The Thermapen Guide to Cooking the Perfect Christmas Turkey

Cooking by temperature instead of time is the key to getting perfectly cooked, safe and succulent meat. At Christmas we’re often faced with roasting large birds, which can push us out of our comfort zones, but using a thermometer to quickly check that our food has reached a safe temperature takes the stress out of festive cooking whilst ensuring we don’t spoil expensive meats.

Here are five top tips from Thermapen, experts in temperature measurement, on how to prepare a perfect roast bird this Christmas.

Thaw your meat evenly

Before cooking, your turkey must be uniform in temperature or it will not cook evenly and the outside will become dry. The best way to safely prepare a frozen bird is by giving it plenty of time to defrost in the fridge. The internal temperature before cooking should be between -1 and 4°C.

Use an oven thermometer

The DOT Digital Oven Thermometer features an audible alarm so that you can be alerted as soon as the turkey reaches its optimum temperature. Our experience shows that meat can take significantly less time to cook than instructions suggest, so it’s easy to accidently overcook.

Insert your probe correctly

In order to get an accurate reading from your thermometer, the probe must be inserted into the thickest part of the bird, between the breast and thigh, without touching the bone. The probe needs to have equal amounts of meat above and below it as this is the area that will take longest to cook.

Factor in carryover cooking

The temperature for cooked poultry is 74°C, but we like to cook ours to a few degrees below this as the temperature continues to rise as it rests. This is called carryover cooking, read the company’s guide to it here.

Spot check the bird

Once your turkey has finished cooking, ensure to use a kitchen thermometer such as the Thermapen Professional to probe the bird in several places to confirm that it has reached 74°C all over. Your food is only as safe as its lowest temperature, so if it reaches 74°C in one place and not another it is not safe to eat.

Click here to shop Thermapen turkey thermometers.

Sponsored blog post in partnership with Thermapen