Brined... poached... upside down... with or without stuffing... with butter under the skin... wrapped in bacon... so many ways, yet only one meal to get your turkey right
Pioneering KellyBronze turkey farmer Paul Kelly from Essex, England shares his cooking and carving tips for the perfect Christmas turkey.
Paul Kelly's Christmas Turkey Cooking Instructions
Allow the bird to reach room temperature before cooking.
Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC (160ºC if fan assisted), gas mark 4.
Place the turkey breast side down in a large roasting tin and season with salt and pepper. Cooking it upside down will keep the breast meat moist as the fat deposits on the back of the bird trickle through to the breast.
Place a peeled onion in the body cavity for extra flavour and juiciness.
Cook for as long as appropriate (see roasting times below).
Turn the turkey over for the last 30 minutes of cooking to brown the breast. Turn it by holding the drumsticks. Protect your hands with a thick towel of oven cloth. To keep these clean, wrap in plastic bags.
Season the breast of the bird, then insert your meat thermometer halfway through the thickest part of the breast. Return to the oven.
Check every 10 minutes until correct temperature is reached and remove from oven.
Allow to stand for 30 to 60 minutes before carving. The turkey won’t go cold, yet the juices will settle in the meat, making it easier to carve and deliciously moist.
Prepare the gravy: the stock and juices produced from a premium quality free-range turkey makes the best gravy ever. Simply skim excess fat from the top of the stock and scrape in all the delicious sticky bits off the bottom of the roasting tin. Re-heat the stock in a pan and serve with the carved meat.
Turkey Weight / Cooking Time Chart
3kg / 6.6lbs 1¾ hrs
4kg / 8.8lbs 2hrs
5kg / 11lbs 2¼ hrs
6kg / 13.2lbs 2½ hrs
7kg / 15.4lbs 2¾ hrs
9kg / 19.8lbs 3½ hrs
11kg / 24.3lbs 4½ hrs
Three More Tips on Turkey Roasting
Further advice comes from Mollie Kelly, who has cooked literally thousands of KellyBronze turkeys:
Don’t stuff the turkey: it prolongs cooking time and makes it harder to check the turkey is cooked thoroughly. An onion or a couple of halves of lemon and a handful of fresh herbs will be just as tasty. Cook your stuffing separately, either pressed into a baking tin or rolled into balls.
Never use tin foil to cover the turkey as it results in a steamed skin rather than a crispy oven roasted one.
If you want to manually check if the turkey is cooked, insert a skewer into the thigh. Hold a spoon underneath to catch the juices. If these run clear the bird is done, if they are tinged with pink return to the oven and check again in 10 minutes.
How to Carve a Turkey: The 'Kelly' Carve
Follow Paul Kelly's step-by-step tips for the unique Kelly Carve technique, and make the most of your turkey this Christmas. Paul, who heads Kelly Turkey Farms, explains that the secret is to remove the legs and wings first.
You need a strong, sharp knife. Holding the wing by the tip, cut it at the mid section. Repeat with the other wing.
Holding the leg by the end knuckle, cut through the skin between the leg and the body then twist off. Repeat with the other leg.
Using the tip of the knife, cut along the breast bone. Carry on cutting, keeping the knife close to the bone, until the breast is removed. Repeat steps 2-3 for the other side of the bird.
Slice the breast and dark meat from leg and wing.
Pour the hot cooking juices over the sliced meat and allow a few moments to soak up all the liquid before serving.
You may also watch Paul Kelly demonstrate his turkey carving process in this how-to video.
Award-Winning KellyBronze Turkeys
Says Paul: “Our philosophy is always: 'What can we do to make it better?' Not: 'What can we do to make it cheaper?' It’s all because we are passionate about our turkeys - and we believe it really makes a difference in the birds we give our customers.”
The copyright of the article How to Cook and Carve a Turkey with Paul Kelly in Catering is owned by Maddalena Delli. Permission to republish How to Cook and Carve a Turkey with Paul Kelly in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
