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Easy Roast Turkey - for Thanksgiving or Christmas

Name: Easy Roast Turkey
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 150 min
Total time: 170 min
Ingredients: 4 kg turkey; 500 g streaky bacon; 55 g butter; 1 onion (finely diced); 1 tbsp dried sage; 750 g pork sausage meat; 1 egg; +/- salt and pepper

This is how I cook our easy roast turkey for Christmas every year, and it turns out perfect and moist every time. Roast turkey is the most popular meal for Christmas and for Thanksgiving. With guests and family over, you want to make it a success. Plan the timing of everything, so once you have a glass of wine, you don't need to think of what to do. You will have a plan.

I've given you my easy-to-follow schedule at the end of this post to show you exactly how to plan and cook your turkey. This schedule has saved me many times and allowed me to relax and have a glass of wine. I don't have to think, I just have to look at my timesheet and know exactly what has to be cooked when. Set a timer for each next step and make this easy roast turkey.

GENIUS!!! The perfect way to cook a turkey that involves BUTTER and BACON! With a cooking schedule

Because turkey is a low-fat meat and has to be cooked for hours, it can very easily dry out. To avoid this, I stuff the skin, cover it with butter then wrap it in bacon. I start at the neck end and separate the skin from the turkey breast to create a cavity.

In the cavity, you place a pork and sage stuffing which adds moisture, fat and flavour. I also stuff inside the turkey with more pork and sage stuffing, again, for more moisture, fat and flavour.

To wrap the easy roast turkey, use large sheets of aluminium foil. Place 1 sheet lengthwise and 1 sheet sideways to the turkey. Once the turkey is ready for cooking, loosely wrap the first sheet of foil over and crimp (fold) the edges together to form a seal.

Do the same with the next sheet and crimp (fold) the edges. The turkey should be sealed from any moisture being lost. It will look like one huge silver Christmas present. If there are any gaps, use another sheet of foil.

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The Night Before

Try to get some preparation completed the night before.

Make the pork and sage stuffing. Roll a quarter of the mixture into stuffing balls. Keep in the fridge
Peel and cut the roast vegetables. Leave in a large saucepan or mixing bowl of water to stop them from browning
Peel and cut any vegetables that need to be cooked on the stovetop
Make any desserts
Wrap the sausages in bacon, place in a baking dish and cover with aluminium foil. Keep in the fridge

Timings

Firstly work out when you want to serve the roast turkey meal. Christmas day lunch for us is 1 pm. After calculating cooking times, work the schedule backwards. Always check your turkey to ensure it is completely cooked as your oven may vary in cooking temperature and heat distribution.

Calculate the turkey cooking time according to its weight. 20 minutes at 200C/400F to get the turkey and all the stuffing up to temperature, plus 15 minutes per 500g/1 lb at 180C/350F (For example, 2 hours for a 4 kg/8 lb turkey) plus 20 minutes at the end to remove the foil and cook uncovered to crisp the bacon, plus a further 30 minutes once it is all cooked to allow the turkey to be removed from the oven, wrapped and kept warm which allows the meat to relax and the juices to settle. So if I am cooking a 4kg (8 lb) turkey, the time it will take from first putting in the oven, to being ready to carve is 20 minutes + 2 hours + 20 minutes +30 minutes = 3 hours and 10 minutes.
Now deduct this from the time you want to be able to carve the meat. Lunch for us is usually at 1 pm. Here are my timings.

Easy Roast Turkey Cooking Schedule

The times shown are calculated for a 4 kg/8 lb turkey.

9.50am I put the turkey in the hot oven at 200C for 20 minutes
10.10am reduce the temperature to 180C and cook for 2 hours
12.10pm remove the foil and cook uncovered to crisper the bacon and turkey skin for 20 minutes
12.30pm remove the turkey from the oven, cover in the foil again and place a few tea towels on the clean side of the foil to insulate, keep the turkey hot and let the meat rest for 30 minutes
1 pm ready to carve

Add these times into the turkey schedule if you are cooking sausages, roast vegetables and stuffing balls.

10.10am = I run out of cooking space in my oven so I add the roast vegetables at 10.10am, cook for an hour

11.10am = remove roast vegetables then cook the bacon wrapped chipolatas and stuffing balls for 30 minutes

11.40am = remove chipolatas and stuffing balls

12.30am = When I remove the turkey at 12.30 to allow it to rest, I put the roast vegetables, chipolatas and stuffing back into the empty oven to bring them back up to temperature. I make the gravy and cook the stove top vegetables already prepared last night.

1 pm = all ready

Stuff The Cavity And Under The Skin

: Stuffed Turkey

: Turkey Smothered In Butter

: Cover In Bacon

: Ready To Wrap In Foil

: Wrap Lengthwise

: Wrap Across And Crimp Edges

How to cook easy roast turkey, complete with a cooking calculation guide. And do you know the secret tip to keeping turkey moist? | ditchthecarbs.com

Sausages Wrapped In Bacon

Some suggestions to accompany the easy roast turkey.

For healthy Christmas Low-Carb Sweet Treats, take a look at my new eCookbook. You can enjoy parties AND stay on track this year.

Wishing you all a very happy Thanksgiving, Christmas, and healthy new year.