This advice also applies to game, such as partridge and pheasant.

Main points to remember

* Always make sure poultry is properly cooked before serving.

* Keep raw poultry away from ready-to-eat foods.

* Always wash your hands thoroughly after handling raw poultry.

* After preparing poultry, clean all utensils and worktops.

* Store poultry carefully (when raw or cooked) to prevent food
poisoning bacteria from growing and spreading.

* Don't reheat poultry more than once.

Cooking a turkey

Always make sure turkey is properly cooked before you serve it,
because eating undercooked turkey (or other poultry) could cause food
poisoning. These are the three main ways to tell if a turkey is
cooked:

* The meat should be piping hot all the way through.

* When you cut into the thickest part of the meat, none of the meat
should be pink.

* If juices run out when you pierce the turkey, or when you press the
thigh, they should be clear.

It's very important to plan your cooking time in advance, to make sure
you get the turkey in the oven early enough to cook it thoroughly. A
large turkey can take several hours to cook properly.

Often cooking advice is included on the turkey's packaging, or you can
look in your oven handbook, or in a cookery book.

As a general guide, allow 20 minutes per 450g (1lb) at 190°C, 375°F,
Gas Mark 5 (after the oven has preheated).

You may need to add extra time at the end to make sure that smaller
birds are properly cooked.

Remember, some ovens, such as fan-assisted ovens might cook the turkey
more quickly; check the manufacturer's handbook for your oven if you
can.

These cooking times are based on an unstuffed turkey. It's better to
cook your stuffing in a roasting tin, rather than inside the turkey,
so the turkey will cook more easily and cooking guidelines will be
more accurate. (Stuffing inside the turkey makes it cook more slowly.)

Remember, other birds, such as goose and duck, need different cooking
times. In an oven at 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5, they should be cooked for
a minimum of 25 to 30 minutes per 450g (1lb), once the oven has
preheated.

Remember, these times are based on cooking an unstuffed bird in a
preheated oven, and they are only a guide. Always make sure poultry is
properly cooked before serving.

If you're cooking portions of poultry, rather than a whole bird, you
can follow the advice on the packaging or in a recipe, but always
check that it's properly cooked.

After cooking, cool the turkey quickly (in no more than one to two
hours) and then cover or place in a sealed container and put it in the
fridge. Make sure you keep all ready-to-eat foods, including cooked
poultry, away from raw meat.

Leftovers

It's very important to keep cooked meat and poultry in the fridge. If
it's left out at room temperature, food poisoning bacteria can grow
and multiply. So, try to take out only as much as you're going to use
and leave the rest in the fridge.

Don't leave a plate of turkey or cold meats out all day, on a buffet
for example. Put it back in the fridge as soon as you can, ideally
within an hour.

If you're reheating leftover turkey, or other food, always make sure
it's piping hot all the way through before you eat it. And don't
reheat more than once. Ideally, try to use leftovers within 48 hours.

Defrosting a turkey

If your turkey is frozen, make sure it's properly defrosted before you
cook it. If it's still partially frozen, recommended cooking times
won't be long enough to cook it thoroughly. This means bacteria that
cause food poisoning could survive the cooking process. So, before you
start cooking, make sure there aren't any ice crystals in the cavity.
You could also test the thicker parts of the turkey with a fork, to
tell whether the meat feels frozen.

It's very important to work out defrosting time in advance, so you
know how much time to allow - it can take at least a couple of days
for a large turkey to thaw (see estimated times below).

When you start defrosting, take the turkey out of its packaging and
put it on a large dish. This is to hold the liquid that comes out as
the turkey thaws. Remove the giblets and the neck as soon as possible,
because this speeds up thawing.

Giblets are raw meat, so they should either be cooked immediately or
stored in a sealed container in the fridge until you cook them. Always
wash your hands thoroughly after handling raw turkey, giblets or any
other raw meat.

Put the dish in a cool, clean place (ideally the fridge) where the
turkey won't touch other foods. If it isn't possible to defrost your
turkey in the fridge, you could use a cool room, or a garage. Remember
that the temperature of the place where the turkey is kept will affect
thawing times.

If you're defrosting your turkey somewhere cold, such as the garage or
garden shed, watch out for sudden extremes in temperature, if it gets
very cold (or very warm), this could mean the turkey won't defrost
properly or won't be kept cold enough. Keep the turkey covered and
make sure that pets and young children are kept away.

You could also defrost it at room temperature, but make sure it
doesn't touch or drip onto other foods (and make sure you cook it
properly).

Pour away the liquid that comes out of the defrosting turkey
regularly, to stop it overflowing and spreading bacteria. But be
careful not to splash the liquid onto worktops, dishes, cloths or
other food. And remember to wash your hands.

To work out the defrosting time for your turkey, check the packaging.
If there aren't any defrosting instructions, use the following times
as a rough guide for how long it will take to thaw your turkey (but
remember to check that it's fully thawed before cooking).

* In a fridge at 4°C (39°F), allow about 4 to 6 hours per 450g (1lb),
but remember not all fridges will be this temperature.

* In a cool room (below 17.5°C, 60°F) allow approximately 1.5 to 2
hours per 450g (1lb), longer if the room is particularly cold.

* At room temperature (about 20°C, 68°F) allow approximately 1 hour
per 450g (1lb).

Keeping foods apart

It's very important to keep raw poultry away from food that is ready
to eat. This is because if raw poultry, or other raw meat, touches (or
drips onto) these foods, bacteria will spread.

Remember, bacteria can also spread from raw meat and poultry to
worktops, chopping boards, dishes and utensils. So, to keep your
Christmas food safe, remember to do the following things:

* Always keep raw poultry away from other foods, to help stop bacteria
spreading.

* Store raw poultry at the bottom of the fridge so it can't drip onto
other foods.

* Always clean worktops, chopping boards, dishes and utensils
thoroughly after they have touched raw poultry.

* Always wash your hands with warm water and soap, and dry them
thoroughly, after touching raw poultry.

* Never use the same chopping board for raw poultry and ready-to-eat
food without washing it thoroughly in warm soapy water. (If possible,
use a separate chopping board just for raw meat and poultry.)

* Don't wash your turkey (or other poultry); this is because bacteria
can splash onto worktops, dishes and other foods. Proper cooking will
kill any bacteria, so you don't need to wash poultry.