Turkey

[rockyracoon]

My brother has brought home a turkey from work, it weighs about 35lb, now, going by the 25 minutes per lb method, it'd take nearly 15 hours to cook, that can't be right can it? I've done a bit of googling and on an American site someone cooked a 35lber in 5 and a half hours. How long should I cook it for? I'm not stuffing it, I'll do that separately, also how long before cooking it should I take it out of the fridge. Dilemmas, dilemmas!

Thanks for any replies.

[tamaris]

Times the 35 by 20 minutes and add 20 minutes. Just take out of fridge prior to cooking it, when cooked stick a knife into fatest part of the drumstick and it should run clear

[mccfluff]

can you carve it up, take out the crown and cook that and the legs separately before hand. you can use the carcass, trimmings to make stock.

[shoota]

Joint it, use the crown on christmas day and the appendages on another day.

[shoota]

Snap!

[rockyracoon]

Jeez, I wouldn't be able to joint a chicken, let alone this mahoosive thing.

[mccfluff]

The British Turkey helpline, 0800 783 9994, is open from 9am-5pm every weekday right up to Christmas Eve. Or text the word 'turkey', followed by the weight of your bird in kilos, to 64446 and you you'll get an instant answer on the cooking time and how many it will feed. This service starts on 1 December and runs 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week. (Texts are charged at standard network rate.)

found that here

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/knowhow/glossary/turkey/

[rockyracoon]

Thanks fluff, I'll give em a ring.

[EcclesCake]

A 35lb turkey is scaring the life out of me!!!

Assuming you don't actually need a turkey that big, taking the legs off is good advice....and easy.

I could describe what to do but it probably easer for both of us if you actually see how easy it is.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg_mCHqxqSo

[rockyracoon]

Thanks Eccles, I'll have a watch of that later. I haven't even looked to see if it fits in the oven so I may have to joint it.

I rang that number fluff, the very nice lady told me 6 and a half to 7 hours GM5, then let it rest for a good while.

Thanks all xx

[mccfluff]

enjoy eating turkey forever.... :-)

[rockyracoon]

Lol, I'll be putting Patak's on the shopping list I think.

[Old_Geezer]

How long you cook it per pound varies by which expert you ask and what temperature they recommend. And it can change if they want to crisp the skin with a higher temperature at the end.

If you have such a large bird I'd say 20min * 35 lbs = 700 mins = close to 12 hours. The price you pay for size.

Make sure you can fit it in the oven. And start early in case it turns out not to be quite done in time for resting.

Unsure how one cooks one that size in 5½ hours and avoids salmonella. Maybe they had it metal skewered all over the place to transfer heat ?

[Prudie]

35lbs? Really? Are you sure it isn't an ostrich?

[Barmaid]

Taking the legs off is, as Eccles says, good advice. The reason for that is that in order to get the legs cooked, you run the danger of drying out the breast (which will cook much sooner).

[rockyracoon]

I'm getting a bit scared now, we usually get an 11lb rolled breast jobby, now I'm jointing a pterodactyl, hmmmm, wish me luck!

[rockyracoon]

Prudie, it takes up half my fridge, I'll take a photo in the morning and post it on here, it's a bloody whooper.

[DTCwordfan]

The crucial thing is to let it rest after cooking, rocky.....alufoil over it, teatowel on top and leave for an hour at that size..........

Depending on your numbers, (and your oven size) knock off the legs and the crown perhaps - roast the crown and one leg of you have dark meat fans (my fav)....the rest of the carcass, do not discard as you can use the meat for a roast, curry, risottos, whatever........

[Jemisa]

Are you sure you can get it in the oven?

In the neck part put a couple of whole oranges helps to moisten it & gives a lovely flavour.

jem

[vodkancoke]

We normally have a 28lb/30lb turkey and we cook it whole. It has a gallon of herbed butter placed inbetween the skin and the meat and is massaged well. It goes in the oven at 7 am at a high temp for around 30 mins and then it is cooked long and slow for 6-6 1/2 hours. We have never had a dry turkey. It is basted, flipped over and turned every 50 mins. It is then rested for around 1 1/2 hours under double layers of foil and clean tea towels.
Make sure you bring it to room temp before cooking it as it allows the meat to relax and not toughen up. We also do the stuffing separately. Enjoy it Rocky! :)

[slinkycat]

My OH used to get a huge turkey from work years ago. He would get it cut in half lengthways before bringing it home (he worked in an abbatoir at the time) and I would roast half on Christmas day, freeze the other half and have it on easter sunday.
It was much more manageable that way, maybe you could get a butcher to halve it?