FOOD NEWS
The Strange Way Mary Berry Keeps Her Roast Turkey Hot
BY CASSIE WOMACK
In a 2022 Dish podcast interview, Mary Berry shared her tips for keeping cooked turkey warm without drying out, one of which includes the use of this unexpected item.
Berry revealed to listeners, "I've got an old sleeping bag that's got no zip and I put that over the top [of the turkey] in the corner of the kitchen."
Many recipes stress the importance of resting a turkey in a warm place before carving it. Sleeping bags aren’t a standard tool in most kitchens, but Berry's method seems useful.
She added, "Once you take it out of the oven, it goes on cooking, and so ... you want to insulate [it]." Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver agree with resting a turkey in a warm place.
Ramsay said on YouTube, "As the meat relaxes, it reabsorbs its juices, making it succulent and tender." Oliver also said in a YouTube video that resting a turkey is "essential."
At an absolute minimum, a turkey should rest for 20 minutes. If you have roasted a larger bird, then it will need to rest for up to 40 minutes.
Although Ramsay and Oliver recommend a turkey rest for two hours or more, the United States Department of Agriculture says to never leave a turkey out for more than two hours.