HOW LONG TO COOK YOUR TURKEY FOR

I give a 12lb turkey, without stuffing, 2½ hours cooking. You have read correctly: if it goes into the oven at room temperature, that is enough time, along with 20-40 minutes standing time, tented in foil, once out of the oven. Remember though, ovens vary enormously so check by piercing the flesh between leg and body with a sharp knife; if the juices run clear, the turkey’s cooked.

A turkey is generally held to be cooked through when a meat thermometer, inserted into the thigh near the crease between thigh and breast, reaches 71°C, though some cooks recommend 75°C. However, Paul Kelly of KellyBronze Turkeys says his birds are cooked through at 65°C and this is what his thermometer indicates. Any such free-range turkey also cooks faster than a very lean, more mass-produced bird, since free-range turkeys have more marbling and this conducts heat faster. The timings here are for free-range birds, put in the oven at room temperature.

WEIGHT OF BIRD

2.25kg/5lb 3.5kg/8lb 4.5kg/ 10lb

COOKING TIME

1½ hours 1¾ hours 2 hours

WEIGHT OF BIRD

5.5kg/ 12lb 6.75kg/ 15lb 7.5kg/ 17lb

COOKING TIME

2½ hours 2¾ hours 3 hours

WEIGHT OF BIRD

9kg/20lb 11.5kg/25lb

COOKING TIME

3½ hours 4½ hours NOTE: If you’re stuffing the bird under the skin, add the weight of the stuffing to the weight of the bird to calculate the total weight and cooking time; if you stuff the cavity, do so loosely and add a further half an hour.