Heston Blumenthal's roast turkey recipe with gravy (2024)

FAQs

What temperature is a Heston turkey done? ›

Baste the turkey with the herb butter and cook until the thickest part around the neck or thigh reaches 70C, basting every 45 minutes (when the butter is finished, use the cooking juices in the roasting tray). Cooking time should be 3-3½ hours, depending on the size of the turkey and type of oven.

Roast 1 hour, then baste every 30 minutes with pan liquids, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of thigh (avoiding bone) registers 125°F, about 3 hours. Remove foil; raise oven heat to 400°F. Continue roasting, basting occasionally, until thigh reaches 180°F, 45 to 60 minutes more.

It is possible to brine solid pieces of meat and usually you would let the meat sit in the brine for approximately 2¼ hours per kilo (1 hour per pound). We have used this method successfully on a boneless turkey breast and we suspect it should work on a tightly rolled boneless turkey.

A whole turkey can be brined for up to 2 days. For a turkey breast crown the cooking time is a lot shorter so there is less risk of the meat drying out but it will still benefit from a short soak. You will only need about half of the brining solution and the breast should only be brined for 5 to 6 hours.

It's better to cook a turkey at 350°F after preheating the oven to 450°F. This makes the skin crispier and ensures the turkey will get cooked evenly.

To achieve a perfectly golden, juicy turkey, let the bird spend time both covered and uncovered in the oven. We recommend covering your bird for most of the cooking time to prevent it from drying out; then, during the last 30 minutes or so of cooking, remove the cover so the skin crisps in the hot oven.

Put the turkey on top of the vegetables, put in the oven and roast in the oven for 45 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Reduce the heat to 350 and continue roasting, basting with the warm chicken stock every 15 minutes until basting with some of the chicken stock every 15 minutes, about 2 to 2 ¼ hours longer.

"Often, consumers will inquire about adding water to the bottom of their roasting pans. We do not recommend adding water to the bottom of the pan. Cooking a turkey with steam is a moist heat-cook method and is acceptable, sure, but is not the preferred method for cooking your turkey."

Ramsay's key for a guaranteed delicious and juicy turkey is a parsley and garlic butter that gets generously slathered both under the skin and on top of the turkey. While the turkey is cooking, you'll want to baste the bird with the melted butter pan juices to ensure a crispy skin while cooking.

Basic Brine

Place that volume of water in a container large enough to hold the brine and the meat. Add 1 tablespoon of salt for every cup of water you used and mix until the salt is completely dissolved. For example, if you are using 1 gallon (16 cups) of water, add 16 tablespoons (1 cup) of salt.

What happens if you don't brine a turkey? ›

Brining a turkey is totally optional. If you're short on time or just want the most straight-forward method to roast a turkey, skip the brining step and just use the Simple Roasted Turkey method. Some people swear that brining yields the most tender, juicy meat, but it takes planning ahead.

Ziploc Big Bags XL

These bags are foodsafe and, at 2 feet by 1.7 feet, they're the perfect size for turkey brining. *All products reviewed by America's Test Kitchen are independently chosen, researched, and reviewed by our editors.

Bobby Flay treats two turkeys to a fragrant brine and spice rub. When it's time for roasting, one turkey cooks in a Cuban-style box for smoky results and the other in a green ceramic grill using smoked wood chips for bold hickory flavor.

But a brined turkey that is not rinsed would be too salty to eat. Brining slows down the growth of bacteria but does not kill it, said Linda Harris, a microbiologist at the University of California, Davis. She and other food scientists have been trying to get Americans to stop rinsing poultry since the late 1990's.

"Probably the number one fear people have with turkeys on Thanksgiving is dry meat, aside from undercooking it," she says. "And a brine is a really great way, even if you go a few degrees over your desired cooking temperature, if you forget the turkey in the oven for some reason [to help avoid over-cooking].

The Right Way to Take the Temperature of Your Turkey

The government recommends cooking turkey breast to 165°F (74°C). I prefer my turkey breast at 150°F (66°F), at which point it is far, far juicier (especially if you dry brine it!).

The internet and cookbooks all give too high a temperature. But despite what they all say, you absolutely should NOT cook your turkey breast meat to 165°F (74°C) or to—heaven forbid—180°F (82°C)!

Whole turkey: On your meat thermometer, a whole cooked turkey should reach an internal temperature of 165°F in the breast and 175°F in the thigh. Whole turkey, stuffed: The center of the stuffing must reach 165°F. Turkey breast, boneless: The thickest portion of the turkey breast should reach 165°F.

According to the Department of Agriculture, a turkey must reach 165 degrees F to be safe, but you can take it out of the oven as low as 160 degrees F because the temperature will rise at it rests.