Preparing your poultry
Make the most of your festive meal.
Start with the instructions supplied with your poultry. These food-safety reminders will help you plan storage, preparation and leftovers.
Keep it chilled.
Follow the use-by date and storage instructions on your poultry. Keep raw meat covered at the bottom of the fridge, away from ready-to-eat food. Keep the fridge between 0°C and 5°C.
Prepare with care.
Do not wash raw turkey: splashes can spread bacteria. Wash hands and clean utensils and surfaces after handling raw poultry.
If your poultry is frozen, fully defrost it in the fridge before cooking. Follow its defrosting instructions and allow enough time; a large turkey can take several days.
Our traditional roasting approach.
Everyone has their own way of preparing Christmas dinner. Follow any instructions supplied with your poultry first.
- Remove the giblets and check your bird fits comfortably in its roasting tray and oven.
- For a whole turkey, our traditional method starts breast-side down in the tray. Add streaky bacon if you like and cover with foil.
- Preheat to the temperature specified in your cooking instructions. The general whole-turkey guide below uses 180°C conventional / 160°C fan / gas mark 4.
- For the final 30–40 minutes, carefully turn the bird breast-side up and remove the foil to brown the skin and crisp the bacon. Use suitable utensils and take care with hot juices.
- Check that the turkey is fully cooked before taking it out. Cover loosely with foil and rest for around 30 minutes before carving, allowing for this in your meal planning.
Use a clean food thermometer to verify the temperature in the thickest part of the meat.
Plan your cooking time.
The FSA gives the following guide for a fully defrosted, unstuffed whole turkey at 180°C conventional / 160°C fan / gas mark 4. These turkey timings do not apply to crowns or breast joints.
- Under 4.5 kg (about 9.9 lb): 45 minutes per kg, plus 20 minutes.
- 4.5–6.5 kg (about 9.9–14.3 lb): 40 minutes per kg.
- Over 6.5 kg (about 14.3 lb): 35 minutes per kg.
Goose
For goose, preheat the oven to 200°C conventional / 180°C fan / 400°F / gas mark 6 and allow 35 minutes per kg, following the FSA guide. Fully defrost frozen birds before cooking.
Times are a planning guide, not proof that the bird is cooked. Check the internal temperature before serving.
Make room for the stuffing.
Breadcrumb stuffing is a Christmas favourite. Cook it in a separate dish, following its own instructions, so it cooks evenly and the turkey cooking guide remains applicable.
Check the centre, not just the clock.
Follow the product’s cooking instructions. Poultry must be cooked all the way through. Use a clean food thermometer to check the meat, avoiding bone.
One of the Food Standards Agency’s safe core temperature-and-time combinations. Another is 75°C for 30 seconds.
Cooking time varies with the product, weight and appliance.
Enjoy the leftovers safely.
Cool cooked leftovers and refrigerate them within two hours. Eat them within 48 hours or freeze them. When reheating, heat thoroughly until steaming hot throughout, and reheat only once.
Plan the rest of your festive meal.
Explore the poultry range and compare sizes for your gathering.