Talking turkey

What size do you need and how long do you cook it for? Plus a few other useful tips

How many people are you feeding?  Do you want lots left over to see you through Boxing Day and beyond?  Here’s how to work out what you need and when you’ve decided, how long you need to cook it for
 

6-7 people: 3 kg
7-8 people: 3.5kg
8-9 people: 4 kg
9-10 people: 4.5kg
10-11 people: 5kg
11-12 people: 5.5kg
12-13 people: 6 kg
14-15 people: 6.5kg
15-16 people: 7kg
16-17 people: 7.5kg

 

Room temperature

Your turkey must be at room temperature when you put it in the oven. If it’s too chilled it will affect the cooking time. So you need to take it out of the fridge as soon as you get up on Christmas morning

Stuffing

You should calculate the timings for your turkey to include the weight of any stuffing you are using. We have provided a recipe for a 3kg turkey and the stuffing recipe calls for 500g of stuffing in the bird itself (the rest of the stuffing is cooked separately).  So you should be calculating your cooking time for 3.5 kg.

You can work this out in advance so you can get your timing plan organised – but always weigh your bird before you put it in the oven just to double check and adjust the cooking time if necessary.

Standing Time

This is good news for all sorts of reasons. Your turkey will taste better and carve more easily if you take it out of the oven when it is cooked and leave it to stand.  It will wait happily, and keep hot, for at least half an hour and if you loosely cover in foil for up to an hour.  You then have your oven freed up to let you to finish all the last minute trimmings, without worrying about the main attraction!

Cooking times for different weights:

For a smaller turkey weighing less than 4kg in weight

Cook for 20 minutes per kg then add another 70 minutes cooking time at the end. Remove the foil for the last 40 minutes to brown the top.

For a larger turkey weighing more than 4kg weight

Cook for 20 minutes per kg and add 90 minutes cooking time at the end.
Remove the foil for the last 40 minutes to brown the top.
 

So, now you can work out your timing plan. Decide what time you want to eat and then work backwards from there, including the cooking time for the turkey and stuffing and the standing time.