Jamie's easy turkey | Turkey recipes | Jamie Oliver recipes (2024)

FAQs

Should I put butter under the skin of my turkey? ›

There are four essential steps for a perfectly roasted Thanksgiving turkey: brining, stuffing with aromatics, rubbing with herb compound butter, and roasting to perfection. The herb butter does double duty. Part of it is rubbed under the skin and over the meat of the bird for a major boost in flavor.

Preheat your oven to full whack, get the turkey in the roasting tray and cover with foil. As soon as it goes in the oven, immediately turn the heat down to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. As a rough guide, you want to cook the turkey for about 35 to 40 minutes per kilogram, so a 7kg turkey will want about 4 to 4½ hours in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4 and season the crown with sea salt and black pepper. As a guide, you want to cook a stuffed higher-welfare bird for 25 to 30 minutes per kilo, and a standard bird for 35 to 40 minutes per kilo.

Place roast, skin side up, on a flat roasting rack in 2-inch deep roasting pan. Do not add water to pan. Roast uncovered according to Cooking Schedule or until meat thermometer in center of breast roast reaches 170° F and in center of turkey roast reaches 175° F.

Should you rub turkey with butter or oil? Some chefs suggest rubbing the turkey skin with vegetable or olive oil rather than using butter for turkey. This debate has very little to do with the meat itself but more to do with getting brown, crispy skin.

To achieve a perfectly golden, juicy turkey, let the bird spend time both covered and uncovered in the oven. We recommend covering your bird for most of the cooking time to prevent it from drying out; then, during the last 30 minutes or so of cooking, remove the cover so the skin crisps in the hot oven.

Alliums: Add quartered onions, shallots, leeks, or garlic cloves for a delicious, earthy aroma. Fruits: Insert quarters of apple, lemon, orange, lime, or even grapefruit to add moisture and brightness to the turkey. You can even go with dried fruit, like cranberries, to double down on the autumn vibes.

The most straightforward approach is to roast an unstuffed turkey, breast-side up, for 13 minutes per pound of turkey at 350°. That works out to approximately 3 hours for a 12- to 14-pound bird (a 12-pound turkey is pretty standard).

Preheat the oven to 180C (140C fan oven, Gas mark 4) and put the turkey in for the calculated time. The bird is cooked when you can pierce the thickest part of the breast meat and the juices run clear. Be liberal with butter, as it makes for a moist bird. 50-75 grams of butter should be adequate.

Never wash your turkey or other poultry – this is because harmful bacteria can splash onto worktops, dishes and other foods. Thorough cooking is the only way to destroy any harmful bacteria. Always clean worktops, chopping boards, dishes and utensils thoroughly after they have touched raw meat or poultry.

How does Gordon Ramsay cook a turkey crown? ›

Lift up the skin of the turkey with your fingers and separate it from the flesh. Divide the herb butter and spread it under the skin. Season well, place in a roasting tin. Cook the crown for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4 and cook the turkey for 1½ hours, or until the juices run clear.

Brine your turkey for the best juicy bird.

In recent years, brining has become more popular and can be done with either a wet or dry brine. A wet brine involves immersing the turkey in a salt-water solution for 12-24 hours. Dry-brining is where salt is rubbed over the turkey skin for 24-48 hours before cooking.

Put the turkey on top of the vegetables, put in the oven and roast in the oven for 45 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Reduce the heat to 350 and continue roasting, basting with the warm chicken stock every 15 minutes until basting with some of the chicken stock every 15 minutes, about 2 to 2 ¼ hours longer.

Wedges of lemon, orange, lime and even grapefruit provide your turkey with an extra layer of flavor. Plus, these fruits add moisture to your turkey as it cooks so you end up with a juicy Thanksgiving centerpiece.

The cool, dry air of the fridge will further dry out the skin, ensuring maximum crispiness. Next, just before you're ready to put the turkey in the oven, give it a generous rub of oil. Many people like to use butter for this, but using oil will actually yield a crispier skin because butter is 20% water.

In fact, there is no actual butter in or on a Butterball turkey. The fresh turkeys are injected with a basting solution made of salt water and “common household spices,” one brand representative told me. Butterball will not share the ingredients of its secret basting formula.

Cut a 20-inch piece of cheesecloth and fold twice, creating 4 layers. Submerge the cloth in the melted butter, making sure it is completely saturated with it. Gently squeeze the cloth, then re-form so there are 4 layers and place on top of the turkey, covering it completely.