England's best butcher has revealed exactly how to cook the perfect Christmas turkey.

Toby Bassett, 34, and fiancé Kerry Heaney, 34, who run Bassetts Butchers in Ilfracombe, Devon, were last month crowned best butchers in England.

Toby revealed in 2025 customers have opted for more beef than turkey, due to avian flu, and sales of venison have gone up too, because it's cheaper than beef.

But turkey is still the Christmas favourite - and he has perfected the optimum recipe and cooking instructions, to ensure perfection every time.

Toby's approach starts by submerging the uncooked turkey in a herb-infused 5% salt brine - adding celery and onions - for 24 hours in the fridge.

Timings are crucial to the next stages - setting the turkey aside out the water for an hour, before adding butter UNDER the skin, ahead of cooking at 170°C until the breast reaches 75°C.

His top tip is to leave the turkey to rest - outside the oven - for exactly the

same length of time it was cooking.

And for families looking to save money he also revealed the best value cut - a rolled turkey leg - and how to cook it.

Toby, who took on the shop just 18 months ago, said: "People only go off turkey because we dry it out when we cook it too long."

"It's still the Christmas favourite meat so it's worth learning how to cook it well."

"People have got into the habit of drying it out because they're worried about it being underdone, but brining it and cooking it on a lower temperature and for less time, and resting it, will give you a lovely juicy Christmas dinner."

"I love food and I love helping people to get the best out of the meat they buy."

Toby got into his trade about 14 years ago through a catering job.

The couple met 10 years ago when Kerry moved to the area from Manchester, and got engaged in 2022.

Toby took on the shop - the last butcher in town - with baker Kerry, when his previous boss retired.

Their best sellers are pork pies, traditional steak pies, a cheese and marmite scotch egg, and a spicy mango coconut and lime scotch egg.

Toby and Kerry, and their colleague Aron Birchall, 34, start work at 6am and finish around 5pm - but work until 8pm during most of December.

One of their most unusual products is local delicacy 'black gold '- a laver seaweed which grows abundantly along the Welsh coastline, including the Bristol Channel, traditionally used to make laverbread, which can be incorporated into sausages.

Toby said: "It's a superfood, people go mad for it."

The couple buy all their meat from local farms and Toby butchers it in a traditional way.

The shop dates from the 1800s, and the couple have kept the old original tiles.

Toby won a best apprentice award two years after he started in the trade.

The couple also won the best in Devon award in September before going on to win best in England - awarded by England's Business Awards Show.

Kerry, who works part time in the shop and part time as a dental nurse,

said: "We're extremely proud of our award."

"It was such an amazing feeling, we both screamed."

"We work really hard."

"We've got a lovely and really supportive local community who helped us get where we are."

Toby's top tips for cooking Christmas turkey:

- In a 5L tub, mix a 5% salt to water solution

- Add herbs, spices, lemon zest, celery and onions

- Add the uncooked turkey and leave in the fridge for at least 24 hours

- Take the turkey out of the solution an hour before you're ready to cook and pat dry

- Stuff the skin with butter and put in the oven at around 170 Celsius until the temperature in the middle of the breast is 75 degrees (use a probe to measure this). About two hours max for a 6 kilo bird.

- Take out of the oven and rest the meat for as long as you cooked it.

Alternatively, for best value - choose a rolled turkey leg (about £15 for two kilos)

- Stuff it and wrap it in bacon.

- Cook for 45 mins wrapped in foil.

- Remove the foil, glaze with honey, and return to the oven for 15 minutes.