Birds of wisdom
The essential guide to roasting your turkey...
1 Always buy a whole bird rather than a crown. Some 70 per cent of turkeys purchased at Christmas are crowns or joints, but Paul says this is wasteful and more expensive as crowns have a retail mark-up price of 44 per cent.
“Plus, you don’t get all the leftover dark meat with the crown,” he said. “That, for me, is the best bit.”
Dark meat gets a bad name for its high fat content, but Paul adds it’s also richer in iron, zinc and vitamins B6 and B12 than white meat.
2 Go for a bronze, traditional turkey, rather than a white one if you can. Bronze turkeys are an older breed – the average traditional Christmas turkey is about 12 weeks old. Paul said: “Maturity has the biggest single impact on flavour.”
3 Even if you do opt for an easy-carve crown or a white turkey, choose a free-range bird, said Paul, as they tend to be more muscular with leaner meat.
“I think a free-range turkey gives a lot more flavour to the meat, because the birds live as nature intended,” he added.
4 Your turkey should be creamy white in colour, with no traces of blue and plenty of fat, particularly on the breast, says Paul.
“Look for the fat tract to make sure you’re making the most of this,” he said. “You shouldn’t be able to feel the breast bone from the outside of the bird. This should be nice and smooth.” COOKING... 5 When you get up on Christmas Day, take the turkey out of the fridge and leave it to stand for at least two hours, to get the chill out of it.
Allow it to reach room temperature before cooking.
Start by preheating your oven to 180C, or 160C for fan ovens, then remove any trussing/string from the bird and the pack of giblets from inside the cavity. Place the bird into a large roasting tin, breast down.
6 Add your favourite vegetables to the tin, along with one pint of water and the giblets or stock, and season well. “I like to add red onions,” said Paul. “The reason for putting water in the bottom of CHRISTMAS is a matter of weeks away, so thoughts are turning to buying that all-important turkey.
Paul Kelly, the Guinness World Record holder for fastest turkey carver, shares his 12-step, cut-out-and-keep guide to choosing, preparing, roasting and carving the perfect bird – whether you are cooking for four or 14 people.
The award-winning turkey farmer was joined by Jamie Oliver, at the celebrity chef’s headquarters in London, to show us his expertise. the tin is not to keep it moist but to create the wonderful stock and juices as they come out of the bird.”
He recommends separate stuffing, but added: “If you desperately want to stuff your bird at this stage, maybe just lay some meat gently in the cavity.
“But you’ve got to let the heat get through the bird.”
7 Place the turkey into the preheated oven, with no foil. Leave for an hour. Paul said: “Tin foil was used to keep moisture in. But if you get a more mature bird, foil does not need to be used.”
8 Halfway through cooking time – around an hour for a 5kg bird – remove the turkey from the oven, turn it over and puncture it right through the thighs.
Season well before returning to the oven. “If the water is all starting to evaporate, add a bit more, as we want to catch all of that delicious stock,” said Paul.
9 Check the core temperature using a meat thermometer 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time. Cooking time for a smaller 3kg bird will be about one-and-a-half hours, and around three hours for a large 9-11kg turkey.
10 Remove the bird from the oven when the core temperature reaches just under 65C, and leave to stand for a minimum of 30 minutes before you start carving.
Do not cover with foil, said Paul. “Covering it with foil is a disaster, because what you’ve done then is created another little oven for the bird, and it will continue to cook.
“If you have had too much to drink on Christmas Day and you are running late, and the meat is a bit tepid, don’t put it back in the oven and bring it back up to temperature.
“Instead, carve it and then get your stock piping hot and pour it over the meat.” CARVING... 11 After leaving the bird to stand, you should be able to handle it for carving. Get a really sharp knife and first take the wings off one by one, holding each wing by the tip and cutting it at the mid-section.
Take the legs off next, holding each leg by the end knuckle, before cutting through the skin between the leg and body then twisting it off.
Then tackle the breast meat. Use the tip of the knife to cut along the breast bone, keeping the knife close to the bone until the breast has 12 been removed.
12 Peel off the leg and breast skin, place it on a baking tray and season, before returning to a hot oven for approximately 10-15 minutes until crisp. Slice up the breast meat and carve the leg off the bone. And you’re ready to go.