Keeping It All Hot

A cooked turkey or goose will keep hot for a surprisingly long time: a large mass of cooked food contains alot of stored heat

I like to transfer the cooked bird to a second clean AGA roasting tin so that you have the fat and juices easily available to make the gravy. Having extra AGA roasting tins and baking trays are so useful when catering for Christmas and crowds.

Once the bird is covered with a double thickness of foil, pile over several clean towels etc, as an insulating jacket. On a 4 oven AGA place on the Warming Plate or hob above the left hand ovens. On a 2 or 3 oven AGA use a warm area near your AGA or somewhere away from draughts. Left like this it will still be piping hot when you sit down for your Christmas meal.

More importantly, the bird will have benefited from having a chance to rest while you finish preparing the rest of the meal. Allow a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of 2 hours before carving. Fill the Simmering and Warming Ovens several hours before the meal and plan beforehand how to best pack with plates, serving dishes and saucepans.