Canning Turkey - Will this work?

[NCLee]

I have 2 12lb turkeys in the freezer that I want to can. I've canned chicken, but this is the first time I'm tackling turkey.

Don't have room in the refrigerator to put 2 turkeys to defrost.

Can put them in a washtub in the backyard and set up a food grade water hose to keep water running over them to defrost.

Can defrost in the microwave, but I don't like the way thinner parts of poultry cook while there's still ice in the thick portions.

However, I've been thinking about putting them, frozen, in stock pots with water and bring to a high simmer to defrost. Remove the bird from the bag and wash. Put in the pot and simmer until I can get out the neck and gibblets bag. Empty the pot of water, rinse the inside of the turkey. And start again to finish defrosting and partial cooking for hot pack. Plan to make stock from the bony pieces that will also be canned.

Have you done turkey's this way? Will it work, in your opinion? Any suggestions?

TIA for your thoughts.

Lee

[AlchemyAcres]

IMHO, I don't think that's a good or safe idea.

Do you have an ice chest (cooler) that you can defrost them in?

Or, defrost them in ice in the stock pots, wrapped in a blanket of something, pouring off the water on occasion.


~Martin

[kawalekm]

Hi Lee
I think Martin's suggestion of the cooler is a good idea. You can put it in the cooler a day ahead and monitor it as it thaws. If it thaws too fast, you can add a bag of ice to the cooler.

I would make one other suggestion for you though. I'd start with only 1 turkey and see how that works out. I suspect that you'll have to use a lot more canning jars than you suspect and you don't want any surprises when you're half way through. If mistakes get made, you'll be able to do better the second time around.

What I do is quickly debone the carcass and put the boneless meat in the frig. I'd then make a thick broth with the bones, adding whatever vegies you prefer. I like to glean off the little clingy peices of meat from the bones after they're cooked. You can use this concentrated broth to fill your jars after you've packed the meat from the frig.

Maybe doing turkey twice seems like doubling your work, but I'd guess you'll fine tune your process to make perfect canned turkey.
Good luck,
Michael

[NCLee]

Thank you Martin and Michael for your replies. Much appreciated!

I had a Duh! V-8 juice head slap about defrosting in a cooler. For some reason it hadn't crossed my mind. Brought the smaller of the 2 that stay on the back porch in and gave it a bath, a few minutes ago. Will pick up a bag of ice later today.

I was a bit concerned about the safety aspect of my proposed defrosting method. But, with the boiling water and pressure canning, figgered that would be of minimum concern. (As compared to the risk with undercooked roasted turkey with stuffing.) However, I'd rather not take any risk, so they'll be defrosted outside of the pot. :)

Supplies for canning aren't a problem. But, it is a good point about doing one at a time to work out any problems between the two batches.

I'll be doing similar with the meat and broth. Broth will be chilled to remove the fat, probably overnight, then finished the next day when everything is canned. That's the same approach I use when canning chicken.

Again, thanks for your replies. Your help, truly is appreciated.

Lee

[NCLee]

Just an FYI.....

Yikes... I'm glad I decided to go with the cooler to defrost. Turned out there were THREE turkeys in the freezer. One was hidden in the bottom behind some vegetables. Now I have 2 in the cooler and one in the refrigerator.

Lee

[Thyme]

Why are you thawing them? We take them straight from the freezer to the oven. Half way through cooking pull the neck & bag of giblets out.I also average 5-7 qt jars from each 22 pound turkey.

[NCLee]

Don't think I've ever read or heard about using the oven before.

Since I already have these in defrost mode, I'll go ahead and finish defrosting to the point I can get out the neck and giblets and to cut up the parts for the stock part.

Thanks for your heads up on the yield. When turkeys go on sale in Nov, I'll be looking for some of the big ones to can. Hope last year's sales repeat. It's hard to find any kind of meat for $.29 or $.39 per lb.

Lee

[Mom_of_Four]

I usually put my turkey (still in the wrapper) into a five gallon bucket of cold water. It thaws quickly (5-7 hours), without getting dangerously warm. Maybe that's not considered safe practice, but I've done it for years. The water stays pretty cold because it's got a giant "ice" blob in it. I just put the bucket on the kitchen floor and check on it every so often.

After last Thanksgiving I bought two turkeys on sale and then cooked and canned them. A quart of that turkey and broth makes a great turkey, noodle, peas, and "cream of" soup casserole on a busy evening.