Our best turkey tips

Large turkeys need large roasting pans and ovens, and tend to dry out more. For a crowd, consider two smaller birds and using your barbecue as the second oven. Allow 300g per person and up to 500g if you want leftovers. To thaw a frozen turkey, allow 2-3 days. Remove packaging; pat turkey with paper towel. Place the turkey on a tray; cover with plastic wrap and thaw in the lower part of the fridge, away from cooked foods. Never refreeze raw turkey. Traditional stuffing is bread-based, but couscous, barley, rice and quinoa can all be used, or mixed together. If using bread as your stuffing base, start with bread that is a day old. You will also get a better texture if you avoid fluffy styles of bread. Instead, opt for Italian-style or sourdough bread for the best taste and texture. Turkey shouldn’t be stuffed in advance nor should stuffing be warm for food safety reasons. Stuff only the main cavity, as stuffing both cavities creates a dense mass, which requires long cooking and may result in insufficient heat reaching centre of stuffing and overcooking, which means dry meat. Pack stuffing in loosely, keeping in mind it will expand during cooking. Another way to cook stuffing is by rolling it into golf-sized balls and cooking it on an oven tray for 30 minutes. It’s important to bring turkey to room temperature for 1 hour before cooking or cooking time will be altered. As a general guide, an unstuffed turkey will take 20 minutes for every 500g, plus another 15 minutes added to the total weight. Include weight of stuffing in the weight of the bird. Brushing turkey with melted butter assists with browning. The biggest challenges are breast and tops of the drumsticks, as they are likely to start to brown first, so you may find that you need to shield these areas with small pieces of foil, to allow lighter areas to colour.