Time the Turkey to perfection this Christmas
21 December 2010
Make sure you have a safe, tasty and festive turkey this year by following this food safety advice
Buying & Storage
Fresh Turkey - Buy it as close to Christmas as possible, bring it home quickly and store it in the fridge at or below 50C.
Frozen Turkey - After purchasing, bring it home & place in the freezer immediately. Keep it in the freezer until you are ready to defrost it.
Raw meat & poultry should be stored on the bottom shelf of the fridge to prevent meat juices from dripping on to other foods & spreading germs around the fridge.
Additional fridge space can be created by storing drinks (except milk & fruit juices etc) in a cool place or summer cool box.
Defrosting
- The safest method of defrosting your turkey is on the bottom shelf of the fridge on a plate or tray.
- It takes at least 24 hours to defrost a 2-2.5kg turkey, so it can take up to 3 days to defrost a frozen 7.5kg turkey.
Check the weight on the label and allow enough time to defrost it thoroughly. You’ll know it’s completely thawed when the body is soft, the legs can be moved & there are no ice crystals in the cavity
Cooking your Turkey
Allow enough time to thoroughly cook the turkey.
Find out your cooking times by text message
Text either Stuffed or unstuffed - depending on the how you are cooking it - followed by weight in kilograms to 51500
And you will receive text message giving you the cooking time. Standard SMS rates apply.
e.g. stuffed 5.5
Or call the safefood advice line 0800 0851683
| Weight | Unstuffed Turkey | Stuffed Turkey |
| 4kg | 3 hours 20 min | 3 hours 51 min |
| 4.5kg | 3 hours 30 min | 4 hours 6 min |
| 5kg | 3 hours 39 min | 4 hours 21 min |
| 5.5kg | 3 hours 49 min | 4 hours 37 min |
| 6kg | 3 hours 58 min | 4 hours 52 min |
| 6.5kg | 4 hours 8 min | 5 hours 7 min |
| 7kg | 4 hours 17 min | 5 hours 23 min |
| 7.5kg | 4 hours 27 min | 5 hours 38 min |
| 8kg | 4 hours 36 min | 5 hours 53 min |
| 8.5kg | 4 hours 46 min | 6 hours 8 min |
| 9kg | 4 hours 55 min | 6 hours 24 min |
| 9.5kg | 5 hours 5 min | 6 hours 39 min |
| 10kg | 5 hours 14 min | 6 hours 54 min |
Thoroughly wash your hands & any surfaces that come into contact with the raw turkey.
Do not wash inside the cavity of the turkey as it can spread germs to your sink, kitchen surfaces and utensils.
Place the turkey in the roasting tray & preheat the oven to 1800C
If you’re stuffing the turkey loosely pack the stuffing (weighing no more than 10% of the weight of the bird) in the cavity.
Cover the turkey with foil & baste it every hour. Remove the foil for the last half hour to brown the skin.
Before serving ensure the turkey is properly cooked by the doing the following:
- Make sure there is no pink meat left
- The meat juices should run clear when the thickest part of the leg & breast meat are pierced with a clean fork or skewer
- Check the meat is piping hot all the way through – It should be steaming
In cavity stuffed turkeys, the stuffing should also be piping hot in the centre as this is the slowest point to cook in stuffed turkeys
Turkey Leftovers
As with any food you cook & don’t eat straight away, it is important to store & handle them safely.
Leftovers should be cooled as quickly as possible, covered & refrigerated within 2 hours of cooking.
Leftovers should be eaten within 3 days
Always reheat leftovers until they are piping hot all the way through
NEVER reheat food more than once!
Terms and Conditions
1. Please make sure to send in the turkey weight in kilograms only.
2. The service works for turkey weights between 3.2kg - 8.9kg only.
3. The SMS service runs from 6 Dec 2010 and ends on 26 Dec 2010.
4. SMS Service Provider: Púca,+353 (1) 499 5939.
5. You must have the bill-payer’s permission to take part.
6. Neither safefood or Púca are responsible for any network delay or non receipt
of messages.
7. This service is only open to residents of ROI and NI.
8. This service is being provided by safefood.
