Cooking turkey on Christmas Eve and reheating next day

The trouble with turkey is that it is lean meat.

Goose and duck can be cooked in advance and re-heated without becoming dry, but I would be more sceptical about turkey.

It would certainly need to be wrapped in foil before re-heating.

I do not understand why you all seem to think that re-heating food is dangerous. It is not, as long as you heat it properly, not just warm it up.

Re-heating food in a saucepan let it boil for about five minutes, stirring it frequently. In the oven all food should be re-heated to the temperature it was cooked at, and kept at that heat for five to ten minutes.

As I say, I doubt lean poultry like turkey or chicken can be reheated properly without becoming horribly dry.

I put my Turkey ,wrapped in plenty of foil in the oven on a low temperature just before I go bed . When I get up I check it ,baste and turn the temperature up .
I've been told that cooking it at a low temperature isn't safe , but none of us have ever had a reaction .
Instead , the turkey is very moist .
I also cook Christmas cakes on the same way before Christmas day .

Hm. Meat can easily give people food poisoning if not handled properly! I’d cook it now and slice it and put it in the cooking juices in the fridge. Heat up and make gravy with the juice. Not as dramatic to serve as the whole thing. Yes the weather is very mild and not the best for storing animal protein safely

Luckygirl3

One Christmas I put a fresh turkey in the utility room of our rather ramshackle cottage - it was very very cold out there. It was wrapped in plastic and I put a laundry basket over it. Next morning I found that a mouse had nibbled it. And there was evidence of the culprit in the form of droppings.

I brushed them off, washed the turkey and cooked as normal.
No word to anyone else - my OH would have had a fit!

I cooked a special stuffing to go with it.

During the meal one DD said: "What is this in my stuffing? - it looks like mouse droppings!" Gulp!

I’d have done the same…I also follow the 5 second (to 1 minute!) rule when things are dropped on the floor…unless contaminated! So far everyone here has survived !

The turkey is cooked, cooled, sliced and ready to go into the fridge. Tomorrow it will be reheated in small foil packs on the lower oven shelf until it is piping hot - this method has served very well for the last four Christmas meals, and it is always moist . I just couldn't be doing with the kitchen full of people, the 'carver' taking over the biggest worktop and using every plate and knife, while I was trying to get potatoes and everything else into the oven and chat with the children hanging round the door, full of excitement. The potatoes are also parboiled and ready to go - evidently it works for Mary Berry, and it works for me too!

I really don’t like any meat that’s cooked the previous day and then reheated by any method. It’s probably me, but it just doesn’t taste the same. 🤷‍♀️

Not just you! Taste and texture are different.

I’m not a fan of precooked and reheated meat or poultry. It never tastes the same .
I cook the Turkey on the day but leave it for an hour to rest . Leaves room for other stuff in the oven. On a recent Jamie Oliver Christmas programme he left the turkey to rest for 2 hours .
Last year I roasted the carrots and Parsnips in the air fryer. Which freed up some oven space .

We have a spare fridge in the utility room , so dh’s beer got turfed out for the turkey .

I literally cannot understand why anyone would not cook the turkey on the day they intend to eat it! Currently staying with DS and DIL am totally bamboozled by the fact they cooked the turkey today! I hate reheated food, it never tastes as good as freshly cooked.

I used to do that always. Gently but thoroughly re-heat in gravy, I would simmer for at least 15 minutes. Tender meat and lovely gravy! I'm not sure it's true you can't re-heat after that - I certainly have done (in curries) with no bad effects. I think it's about always 're-cooking' very thoroughly so the meat is at boiling point for as long as it needs to, to kill any pathogens. I wouldn't store anything in a garage, especially at 14 degrees, but then we have four dogs and a little mouse that comes looking for dog-food and might enjoy a parsnip! I have a 6ft high fridge now, and at last have enough storage space - mostly! Happy Christmas!

Nor can I. Even if, like me, you don’t have a big oven, there’s plenty of time for the various sides - roast veg, sprouts, stuffing and cauliflower cheese - to be cooking whilst the turkey’s resting, just as I’m doing now. Gravy done, keeping warm. All under control, no panic. Nearly done.

One of the 'best' ways to get food poisoning is to put hot gravy and hot veg onto cold meat - it gets warm, but not hot and so the bacteria have a field day - or so I understand

That has always been my understanding too - so I have never done it.

Nansypansy

I really don’t like any meat that’s cooked the previous day and then reheated by any method. It’s probably me, but it just doesn’t taste the same. 🤷‍♀️

Not just you it makes me ill especially lamb as rissoles or a `shepherd's pie and second-day casseroles take me running for the Gaviscon and the !!!.I would never put hot gravy onto cold meat how can bacteria be killed. Just like I will not eat chicken or turkey if it is pink near the bone. Pink chicken juices gave me verified salmonella.

Cook it, slice when cool into portions, layer with dabs of butter. Cook in oven covered with foil, or put the lid on if cooking in a Pyrex. Used to do it all the time when I had family to cook for.