1. Remove the bird from the fridge, leave it to stand at room temperature for 2 hours before cooking.
2. Place the turkey, breast down, in a roasting tin and season the back of the bird with salt and pepper. Add 500mL of water and your favourite vegetables. Most of the fat deposits are on the back of the bird which will percolate through the breast allowing the turkey to cook in its own juices.
3. Place a large peeled onion in the cavity for extra flavour. We do not recommend stuffing the bird but to cook the stuffing separately.
4. Turkey crowns should be cooked as above but breast side up.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC (gas mark 4) before putting the turkey in the oven. If you have a fan assisted oven and cannot turn the fan off, reduce the temperature to 160ºC. Do not use tin foil as this will result in a steamed skin rather than a crispy one.
6. Half way through the recommended cooking time add more water if required.
7. Turn the turkey over (to brown the breast) 30 minutes before the end of cooking time. This is easily done by holding the end of the drumsticks with oven gloves (be careful of hot fat). Season the breast of the bird with salt and pepper and place back in the oven.
8. Using a meat thermometer check every 10 minutes until the correct temperature (70-75°C) is reached and remove from oven.
9. To manually check, insert a skewer into the thigh and when the juices run clear remove from the oven. If the juices are pink, place back in the oven and keep checking at 10 minute intervals. Allow to stand for 30 to 60 minutes before carving.

Craigavad bronze turkeys cook faster than a standard bird due to the intramuscular fat. Trust the thermometer!

Cooking times are a guide only – we advise using a thermometer