Cooking Ham and Turkey Together

Is it alright to cook a turkey and a ham together in the same oven? Different pans of course.

Sue from Buffalo, N.Y.

Answers:

Cooking Ham and Turkey Together

Yes, certainly it is OK. Your oven maintains an overall temperature regardless of what you put inside it. The primary goal is to reach a safe internal temperature and not leave any raw places. Check the temperature with a meat thermometer if you have one, or cut into the inside thigh of the turkey to make sure the meat and juices are no longer pink.

If the cooking directions of the ham and turkey are offset by 25 or even 50 degrees, you should still be OK to proceed. Rubbing the meat with a little clear salad oil first helps preserve moistness.

Make sure you have adequate space around both the turkey and the ham and between the meats and the oven sides. Make sure you position the turkey and the ham side by side in the center of the oven, not too high or too low. If they do not fit side by side with space between them and around them, then your oven is too small.

Halfway through the shorter baking time, switch sides so that if you have any cold or warm spots in the oven, they will not affect the doneness of the food. Check the baking periodically to make sure everything is going as it should.

A simpler option is to just use those popup things that you press into the thick flesh of the ham or the breast of the turkey. When the gadgets pop up, the safe internal temperature has been reached and the meat is done.

A fully cooked ham (check your ham label) only needs to be warmed to serving temperature, so use the turkey cooking temperature and simply take the ham out when hot enough and the glaze (if any) is cooked. (11/21/2006)

By Speedwell

Cooking Ham and Turkey Together

I have been doing this for years. I have a small oven so I use my largest pan, but I wrap the ham in foil to keep it separate from the turkey. I also do not put the ham in right away, but let the turkey cook until about over half done, then put in the ham. Both turn out exactly the way I want them to. (11/21/2006)

By Dawn

Cooking Ham and Turkey Together

Sue, something else to think about. My mother, who has since passed, used to put the ham in the oven on a pretty low temp the night before Thanksgiving when she went to bed. Then when she got up, she would roast the turkey. The ham was always juicy and never dry, because it cooked slow and low, so it worked out perfectly. (11/21/2006)

By Mary