Do you roast your turkey on Christmas Eve ?

No, always cook on the day. I am cooking my turkey today as we went out for lunch yesterday and had lovely goose. I think it can be dangerous to reheat poultry, plus the smell of it cooking is lovely. I prep it the night before and pop in the fridge ready to put in the oven, once it is in there isn’t much to do.

I managed a 13lb turkey, sprouts with pancetta and chestnuts, roast potatoes,roast parsnips,peas, honey roasted carrots,broccoli,bread sauce,stuffing and pigs in blankets and gravy.
All the above was done after I had hauled myself out of bed at 9 am, the bird went in at 10.45, we ate at 4.15.
I really don’t understand why the whole meal cannot be cooked on the day.
I cooked alone as I prefer to, the family did the table etc.
I had plenty of time to loaf around with a glass of champagne canapés.

i am 58 and have never cooked a turkey, when my son was about 5 we decided to have a buffet and today spending my first christmas on my own in 18 years i had a toasted cheese sandwich for lunch and some milk tray for afters. i hope everyone has had a great christmas. x

I had done for 26 years after a rubbish gas oven in my then new to me house was SO cool it took until 9pm before turkey safe to eat!!! I actually cut it in half and finished half only that night or we'd have missed completely!! I wasn't going to be caught out again, made a nightmare become real! Although today YA! I've just cooked my turkey this morning and it's GAWJUS!!!!!

hicaz46

Nannan2 eating it cold is very different from reheating it. Also noticed mention of ‘yorkies’ surely Yorkshire Puddings are only for roast beef!!! Cook on the day and enjoy the smell. Everything else can be cooked while your turkey is resting.

Absolutely on the Yorkies - I'd never heard of such a thing until a friend cooked for us a few years ago. Very odd.
On the other hand, she'd never heard of bread sauce, which baffled me. Chacun à son goût.....

I suspect it's a cultural difference. I'm in Canada, and have never heard of anyone cooking the turkey the night before and either serving cold or reheating.

I find this, and discussions about a traditional Christmas meal fascinating, b/c although we're similar in many ways, differences definitely shine through at meal time!

I always cook the turkey xmas Eve daytime, let it rest, calve it. Then on Xmas morning I put it in the slow cooker with gravy on low and it heats up nicely and is never dry ready for Xmas lunch

HannahLoisLuke

Just noticed this thread was started two years ago! Found my own contribution which just predates what I’ve said today ?

ha ha ha - just realised the same. I'd already contributed two years ago

Today I have cooked a turkey crown for the carnivores and a vegan turkey joint for the vegetarians. I have cooled and sliced both joints and wrapped them in tin foil and they're in the fridge.

I haven't got enough room in the oven to do two roasts, two different types of roast potatoes, two types of pigs in blankets and two types of stuffing, all in one go.

Plus, my oven is the most awful oven in the history of ovens. It never seems to get to the required temperature, always being too hot or too cool, so I can never guarantee how long a joint will take, so couldn't time it properly on the day. I can't wait for next year when we are extending and re-doing the kitchen and I can finally get a decent cooker.

Tomorrow both meats will be in the steamer with the sprouts, carrot, cauliflower etc, leaving space in the oven for all the other trimmings.

I've done this for years, and never had anyone have so much as a tummy ache, let alone food poisoning. I think steaming the meat on the day keeps it nice and moist and it certainly comes out piping hot.

In fact, until fairly recently (not just for Christmas), I used to cook joints of beef, lamb, gammon and chicken all at the same time, then cool and slice them, and then wrap them in individual servings in tin foil and freeze then. Then just steam the individual packets for dinners. It means that we didn't all have to eat the same meat at the same time, just sharing the vegetables.

I've got two smallish turkey joints and a gammon roasted tonight and refrigerated. Make gravy, roast potatoes and reheat meat tomorrow. Vegetables all prepped for the morning too. Makes the timing so much easier and cuts down on the stress.

Callistemon

No
Gordon Ramsay said his MIL used to do this and it is dangerous, it can cause food poisoning.

Meat has to be reheated very thoroughly indeed, not just warmed through.
I never pour hot gravy on to cold meat either.

Mary Berry Aga cookbook slow roast method. I've just put mine in for overnight in the simmering oven. Have done for years. Can't stand Ramsay anyway although I agree that, generally, warmed through meat not a good idea. I do roast mine again but it's also suggested that, if everything else is hot, including the gravy, that's fine too.

No, we like to cook the turkey on Christmas morning nothing like the smell of a Christmas dinner on Christmas Day

I had an Aga for 25 years and used to cook the turkey overnight in the cool oven. Perfectly moist meat and more time in the morning. Although I did once put the roast parsnips in the bottom oven to keep warm and only found them the following day as little black sticks…

hicaz46

Nannan2 eating it cold is very different from reheating it. Also noticed mention of ‘yorkies’ surely Yorkshire Puddings are only for roast beef!!! Cook on the day and enjoy the smell. Everything else can be cooked while your turkey is resting.

Yorkshire puddings are definitely for Christmas Dinner....kinda weird not to have them ?

I don't reheat the usually chicken but this year for some reason turkey, I have it carved and cold, with all the accompaniments piping hot, apart from the bread sauce. And I Never have gravy.
It's just the repetition of childhood Christmases, and I like it.

Well I shall be cooking my 55th Christmas dinner tomorrow. I still remember the first one I cooked. My late Father-in-law advised us to put Turkey in the oven on low just before going to bed on Christmas Eve. We followed his advice and got up to a barely cooked Turkey as the gas ran out during the night. We hadn’t put money in the meter! Turkey always cooked on Christmas morning ever since!

I'm having chicken so obviously won't need ages cooking but even if I was cooking turkey I would prefer to get up early on Christmas morning. I cannot believe reheated up slices in gravy compare to a freshly cooked bird plus not everyone likes gravy so what do you do then? Same goes for reheated roast potatoes.

I've always cooked it so it's ready a couple of hours before the meal. That frees up the oven nicely for the veg and trimmings. Basically, it's nearly cold when carved and the gravy warms it up on the plates. We've never had a problem with that.

When the children were small I'd get up around 4 am to cook the turkey otherwise there was never room for the beef, yorkies and roasted veg. For the last few years, I've cooked it on Christmas EVe and we've had turkey and stuffing rolls in the evening. I am in fact just taking the turkey out of the oven. I don't re heat it though.

I used to cook it overnight when the children were small, but now we have a turkey crown ,so I cook it on Christmas day

Not having turkey this year but when we do we cook the turkey the day before and carve it up and refrigerate. The next day we make turkey gravy and "cook"" the best bits of breast in the gravy until piping hot. Never had any problems and saves a lot of stress on Christmas day.

No, wouldn't do it with poultry. As it is we have chicken, just a personal preference.

Just noticed this thread was started two years ago! Found my own contribution which just predates what I’ve said today ?

No never. I prepped everything the night before and cooked on Christmas morning. After a power cut one year which lasted until 11.30 am I cooked the turkey fast and hot and we sat down at 2.15 ish and it was the best turkey ever.
These days my South African daughter in law cooks it in a huge kettle bbq, she takes on the job wherever we are having Christmas bless her heart, it’s ‘her’ job. Leaves the oven free for roasties, parsnips, stuffings etc. and by the way it’s fantastic, but she knows what she’s doing. Don’t think I’d dare.

No never. Can’t stand reheated food...never tastes right to me, and I’m another who thinks there’s too much risk of food poisoning,

I’ve cooked the breast only for the last 25 years. So much nicer, is done in a few hours from frozen, and takes up less space. None of us like the rest of the meat.