to the turkey roasters out there

[Roryrory]

Okay, this year I am tacking a roast turkey for the first time. Armed with about 5 different recipes (including Maggie Beer's nifty OVEN BAG! one) and my MIL's webber I am feeling pretty confident. But I have TWO questions for the experienced roasters out there:

1. Presumably you get a better result if your turkey is at room temperature. So when do you take it out of the fridge? First thing (ie: 6am) Christmas morning, or the night before? I will be buying fresh so defrosting is not an issue.

2. How far ahead can I stuff? I am thinking of picking it up on Wednesday 23rd and stuffing it that day or Christmas Eve. Will this work? (I supposes I could always make the stuffing and keep it in the fridge - I'll be doing two different ones from the Margaret Fulton Chrissy book).

Thanks in advance ladies

[murraysmum]

we geta turkey breast roll we dont buy a big turkey never have lol

we normaly just cook it as directed

[Lulu]

Hell yeah love the breast roll!

However, I wouldn't recommend leaving it at room temp. As long as it is defrosted in the fridge you can whack it straight in the oven.

You cannot leave any meat (let alone poultry) out to reach room temp, it's too dangerous xoxoxo

[Roryrory]

Well girls I just answered my own questions by checking out what Martha has to say (I figure the Kitchen Queen of the nation of Thanksgiving Turkey fans must know her bird!)

Turns out you should leave the turkey at room temp for 2 hours prior to cooking (obviously not in a hot house, for the reasons Lulu mentioned!) and you should not stuff ahead of time nor should you stuff it too tightly (otherwise it might not cook)

[Rouge]

Gotta Love Martha We're having Turkey @ our house in 2 weeks so I'll be doing a Martha Turkey on the BBQ

[Roryrory]

What's bizzare about one of the Martha recipes is that she soaks the turkey in salted water for 24 hours! I think I will stick to Maggie Beer's one - good old oven bag and in the webber

[Lulu]

Ach, that's one thing that I miss about my husband, turkey in the Weber mmmmmmmmmm!

[Talia*L]

Ahh this will be my 5th year hosting Christmas - I do a very traditional spread with turkey, stuffings, glazed ham, veggies, home made pudding and custard etc...

Every year, I do the turkey in the Webber Kettle. I have huge success with this, and it is my preferred method for a number of reasons:

- Following the Webber Kettle instructions, you cannot go wrong - it even tells you how many coals to put on each side!
- The flavour is exceptional - smokey and rich.
- It takes even a very large turkey (enough for 20+ people)
- It means your oven is totally FREE for all the veggies etc!
- As it happens outside, it is the one thing you can easily deligate to a trusted family member or DH. My dad and DH normally take care of the turkey - I take it out of the fridge about 2 hours before cooking, stuffing it in the morning, and coating the bird with melted butter. Then DH and dad keep an eye on it for me.

We are always really happy with the results! Good luck!

[Rouge]

Brined Turkey is the best! But it's hard to do unless you have a brine box and a mammoth fridge LOL!