Cooking Times for Turkey Breast

Cooking times will vary according to the weight of the breast but as a guide it is a good idea to allow 20 minutes per kg plus 70 minutes if the breast is under 4 kg or plus 90 minutes if its over 4kg at a cooking temprature of 190c/350f/cas mark4

Cooking Your Appledore Bronze Turkey

The tradition in many families of rising early on Christmas morning to put the turkey in the oven is quite unnecessary. Unfortunately this custom does more harm than good and has led to giving turkey meat a reputation for being rather dry to eat. Traditional breeds such as the Appledore Bronze need less cooking due to the marbling of fat in the meat.

  • Remove the bird from the fridge, leave it to stand at room temperature for 2 hours before cooking.
  • Place the turkey, breast down, in a roasting tin and season the back of the bird with sak and pepper. Cooking it upside down allows most of the fat deposits that are on the back of the bird to percolate through the breast allowing the turkey to cook in its own juices.
  • Place a large peeled onion in the cavity for extra flavour. We do not recommend stuffing the bird but to cook it separately.
  • We do not recommend using tin foil as this will result in a steamed skin rather than a crispy one.
  • Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (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 160°C.
  • 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, they will be hot so use oven gloves. Season the breast of the bird with salt and pepper and then insert your meat thermometer halfway through the thickest part of the breast and place back in the oven. Check every 10 minutes until correct temperature is reached and remove from oven.
  • 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. It won’t go cold and the juices settle in the meat, making it easier to carve and deliciously moist.
  • The stock that is produced from a Appledore Bronze turkey is truly the best. Please do not ruin it with gravy granules etc. Simply skim the excess fat from the top of the stock and then scrape all the delicious crispy bits off the bottom of the roasting tin. Re-heat the stock in a pan and serve with the carved meat.

Guideline Cooking Times

Whole Bird or Crown @180°C, 350°F (Gas Mark 4)

Oven Ready

Weight Roasting Time
4kg 2hr        00mins
5kg 2hr        15mins
6kg 2hr        30mins
7kg 2hr        45mins
8kg 3hr       00mins
9kg 3hr        15mins
10kg 3hr       30mins
11kg 3hr        45mins

without tin foil and with stuffing in the neck only

Breast Roast @ 180°C (Gas Mark 4) for approx

Weight Roasting Time
1kg 1hr        00mins
1.5kg 1hr        15mins
2kg 1hr        30mins

Use your favourite stuffing recipe in a separate dish.

Cooking your Goose

A traditional alternative to a Christmas turkey, goose is packed with flavour, with rich, densely-textured meat. Although it has a high fat content, most of this is under the skin, rather than in the meat, which means that, during cooking, it melts and bastes the breast, keeping it juicy. The extra fat layer, and the fact that it’s bonier, with a la 9e rib cage, means that, weight for weight, a goose will feed fewer people than a turkey.

  • When storing the goose prior to cooking remove the giblets and the body cavity fat, and store them and the goose separately in the refrigerator.
  • Take the goose out of the fridge 1 hour before cooking, to make sure it’s room temperature.
  • To roast your goose you will need a large, deep meat tin (ideally with trivet or rack), foil, salt and pepper and a stuffing of your choice.
  • Place the gibbets in 4 pints of water, bring to the boil and then simmer for approx 3 hours. Strain and thicken 1he stock to make a gravy.
  • Prick the skin of the goose, rub salt and pepper over it, brush with olive oil or butter and then sprinkle with herbs if you choose.
  • Stuff the goose with your favourite stuffing, or as an alternative fill the body cavity with chopped apple and herbs of your choice and cook the stuffing in a separate dish.
  • Place the goose on your rack breast side up, cover meat tin with foil and place in pre-heated oven
  • After the first hour baste the goose and make sure the legs are still covered and that the skin is not burning. Pour off surplus fat into a container. For the last half to three-quarter of an hour uncover the breast to brown and baste again, pouring off the surplus fat.
  • When cooked place the goose onto a carving dish to rest for approx. 20 minutes before carving – keeping the goose covered.

Guideline Cooking Times

Cooking temperature is either 200”C / 400°F (Gas Mark 6)

Allow 15 mins per 450g/1lb plus 20 mins.

Approx time

4.50kg/101b 3 hours
5.40kg/12Ib 3.5 hours

When cooking your duck the same instructions can be followed. Do not be afraid of over cooking your duck or goose. Their fat layer prevents drying and the crispier the better!

Cooking Your Cockerel

Before cooking allow your cockerel to stand within an ambient temperature for minimum of 30 minutes.

Remove all packaging and the neck from in the cavity of the bird.

We do not recommend stuffing your bird as this alters the cooking time.

Smear the breast of your cockerel with a little butter and season with salt and pepper to your taste.

Cover gently with foil but do not seal the bird within the foil upon your tray. Cook in a preheated oven 190/375F/Gas 5 for 20 mins per 450g/11b.

30 — 40 minutes before the end of your cooking time remove the foil, baste the cockerel with cooking juices (now is the time to drain off excess fat from the tin to use when cooking your stuffing and roast potatoes) and return to the oven. Turn the temperature up to 220/425F/Gas 7 for the remainder of the cooking time.

To test if your Cockerel is cooked, juices from the thigh should run clear. If these are still pink continue cooking checking for clear juices at 15 minute intervals.

Once cooked allow to stand for a minimum of 15 minutes.

Aga owners please consult your Aga cookbook for options of cooking methodology. Tried and Tested Heart of England Farms method..!

Try cooking your cockerel upside down! This allows the breast meat to cook whilst sat in all the delicious cooking juices. Turn over 30-40 minutes before the end of the cooking time and then follow instructions as above.

Please remember all appliances vary and these are guidelines only.