Everyone’s favourite part of Christmas tends to revolve around food. And while Christmas dinner is iconic, and a highly anticipated annual event, it can be a nightmare to get everything sorted.
Preparing a roast dinner for a large party is not an easy task, but it can really help to prepare and make a plan to help everything run smoothly on the day.
It’s important to take a step back and ensure everything is cooked properly. This is especially true for Christmas staples such as the turkey, which can make you and your guests seriously ill if not cooked thoroughly.
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The Foods Standards Agency (FSA) says turkeys could take days to defrost and should be done in the fridge. For example, a typical large turkey weighing 6-7kg could take as much as four days to fully defrost in the fridge.
They say you should also not wash raw turkey before cooking as it can spread germs onto your hands, clothes, utensils, and worktops.
There are also instructions you should follow when cooking the turkey to make sure it is full cooked. If there are no cooking instructions with the bird, in an oven preheated to 180C (350F or Gas Mark 4):
allow 45 minutes per kg plus 20 minutes for a turkey that weighs under 4.5kg
allow 40 minutes per kg for a turkey that weighs between 4.5kg and 6.5kg
allow 35 minutes per kg for a turkey that weighs over 6.5kg
However if you need a bit of extra help planning the cooking times of all your Christmas dinner items, we have set up an interactive Christmas dinner widget to make things much easier for you.
All you need to do is check the weight of your Christmas turkey and enter it into the widget alongside the time you plan to sit down and tuck into your meal. The widget will then calculate everything for you so you know when to throw that bird in the oven.