Turkey has been a traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas meal for hundreds of years, made especially popular during the 1950’s. While we used to cook a whole turkey, and stuff it ourselves, today it is just as popular to cook a portion, crown, or smaller bird, and prepare stuffing separately. Whatever type of turkey you prefer, the following tips can be used to make sure you have a perfect Christmas turkey.

1. Take your turkey out of the fridge and bring it up to room temperature around 1 hour before cooking. This will help it cook quicker, and more evenly.
2. For up to four servings, you will typically need a 5lb bird, with an additional pound per person. This will provide plenty of meat for the main meal, as well as some left over for everyone’s favorite Boxing Day turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sandwiches!
3. If you want a succulent and moist turkey, soak a piece of cook’s muslin that’s large enough to cover the bird in melted butter, and wrap it over the turkey. Alternatively, you can cover the bird in kitchen foil to retain moisture, removing around 30 minutes before cooking finishes to crisp the skin.
4. If you are having a full bird, remove the legs before cooking. Turkey legs and fillet meat cook at different speeds, with legs requiring less cooking time. The legs may be chewy and overdone by the time the fillet meat is cooked, so cook these separately for those who prefer dark meat.
5. Cooking the turkey at a high temperature for a short time caramelizes the fats, creating delicious flavor. This is known as sizzling. It used to be believed that this sealed the bird and prevented moisture from seeping out, but this has been disproved. If you enjoy very crisp skin, sizzle the bird for a short time to achieve the desired skin color, before covering with foil to finish
6. Basting is the number one tip for delicious turkey. Use a spoon or turkey baster to pour the juices over the bird every 30 minutes while cooking.
7. Your turkey is cooked when the juices run clear. Insert a small knife into the area with the thickest meat, and the juices should run clear with no sign of pink.
8. Leave your turkey to rest for at least 30 minutes after cooking. Resting the turkey is very important, as it enables the meat to become tender and succulent, as the juices inside the meat become more evenly distributed.