Major UK supermarket says we should be cooking Christmas turkey in an air fryer

03 November 2023 , 14:37

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Cooking Christmas dinner is a massive undertaking (Image: Getty Images)

Cooking a Christmas feast is a mammoth task for anyone to undertake with so many moving parts, different cooking times, and not a lot of oven space to go around.

To combat the latter, one top chef for a major UK supermarket has shared a different method for preparing your turkey this year and it doesn't involve using the oven.

Martyn Lee, the executive chef for Waitrose, has encouraged families to try using an air fryer this Christmas, claiming that your turkey crown could be cooked in one in as little as 30 minutes to get the meat to a perfect 65C.

He said: "You won't get a full-sized turkey in [an air fryer], but a crown is ideal – and lots of people are choosing to serve alternatives to the traditional full-sized turkey, especially if they're also cooking non-meat main dishes."

And it's not just the turkey that could be made in the air fryer, as Yorkshire puddings, honey-roasted parsnips, and pigs in blankets can all also be cooked in the handy kitchen gadget, the Telegraph reports.

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Even roast potatoes can go in there, with a Waitrose recipe for goose fat roast potatoes stating that the air fryer makes them just as crunchy as they would be in the oven while using less fat. The instructions tell people to parboil the potatoes for 10 minutes and then allow them to steam dry for five. They then are cooked in the air fryer for between 35 to 40 minutes to produce the perfect spud.

And if you're keen to keep on getting the most out of your air fryer over the festive season, you're in luck as a number of supermarkets will be adding 'air fryer friendly' labels onto party food staples. Marks & Spencer, the Co-op, and Iceland are among the stores to include the labels on their Christmas food, in one of the biggest shake-ups to cooking instructions since microwaves became popular in the 1980s.

Marks & Spencer introduced labels on some of its everyday products in March following a surge in the popularity of air fryers, while the Co-op's party food air fryer range includes haggis bites, nacho chilli bean bites, and vegetable spring rolls. Iceland also gives instructions on how to cook mini pigs in blankets and melted cheese straws in the air fryer.

Shoppers at Waitrose will start to see the labels on the Christmas party food range later this month. Sister company department store John Lewis is also selling an air fryer bauble.

Courtney Pochin