Here's all you need to know about buying, preparing and cooking your Christmas turkey

Glenys Landon and Daphne Roche of O’Sullivan's Poultry, English Market.


- Preheat your oven to 190C/ fan 170C/ gas 5.
- Weigh your turkey. If you are stuffing it, you need to have this done first. Calculate your cooking time at 10 minutes per lb plus 90 minutes over.
- Put a large sheet of extra-wide foil in a large roasting tin, then put the turkey on top. Rub the breast with some butter and season with a little salt and pepper. Pour in the stock and loosely bring up the foil and seal well to make a parcel.
- Roast in the oven, then, 90 minutes before the end of cooking, open the foil and drain off excess fat from the tin. Leaving the foil open, return the turkey to the oven to brown, basting several times with the juices.
- To test whether the turkey is cooked, push a skewer into the thickest part of the thigh - the juices should run clear. If they are pinkish, cook for another 15 minutes then test again.
- Transfer the turkey to a platter, cover with foil, then a couple of tea towels, and allow to rest for up to 30 minutes before carving. This allows the juices to settle back into the meat, ensuring the turkey will be juicy, and giving you a free oven to finish of your roast potatoes, potato gratin, roast veg, etc. Space in the oven is a premium on Christmas morning.

- Place 20g of butter in a frying pan. Allow it to melt over a medium heat then throw in the onion to soften.
- Add in the remainder of the butter to melt.
- Meanwhile put the breadcrumbs and all the herbs in a large bowl and mix.
- Once the butter has melted pour it over the stuffing and mix it.
- Salt to taste. It might not need it, depending on the amount already in the butter and the breadcrumbs.
- You can heat this stuffing for 20 minutes in the oven while the turkey rests if you didn’t want to stuff the turkey cavity or neck prior to cooking.
