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12, The Broadway, Mill Hill, London, NW7 3LL            Tel. 020 8959 1374       E-mail:   Shop@cooksleys.com

Completely Sold Out for 2012

Sold Out for 2012

You'll never taste a better Turkey……it's our Promise!

ALL our Free-Range Turkeys are raised in the old fashioned way by our farmer, Mark Stevens at Water Hall Farm in Sudbury,

who, like his father before him, has supplied us with these specially reared birds at Christmas for over 50 years.

These turkeys are developed from the slow-growing breeds of days gone by and they are given only natural foods -

which means that, come dinner time, you'll be enjoying the finest flavoured turkey you could imagine.

QUALITY STANDARDS

When you order one of our Turkeys you can be sure of the tastiest possible Christmas meal.

Our Quality Assurance Code guarantees that our turkeys are:

  • Reared and produced with the greatest care by independent farmers, dedicated to producing the finest turkeys
  • Grown slowly to full maturity
  • Fed rations containing at least 70 per cent grain with no animal protein and never given additives for growth promotion
  • Never given antibiotics except as prescribed by a vet
  • Housed in buildings giving both natural light and ventilation while providing essential weather protection with space at or better than Animal Welfare Code recommendations.
  • Free range stock have open daily access to grazing for at least 11 weeks
  • Always handled with extreme care by experienced staff under the personal supervision of the farmer
  • Regularly bedded with comfortable straw or soft wood shavings
  • Grown on farms independently inspected to ensure that the code is met in full
  • Slaughtered on the farm to avoid the stress of long distance transportation
  • Always dry plucked and hung for at least seven days to mature and develop the natural flavours unique to this traditional type of production
  • Processed in facilities inspected by the local Environmental Health officer or Meat Hygiene Service
  • Individually inspected to qualify for the Golden Promise guarantee

What makes our turkeys taste so good? 

 We believe there are three major reasons: 

 1.  Selecting traditional slow-growing stock which is grown to maturity. (Many other turkeys are only about 10 weeks old when they are slaughtered, and the meat hasn't had time to develop its proper texture.) 

 2.  Rearing the turkeys in the most welfare-friendly environment - whether they are barn-reared or free range. Our turkeys are fed natural foods and never given antibiotics or other additives for growth promotion. Everything is done to ensure our turkeys enjoy a stress-free life. 

 3.  Dry plucking and then hanging for a minimum of seven days. Food experts agree that all types of good meat get even better by being hung, and our turkeys are no exception. 

How to roast one of our free range turkeys

1. When you get your turkey, remove the giblets, which should be in the body cavity, and place the uncovered turkey on a plate in the lowest part of the refrigerator. Make sure you know how much it weighs so that you can calculate the cooking time – the timings given here are for a 14 lb (6.5 kg) bird. Late the night before, take it out of the fridge so that it will be at room temperature by the time you cook it.

2. Stuff the turkey with your chosen stuffing – the quantity of stuffing will be the same whatever the size of your turkey. Place about two-thirds in the neck end between the flesh and the skin, then tuck the neck flap under the bird's back and secure it with a small skewer. Place the rest of the stuffing in the body cavity – there's no need to pack this in tightly. Note that it is only dangerous to stuff the body cavity if either the turkey or the stuffing is not defrosted properly, because the heat will not penetrate it quickly enough. If both are at room temperature it is perfectly safe. Spread 6 oz (175 g) of softened butter all over the bird.

3. Lay about 8 oz (225 g) of streaky bacon rashers over the breast of the bird, overlapping slightly, then season with freshly milled black pepper and a little salt.

4. Arrange two large sheets of foil across your roasting tin, one widthways and the other lengthways. Lay the turkey on its back in the middle of the foil then loosely wrap it: the parcel must be firmly sealed but with room for air to circulate around the turkey, creating 'an oven within the oven'. Place in a pre-heated hot oven, gas mark 7, 425°F (220°C), for 40 minutes – this initial blast is so that the heat gets right into the turkey and the stuffing very quickly. Then reduce the oven temperature to gas mark 3, 325°F (170°C) for 31/2 hours.

5. After this time, remove the turkey from the oven, uncover it and discard any excess foil. Baste with the juices then increase the oven temperature to gas mark 6, 400°F (200°C). Cook the uncovered turkey for a further 40 minutes – once the bacon on top of the turkey has browned you can push it down into the tin to allow the breast to get a final browning

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