Christmas cockerel in the Aga?

My late MiL used to make her Christmas cake in the simmering oven. She put it in at bedtime and left it there all night. She made the best Christmas cakes ever. There must be a knack to it.?

Well, in in the end we used the roasting oven and more or less the timings suggested by the supplier. Worked brilliantly. Unlike the Christmas cake I baked in the simmering oven...

Bit before my time, merlot.......

Make sure it's dead first and free of shot.

It's hilarious here hahahaha.

A duck I presume. Or is that Peking ?

A fan of Dan Dare, phoenix?

Thanks all for prompt and helpful replies. It’s 2.5 kilo in weight but has been boned out so a bit different from calculating time for a normal stuffed bird. Think I’ll probably take merlot’s approach...

What on earth is a Meekong????

Have cooked on/in a 4 oven Aga (My parents, and it was oil fired) but no experience of the 2 oven one.

However I think merlot has given good advice. And of course there is still the "prod it and see how the juices look" better

Alternatively, if when you lift it out, the legs fall off and you are left with a thing that looks like a Meekong, it's definitely done!

(Yes, dear reader, it happened to me when the turkey was left to its own devices while I went to collect a car that was a surprise present for DS1)

I loved having an Aga, and really miss it. I used to make dropped scones (scotch pancakes) directly on the simmering plate. It was the perfect temperature if you left the lid up for a while.
As for roasting, what size is your cockerel? I would roast it as you would a stuffed Turkey or goose.
Here's a guide from St a cookers.

I haven't roasted a turkey or similar in an AGA for many years but I would start it off in the roasting (top) oven for about 30 mins then transfer it to the lower oven for the rest of the cooking time. Obviously you will have to calculate this from the weight. The roasting oven seals the meat and gets it off to a good start then you can leave it to more or less simmer in the cooler oven.

Preparing it and allowing it to rest is the same as for any other oven.

ps I do know a little bit - one of my aunts married a farmer and they had one of the first Agas. She used to put a huge turkey in the slow oven at the crack of dawn. That meant someone had to keep the fire under the oven going all night. It would be ready by about 1pm.
But that was a large bird, with all the bones, and stuffing.

I know nowt about Agas, but I think you will need to know the weight as well.