey, let the bird spend time both covered and uncovered in the oven. We recommend covering your bird for most of the cooking time to prevent it from drying out; then, during the last 30 minutes or so of cooking, remove the cover so the skin crisps in the hot oven.

How does Gordon Ramsay cook a turkey? ›

Roast the turkey in the hot oven for 10–15 minutes. Take the tray out of the oven, baste the bird with the pan juices and lay the bacon rashers over the breast to keep it moist. Baste again. Lower the setting to 180°C/Gas 4 and cook for about 2 1⁄2 hours (calculating at 30 minutes per kg), basting occasionally.

How does Trisha Yearwood cook her turkey? ›

  1. Adjust oven racks so covered roasting pan fits easily inside oven. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
  2. Rub butter on outside and in cavity of turkey. A self-basting turkey will not require all of the butter. ...
  3. Start a timer when oven temperature returns to 500 degrees F. Bake exactly 1 hour and turn off oven.
Nov 26, 2013

Is it better to cook a turkey at 325 or 350? ›

We recommend roasting turkey at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 13 minutes per pound for an unstuffed turkey. We've done the math for you — check out the chart below to determine both turkey cook times and estimated servings (with leftovers!).

How does Bobby Flay cook a turkey? ›

Put the turkey on top of the vegetables, put in the oven and roast in the oven for 45 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Reduce the heat to 350 and continue roasting, basting with the warm chicken stock every 15 minutes until basting with some of the chicken stock every 15 minutes, about 2 to 2 ¼ hours longer.

Do you put water in the bottom of the pan when cooking a turkey? ›

"Often, consumers will inquire about adding water to the bottom of their roasting pans. We do not recommend adding water to the bottom of the pan. Cooking a turkey with steam is a moist heat-cook method and is acceptable, sure, but is not the preferred method for cooking your turkey."

Is turkey done at 165 or 180? ›

You'll find that most people (including the USDA) consider the turkey to be done once it's reached a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees F (75 degrees C) in the thickest part of the thigh.

What is the best temperature to cook a turkey? ›

Cook your turkey at 325 degrees F for most of the cook time; in the final 45 minutes, remove the cover or foil tent from the turkey, increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F and baste the bird with butter. The initial lower oven temperature cooks the turkey through evenly.

Is it better to cook a turkey on a rack or on the bottom of the pan? ›

a roasting pan. Luckily, this problem has a very easy solution: Just get a wire rack. Get a wire rack and set it over a rimmed baking sheet. Lifting the bird up and away from the skin-shielding sides or the pan will allow for plenty of air flow, maximizing your bounty of crispy, golden skin.

Should I season turkey the night before? ›

Yes! It doesn't so much matter when you season your bird—whether it's just before popping it in the oven or several days in advance for a brining—as long as you season it before it gets cooked. This is essential for the butter, herbs, and whatever other seasonings you use, to flavor the skin and meat of the turkey.

How to keep turkey moist when cooking? ›

Add a combination of water and wine, turkey stock, or chicken stock to the bottom of the pan to add moisture to the cooking environment and flavor the drippings for gravy later.

At what temperature is turkey cooked? ›

If the turkey has reached 165 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, it's done! If it hasn't, put it back in the oven. Note: If you've stuffed your turkey, you'll also need to check that the stuffing's internal temperature has reached a minimum of 165 degrees F (75 degrees C) as well.

How to dress turkey before cooking? ›

If you didn't brine your turkey, season it all over with salt and pepper. Put the herb sprigs from the butter and the lemon pieces into the turkey. Brush it all over with some of the herb butter. Prepare for roasting.

References

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