As we give thanks to those around us and to the things we enjoy, most of us will sit down to nicely cooked turkey with all the fixins.

For some new turkey chefs or even veterans on the big dinner circuit it can be nerve-racking performing the big cook in front of family and friends.

The most important part of the cooking might be before you even turn the oven on as your bird no matter the size should be thawed completely before starting.

Chef Darren Nixon says once the turkey is thawed and the stuffing is ready you'll want the cooking temperature to be at 325.

"You're looking for about 165 degree temperature reading and that's when you know it's cooked. Then if you rest it of course it will climb a little bit after that, 20 minutes per pound which of course if you have a big bird around 30 pounds that's a considerable amount of time in the oven."

Nixon suggests the turkey should be lightly covered by tin foil in order to trap heat and penetrate the meat equally.

Once you start to see progress in the cooking of the turkey, Nixon says it's time to get the juices flowing.

"You're going to take that with a baster or a ladle and you're going to pour it over top of the bird and you can do that every half an hour or so that will keep the breast meat nice and moist but also more importantly it gives you that nice golden brown."

Once you've finished the cooking and have the perfect temperature and golden brown look to your bird, Nixon says proper rest is needed for optimum flavour.

"What will happen is that allows all the juices to kind of even out," he says. "If you cut into a turkey that is right out of the oven it will tend to be quite dry and so the resting time is super important, anywhere from a minimum of ten minutes but of course the bird is bigger you're going to let it rest longer."

Nixon adds that resting time should be calculated into your serving time to make sure your guests aren't chomping at the bit when it's dinner time.