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–+ servings
Our cooked Small Whole Turkey served on a brown wooden chopping board with red and green tartan sheet and all the trimmings like Flawless Yorkshire puddings,Flawless Roast potatoes,pigs in blankets, stuffing balls and maple glazed carrots,parsnips and Brussel sprouts
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5 from 108 votes

Small Whole Turkey- How to Prepare and Cook

Looking for advice on cooking a simple Small Whole Turkey, this recipe is for making a Perfect tender whole Turkey between 2kg to 4kg (4lb - 8lb).
We take you through every step of making the best Roast Turkey Christmas Dinner!
From where to buy a small turkey, whether to buy fresh or frozen and how to safely defrost a frozen whole turkey.
To what to stuff with, how to remove a wishbone and string the poultry. And finally, of course, the temperature and cooking times and how to carve?
Prep Time30 minutes
Active Time2 hours 20 minutes
Resting Time30 minutes
Total Time3 hours 20 minutes
Course: Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine: American, British, European
Keyword: best way to cook a small turkey, Christmas, Christmas dinner, cooking a small turkey, defrost, frozen, glazed, how to cook a small turkey, how to cook small turkey, roast dinner, roasting a small turkey, simple, small family, small turkey in oven, small turkey recipe, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Dinner, Turkey Roast, unstuffed, without stuffing, Xmas dinner
Yield: 7 People
Calories: 572kcal
Author: Luke and Kay - Flawless Food

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 3.6 kg Turkey If using frozen - make sure you leave enough time to defrost ahead of time.
  • 100 grams Unsalted butter room temperature
  • Thyme 2 sprigs
  • Rosemary 2 sprigs
  • Salt and Pepper season

Ingredients for inside Turkey Cavity

  • 1 onion chopped into quarters
  • 1 lemon chopped in quarters
  • 1 handful Fresh Thyme & Rosemary

Turkey base for baking tray - can later be used for Turkey Gravy

  • 2 onions cut in half
  • 2 carrots cut into quarters
  • 500 ml chicken stock or turkey / vegetable stock

Turkey Glaze - to put on for the final 40 minutes of cooking.

  • 3 tablespoon Olive Oil
  • 3 tablespoon Maple syrup
  • 2 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
  • 2 Sprigs Fresh Rosemary
  • Salt and Pepper

Instructions

  • Remove the turkey and butter from the fridge and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before prepping the bird to cook.
    3.6 kg Turkey
    A turkey on silver tin foil ready to be prepped for cooking
  • With the softened butter, add rosemary and thyme leaves, salt and pepper and stir together
    100 grams Unsalted butter, Thyme, Rosemary, Salt and Pepper
    Mixing butter,rosemary, thyme ,salt and pepper together in a white bowl with a silver fork
  • Preheat the oven at 180°C fan / 190°C / 375°F Gas mark 5
    Pat the turkey down inside and out with kitchen paper towel.
    Check inside the cavities and remove the giblets and neck joint.
    Drying the outside of the turkey with kitchen towel
  • Remove the wishbone see blog post for instructions on how we did this.
    Pulling out the wishbone of the small turkey placed on silver tin foil
  • Place the quatered lemon, onions and fresh herbs inside the empty cavity
    1 onion, 1 lemon, 1 handful Fresh Thyme & Rosemary
    Stuffing the turkey with chunks of lemon, onion and sprigs of rosemary and thyme
  • Rub the butter under the turkey skin and all over the top of breast, legs and wings.
    Rubbing the butter herb mixture over the turkey before cooking
  • Truss the turkey with cooking string, see blog post for instructions on how to do this.
    Tying the legs together to keep the small turkey compact when cooking
  • Place carrots and onions for the base of the turkey to sit on top of in the baking tray (or use a rack)
    2 onions, 2 carrots
    Small Whole Turkey covered in butter herb mixture on tinfoil and a black roasting tin with cut up carrots and onions on the bottom of the base to use instead of a rack
  • Place the turkey on top of the cut vegetables, season with salt and pepper and pour the chicken stock around the bottom of the tray, not over the turkey.
    500 ml chicken stock
    Pouring chicken stock into the roasting tin to help with cooking our small turkey
  • Lightly place foil over the top of the turkey and secure on long edge of roasting tin only. Leaving the small sides open.
    Place in the oven to cook covered, removing 40 minutes before the time given on the packet instructions to glaze as in next step.
    (for example, this 3.6kg turkey went in for 1 hr 40 mins covered and the final 40 minutes uncovered with glaze to brown)
    Check times on the packet for your size of the turkey and adjust accordingly
    Covering the turkey lightly with silver tin foil before going into the oven to cook
  • Mix up the glaze ingredients
    3 tbsp Olive Oil, 3 tbsp Maple syrup, 2 Sprigs Fresh Thyme, 2 Sprigs Fresh Rosemary, Salt and Pepper
    Olive oil,Maple syrup,rosemary,thyme leaves,salt and pepper all together in a glass jug to make our turkey glaze
  • 40 minutes before the end of cooking time, remove the foil and baste the whole turkey with the glaze.
    Leave the foil off and place back in the oven and cook for the final 40 minutes allowing it to brown.
    Pouring maple syrup glaze over the turkey to baste before going back into the oven to cook
  • Once cooked, remove the turkey from the tray and place on to a chopping board. Cover loosely with tin foil allow to rest between 30 minutes to 1 hr 30 minutes before carving
    Picking up the turkey with orange rubber oven gloves to place onto a wooden chopping board
  • Keep the leftover cooking juices to make the turkey gravy - see blog post
    Pouring the Turkey Gravy with Red Wine from a silver saucepan into a white gravy boat and saucer
  • When its time to carve, see blog post for instructions and pictures on how we did this.
    A platter of of cut up turkey consisting of two legs, two breast sliced and two wings on a brown wooden chopping board with a black and silver carving knife and fork on the side
  • Serve with all the usual trimmings and Enjoy!!
    Sliced Whole Turkey breast served on a white and purple plate with glazed Brussel sprouts, parsnips and carrots pigs in blankets,flawless roast potatoes, stuffing balls,cranberry sauce and coated in red wine gravy to make a great Christmas dinner

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 572kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 75.2g | Fat: 21.9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 10g