Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Jessica Knibbs

Mary Berry shares unusual cooking tip to stop Christmas turkey from drying out

British chef and TV legend Mary Berry will be hosting her food show Mary Berry’s Ultimate Christmas, which will be aired on December 19. Before the show, in which she will offer top tips for the ultimate Christmas feast, she revealed an unusual way to keep meat from drying out.

Overcooking your meat can certainly put a damper on the festive day, but Dame Mary Berry has revealed a novel method she uses to help avoid this cooking mishap.

The former Great British Bake Off judge revealed that, despite her impressive skills in the kitchen, she too has been guilty of overcooking meat in the past.

“I’ve learned not to overcook it. So many times, even I have overcooked it,” she said.

Mary Berry’s Christmas turkey insulation method

Berry, 87, appeared on former Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw and Michelin-starred chef Angela Hartnett’s podcast, Dish, where she explained her unusual item for insulation.

“This time I’m cooking it without foil, I shall cover it with foil once it’s done, then I shall put some tea towels over the top,” Berry said.

Discussing her method to keeping the meat moist before heading to her daughter Annabel’s home to celebrate Christmas, Berry revealed her secret weapon to be a sleeping bag.

She explained: “I’ve got an old sleeping bag that’s got no zip and I put that over the top in the corner of the kitchen and then I shall take that in the back of the car to Annabel’s.

“Once you take it out of the oven, it goes on cooking. And so you want to insulate that.

“I shall pop it in the back of the car inside its sleeping bag and we’ll be having drinks and lots of jollity until we need to carve it.”

The sleeping bag method works because it has insulating properties that keep both ourselves and the meat nice and toasty without getting dried out.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.