Turkey - where did I go wrong

[Douzer77]

So this is how I burnt my turkey!!!! (sorry little long winded)!
Fresh parsley (real) butter under skin. Stuffed with potatoe stuffing in neck. Streaky rashers laid over turkey skin and then whole birdie covered with tin foil. Weighed in at 16lbs incl stuffing so into oven for 20 mins per pound plus 20mins. First half hour oven up to gas mark 7 then down to 4 for the remainder! Then disaster stikes with a smell of burning 2 hours in. The two streaky rashers just at cavity were cremated along with the top of the two legs. I put the temp down to gas 3 for the remainder. When i took the rest of the rashers off as planned with an hour to go they were way over cooked. At the end of cooking the outer bits were fairly tough but the inner bits close to the bone were lovely and tender. So any suggestions as to where it all went wrong?

 

[sattie]

Have you checked your oven temp to see if it matches the temp setting?

 

[GhettoRacingKid]

Sounds like the oven was just too hot
you can cover the legs (and wings) with tin foil.

 

[Douzer77]

Hmmmm, was thinking that alright. Next time might start off at 5 and then down to 4. Or maybe just leave it at 4 all the time.

 

[Leolady]

If 4 is a moderate low heat, then yes I would use it for all of the cooking time.

Remove foil at the end of cooking time to brown.