cp99
New member
Yes, this is my task on the 25th. In previous years I have avoided it by devious ploys but this year I'm stuck with the job. Anyone cooked a turkey in a small boat gas oven? Any tips (how long etc)?
turkey in Flavel Vanessa?!
- Thread starter cp99
- Start date
Gerry
Well-known member
Yes! Just celebrated an early Crimble on board in Portugal. Cooked Christmas dinner for 6 onboard. Turkey, stuffing, roast potatoes and parsnips, brussels with chestnuts!You need to juggle everything well. We have a taylors force ten gas stove which is quite sizeable really I guess. Roasted the 14lb fresh turkey for four hours. started at no.4 for 30 mins then down to 2.5 for 3 hours then up to 4(max) for remainder and took foil off to brown. Put the bird on the lowest shelf or floor of the oven so you can use the top for th spuds.
You will probably need to stuff the bird as there won't be enough room to cook stuffing seperately so do make sure the whole thing is well cooked- and good luck. Merry Christmas!
You will probably need to stuff the bird as there won't be enough room to cook stuffing seperately so do make sure the whole thing is well cooked- and good luck. Merry Christmas!
G
Guest
Guest
Have not cooked turkey on board - yet - but strongly suggest you avoid stuffing inside the body cavity.It can result in incomplete cooking of the meat and stuffing and lead to food poisoning.Try putting hand in through neck opening and forcing skin away from carcase then using space created to hold stuffing.Helps keep the meat moist and imparts flavour.Best of luck and Happy Christmas.
ccscott49
Active member
For the first hour, turn the turkey breast down and force it down into the pan, then turn it up the other way and cover as usual, but just one tip I would remind you of, make sure you have enough gas!! Yes, I mention this out of experience! I also agree with the not stuffing the cavity, but the neck end, learnt that from one of the telly chefs!
Sunny_Jim
New member
We haven't done it in our Flavel Vanessa, but according to current recommendations on Radio Four at home in London, - to avoid dried up meat - try roasting first uncovered at maximum heat to seal the juices inside the skin. Then cover with foil and reduce heat for the recommended time. Don't stuff at all - just put the stuffing round the tray.
Incidentally we changed to Camping Gas from propane this season and have found the heat is much better...
Bon Appetit!
Incidentally we changed to Camping Gas from propane this season and have found the heat is much better...
Bon Appetit!
ccscott49
Active member
camping gas is butane, higher calorific value than propane, but freezes up at a lower temperature, thats why it's used in northern europe, propane that is!
Johnjo
New member
Also have a Flavel Vannesa cooker on board, cooked a large chicken init
back in the summer with all the trimmings, kept turning it around, upside
down on its side till it was well cooked.
If I was going to attempt a turkey, I think I would buy just the crown as
this should not present a problem, suppose it all comes down to what size turkey
you have! I have added a stainless hot shelf above the hob,this I find
invaluable when cooking, nice to have warm plates etc.
hope it all turns out okay,
regards mike
back in the summer with all the trimmings, kept turning it around, upside
down on its side till it was well cooked.
If I was going to attempt a turkey, I think I would buy just the crown as
this should not present a problem, suppose it all comes down to what size turkey
you have! I have added a stainless hot shelf above the hob,this I find
invaluable when cooking, nice to have warm plates etc.
hope it all turns out okay,
regards mike
ccscott49
Active member
What a good idea, the hot shelf I mean!! I'll look out for a bit of stainless!
charles_reed
Active member
Dunno about Flavel Vannessa, but I managed a 2.7 Kg capon in my Plastimo Neptune oven (actually made in Bolton by Leisure Products).
Points to watch out for:
1. The breast (which always gets overcooked) is high up and overheats easily, whilst the legs never seem to cook properly. Cover the breast with doubled alumimium foil for the first 2/3rds of the cooking.
2. I allowed 120 mins at R6 (yes the oven has a thermostat) and that was a little on the short side.
3. Make sure there's sufficient boiling water to cover the bottom of the roasting pan - infallible for ensuring regular through-cooking in baked meats.
In fact I quite often cook chickens in the oven, using a mixture of bacon (poitrine fumé) and foil to protect/baste the breast.
Points to watch out for:
1. The breast (which always gets overcooked) is high up and overheats easily, whilst the legs never seem to cook properly. Cover the breast with doubled alumimium foil for the first 2/3rds of the cooking.
2. I allowed 120 mins at R6 (yes the oven has a thermostat) and that was a little on the short side.
3. Make sure there's sufficient boiling water to cover the bottom of the roasting pan - infallible for ensuring regular through-cooking in baked meats.
In fact I quite often cook chickens in the oven, using a mixture of bacon (poitrine fumé) and foil to protect/baste the breast.
G
Guest
Guest
turkey in a flavel vanessa ( like ours)? the bit at the back will be char grilled in 10 mins, the bit at the front will be raw after an hour, and if the rspca hear about it you will be in trouble for cruelty to dumb animals. the end result will be like the porridge you cooked over an open fire at scout camp. different!
the temperature distribution in the oven of our flavel is so poor i wouldn't even try. if you are determined, get one pre cooked from asda, and just warm it up in your oven.
better still, take her out to dinner.
the temperature distribution in the oven of our flavel is so poor i wouldn't even try. if you are determined, get one pre cooked from asda, and just warm it up in your oven.
better still, take her out to dinner.
ecudc
New member
Wipe turkey inside and out. TAKE OUT ANY GIBLETS. If you want to stuff it do it in the neck not the body cavity. Pre heat oven to gas mark 5. Cover turkey with butter and bacon. Put the turkey on a rack on top of a deepish baking tay, fill under the rack with water. Cover turkey with foil to try and create a mini oven to reduce singing and increase moisture.
Cook for around 20 minutes per pound..
remebering to add your stuffing weight into the mixture. Turn and baste bird frequently as stated on the posts before. Remeber that a turkey can and should be left to rest out of the oven for half an hour or even longer so you can make room in oven for rosties etc or just leave yourself some headroom if turkey is cooking too quickly or slowly.
I can't remeber what oven you had but if it's gimbled be really careful when taking bird in an out incase you pour whatever is on the top of the stove one your head.
or else save yourself some gas and hastle and buy some smaller turket joints which take much less time.
Cook for around 20 minutes per pound..
remebering to add your stuffing weight into the mixture. Turn and baste bird frequently as stated on the posts before. Remeber that a turkey can and should be left to rest out of the oven for half an hour or even longer so you can make room in oven for rosties etc or just leave yourself some headroom if turkey is cooking too quickly or slowly.
I can't remeber what oven you had but if it's gimbled be really careful when taking bird in an out incase you pour whatever is on the top of the stove one your head.
or else save yourself some gas and hastle and buy some smaller turket joints which take much less time.
ccscott49
Active member
I knew lobsters made a noise when you cooked them, sometimes, but a turkey singing! That's a new one on me!
ecudc
New member
spelling not my strong point I'm afraid. can't be bothered to edit the post though, I'll leave it in for "post"erity.
ccscott49
Active member
Wasn't meant as criticism, sorry.
ecudc
New member
not taken as such, don't worry.
Johnjo
New member
So tell us, how did it go?
cp99
New member
TURKEY POSTSCRIPT
How did it turn out? It's only fair to let those of you know, who took the time to help me out with suggestions. Many thanks to all of you for the various tips.
Since some were conflicting I combined a couple. The chap who suggested it was impossible due to the poor temperature distribution was of course partly right, but I allowed for that. Couldn't just "take her out to dinner instead", as he declaimed with some justification, since I was cooking for myself and a couple of the other boat bums in Horta (also the reason why we couldn't get a pre-cooked one from the marvelous Asda).
Though only a small turkey - approximately sparrow sized, at 3.6 kg, or about 7 lbs - it almost filled the oven. Ten pounds would be about the max, and pushing it. Here in the Azores everything is miniature size, luckily including the turkeys. Bit of a problem when you want to buy a pair of shoes or trousers, though.
The little Flavel bakes great bread*- provided that you turn the pan a couple of times; so the turkey was rotated twice, sitting on it's base, for the first 45 minutes at max heat. Then, turning down to 80%, it was spun onto first one breast, then the other, then the base, during the main cooking period. It's triangular, isn't it, so this is fairly simple. Plenty of oil and garlic in the tray, plus about a quarter-inch of juice from the bird. In the end I didn't stuff the turkey according to Plan A, as time ran a bit short and the cooking time would have been extended. The stuffing was roasted in a Pyrex dish - and also the spuds - after the bird came out; there was no room otherwise. I often kneel and give thanks to the magnificent goddess Pyrex and the great god Inox.
Useful tip from elsewhere: cut a lemon in quarters and stick it inside, with or without stuffing - adds a nice flavour. I didn't have a proper roasting tray, and all those for sale are too big to fit into the Flavel, so I bought an El Cheapo frying pan for 5 Euros which just fitted in, and did the job fine. The results were 100% successful and delicious - the whole bird moist, especially the breast, and a beautiful dark tan colour all over.
Voilá! Many thanks and a Happy New Year to you all.
.......... (* I did see a widget somewhere that a clever bloke had invented to fix the temperature distribution problem. It was a bit of stainless folded to make a rectangular box shape, which sits on the oven floor and fits over the gas flame; an inch or two high and eight or ten inches long, with holes drilled along the edges and a couple in the top to let the heat out. Might knock up something like that when I get home eventually - if I get a Round Tuit.)
How did it turn out? It's only fair to let those of you know, who took the time to help me out with suggestions. Many thanks to all of you for the various tips.
Since some were conflicting I combined a couple. The chap who suggested it was impossible due to the poor temperature distribution was of course partly right, but I allowed for that. Couldn't just "take her out to dinner instead", as he declaimed with some justification, since I was cooking for myself and a couple of the other boat bums in Horta (also the reason why we couldn't get a pre-cooked one from the marvelous Asda).
Though only a small turkey - approximately sparrow sized, at 3.6 kg, or about 7 lbs - it almost filled the oven. Ten pounds would be about the max, and pushing it. Here in the Azores everything is miniature size, luckily including the turkeys. Bit of a problem when you want to buy a pair of shoes or trousers, though.
The little Flavel bakes great bread*- provided that you turn the pan a couple of times; so the turkey was rotated twice, sitting on it's base, for the first 45 minutes at max heat. Then, turning down to 80%, it was spun onto first one breast, then the other, then the base, during the main cooking period. It's triangular, isn't it, so this is fairly simple. Plenty of oil and garlic in the tray, plus about a quarter-inch of juice from the bird. In the end I didn't stuff the turkey according to Plan A, as time ran a bit short and the cooking time would have been extended. The stuffing was roasted in a Pyrex dish - and also the spuds - after the bird came out; there was no room otherwise. I often kneel and give thanks to the magnificent goddess Pyrex and the great god Inox.
Useful tip from elsewhere: cut a lemon in quarters and stick it inside, with or without stuffing - adds a nice flavour. I didn't have a proper roasting tray, and all those for sale are too big to fit into the Flavel, so I bought an El Cheapo frying pan for 5 Euros which just fitted in, and did the job fine. The results were 100% successful and delicious - the whole bird moist, especially the breast, and a beautiful dark tan colour all over.
Voilá! Many thanks and a Happy New Year to you all.
.......... (* I did see a widget somewhere that a clever bloke had invented to fix the temperature distribution problem. It was a bit of stainless folded to make a rectangular box shape, which sits on the oven floor and fits over the gas flame; an inch or two high and eight or ten inches long, with holes drilled along the edges and a couple in the top to let the heat out. Might knock up something like that when I get home eventually - if I get a Round Tuit.)
cp99
New member
See down at the bottom (nm)
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G
Guest
Guest
Hey sounds like you got alot of sound advice re the turkey cp Sorry I missed it! Wish I was back in Horta with the geezer instead of upstate ny in the mountains n snow See you round the end of feb to mid march. and yes they do have minature everything in Horta. Talk to you soon! B
cp99
New member
bbsy
Wotcher bbsy. Or should that be babsy - a tryping error?
Wotcher bbsy. Or should that be babsy - a tryping error?