Cooking the turkey

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! THE FIRST STEP IS KEY You must let your bird come up to room temperature after being in the fridge. It’ll give you more reliable cooking times, as well as juicier, more tender meat, as the bird isn’t shocked when it hits the heat of the oven.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. If you’ve made and frozen my Get-ahead Gravy (see page 40), now’s a good time to get it out of the freezer. 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 (see my guide to roasting meat in my Jamie Oliver’s Christmas Cookbook for more info, as well as my Facebook chatbot). Higher-welfare birds generally have more intramuscular fat, which means they cook quicker than standard, lean birds. If you’ve got a 7kg bird,