How did your turkey turn out?

[SKB]

My poor turkey....I was blessed with a 12 pound frozen bird. I haven't cooked a turkey in years. But when one appears, one must cook it.

I defrosted it in the fridge for 2 days (first mistake, not long enough), then I put it in the oven for 3 hours @ 325 which is what the label said to do (2nd mistake, not long enough) and then I pulled it out, turned off the oven and let it sit for 20 minutes.

I poked it here and there and the juices were running clear (a good thing, according to the label), but when I probed a little deeper, I found that the bird was still raw in spots.

So, back into the oven he goes, for another 1.5 hours. And then I called the Butterball hotline. He was a generic bird, but they helped me with generous reassurance anyway.

The timer went off, out came the bird and would you believe it, HE WAS STILL RAW! So I stripped the meat off the bones and into the crockpot it goes, with BBQ sauce for another 3 hours. Finally, he's cooked and I'm tired.....

But I have to make sure the oven isn't dying,so I baked a cake, which turned out perfect.

Vegetarianism is so much easier. I could have made eggplant parmesan and been done a whole lot sooner!!

[pamsabear]

The instructions that come with turkeys always say to defrost in the fridge, but it takes, at least, five days. I always defrost mine at room temperature. If you cook it until the temperature reaches 165F in the thickest part of the thigh you will be safe. Every kitchen should have a meat thermometer.

I broke my turkey down into pieces so it only took 1 1/2 hours. Instead of a rack I used celery and carrot sticks. Turned out pretty well.

Pam

[Aamylf]

DH, who doesn't cook much but man food, offered to pick up the bird because I had to work a lot last week, so off he goes and comes home with at 28 pound bird for 5 of us. He bought it on Monday and it was frozen. Said 5-7 days in fridge...into the kitchen sink it went with cold water, just as my mom had done forever to no one's demise. It thawed in 24 hours. Got up at 4 a.m. and popped it in the 325 oven...after removing one rack. It said to cook it for 5 hours. At 11, we pulled it out of the oven, let it sit for about 30 minutes while we put last minute things into the now-empty oven. It was the second best turkey I ever had. Best was one we smoked one year. Tender, but fairly dry (we are not a "moist" family).

So sorry you had a bad one, but glad you figured out what to do to make it right.

Vegetarianism...we had a tofurkey one year and decided if that was healthy, it was okay, we'd all die a little younger...

[momma_to_seven_chi]

I put a 25lb turkey in the oven Tues night around five. It cooked until nine the next morning at 250. It was good. We ate it all day Wed, then Thurs night leftovers and some yesterday. I just froze the rest this morning. On Thurs, we were out of town for lunch, so we didn't eat the turkey then.

[backlash]

The turkey came out perfect as always.
Cooked all the way, moist, and golden brown.
Then about an hour after dinner I started to get stomach cramps and spent a good amount of time in the bathroom.
The my wife did the same and shortly after my brother's turn.
My brother and I got over it in a few hours.
Thank you Pepto Bismol.
Took my wife to the ER yesterday and they kept her last night.
The doc suspects food poisoning.
My wife suspects the dressing didn't get cooked long enough.
All the leftovers will go into the trash and next week we will cook another perfect turkey. No dressing.
This is the first time in a long time that we didn't have a big get together and now I'm glad.

[Rickhead]

Smoked a 33 pounder weds. Pm. Ran 4 batches of coals, with 4 fresh bowls of water. Added wet apple branches twice per batch. Next time i will split it in half for more smoke penetration. Canned the whole thing. Mostly.
Brother put garlic and sprigs of parsley sage rosemary and thyme. And no, he aint a hippie. Lmao. It was fantastic. 525 for the first 1/2 hour, then tinfoiled @ 325 for like 3 more.
Never even had room for pie.
Bummer.

[SKB]

I like the idea of using celery and carrot sticks for an alternate rack. I used to have the equipment (roasting pan, baster) but got rid of it all when I became single. A real turkey tastes so much better than those little turkey rolls. I have been eating the BBQ turkey from the crockpot and it's been really good. I will try another 12 pounder but leave it to defrost in the fridge for a lot longer next time.

I remember that a coworker once got very sick from eating stuffing from a turkey that had not been properly packaged for the return trip home. She said she and her companions wanted to die because they were so sick. And stuck in traffic on top of it all!

[cuppajoe]

Turned out great....Reynolds wrap tent like mom used. Elevated the bird on a rack in the bottom of the roaster. I stuff the carcass with apples halved to keep in moisture, then the last hour I turn up the heat to give the brown color. Works well.........

[Pigzzilla]

I had a big ham and a 16 pound bird. For the turkey, I salt and pepper inside then put in a small quartered apple and onion, then a few sage leaves, a bit of fresh thyme and rosemary. I rubbed the outside with a bit of butter then salt and pepper. Put the bird on a 'rack' of carrots, celery and onion. Into the oven at 500' for 30 minutes uncovered, then I add about a quart of turkey broth and cover the breast with a triangle of foil and lower the oven to 350' and go about 2 1/2 hours til the thermometer in the breast reads 160'. The last 15 minutes, I removed the foil from the breast so it could get a bit browner. Then I pulled the turkey out of the oven and let it rest with a foil tent over the whole thing for about 15-20 minutes. The whole bird was perfect, breast done but very moist, thigh meat nice and tender. I've been using this method about 5 years and it's perfect every time.

My weird BIL who does not usually eat turkey, had three helpings!

I use a digital thermometer that the probe goes in the bird and a wire comes out of the oven to connect to the reader.

This year I did not set off the smoke alarm! I turned on the house fan and opened the back door at about the 20 minute mark when the oven was at 500' Even though it was snowing outside! It's a little embarrassing having the smoke alarm screeching away when cooking and a house full of people!

[bookwormom]

just awful. we have had pretty bad luck with poultry this last year. Our tom was not worth beans, so we got no new poults, and the ones DH bought did not thrive, I have no idea why not. anyway, we bought a bird. Long time since I did that. the meat tastes sweet. what in blazes are they injecting in those birds? sugar water? anyone else notice? or are you used to it and you do n ot notice anything amiss.

[BonnyLake]

This year it seemed that most of the food I made stepped into the twilight zone.

I always make homemade dinner rolls the day before - I had my dough rising on the back of the stove and it "caught" a wild yeast! The weather here had been ice and snow and on that day we had no humidity so the air was different - thus, the wild yeast invaded my dough and made it dense and sour. I couldn't have done that if I tried.

My bag of red potatoes were on the porch under cover; on turkey day when I brought them in I didn't check them, a couple hours later half of them had dissolved into a liquid mess which smelled like sour mash - I guess they froze out on the porch and thawed inside so we had to have instant mashed potatoes for dinner (thanks to my preps!).

The fresh yams wouldn't get done after two hours in the oven so I had to use the microwave to finish them off which took about 15 minutes, and they still tasted a little grainy.

I made a strawberry glazed cheesecake and put it in the frig - I also must have put something too hot in there with it because when I took it out the topping all ran down the counter because it had melted and not re-congealed during the night.

BUT - The 18lb turkey was perfect!!!:girl_wacko: Go figure...

...
The new and improved turkeys are different because of product liability and breeding. They take forever to defrost because they are instantly frozen with amonia gases - they are bred to have ginormous breasts so cooking temps in the stuffing are never hot enough which equals "sick"! - they do taste sweeter because they are injected with unidentifiable liquids before freezing... having a fresh bird would be perfect, but at $4-5+ dollars a pound I'd rather eat prime-rib!!

Now - on to Christmas dinner folks!!

[sbemt456]

We had our turkey and ham today and the both were great. The turkey gets thawed in water in the sink, rinsed well, patted dry with paper towels and slathered with butter, sprinkled with salt and pepper and put in the oven. I dont cover the bird to start with, and start out at 450 for about 30 to 45 minutes to get the skin starting to brown. Then turn the oven to 350 cover the bird and roast till the breast temp is 162 or so on the thermometer. After removing from the oven the residual heat will continue to cook the bird to 165 degrees. Test again before slicing. Perfect bird and never dry. The stuffing is always done in a seperate pan.


Have a great day!

stella

[backlash]

I have to apologize to my wife even though she has no idea I posted about her poisoning us.
She didn't give us food poisoning.
She spent 2 days in the hospital due to the antibiotics her doc had her on.
It wiped out the good bacteria in her digestive track and she developed C. Diff.
So Thanksgiving dinner was great us usual.

[Moody Vaden]

Tuesday morning was chop chop and then into the brine of sea salt, brown sugar vegetable stock and spices. 33 lbs cooked at 325f for about 8 hrs.

I like the idea of the celery/carrot/onion rack. Will do that next time.

[skipm]

I cooked a turkey breast the same way I usually do, in the crock pot. It doesn't have that golden brown appearance but since taste and texture is more important to me this is my preferred method. Tender and extremely juicy every time and all I do is season the thawed breast, put it in the crock pot and forgot about it until done. If serving a group this would probably be best carved in the kitchen and have a platter of turkey brought to the table. This also makes for some of the best turkey sandwiches because it is so moist.

[CapeCMom]

I always put the turkey right in the pan-no rack. I then add broth to the bottom of the pan and then cover the turkey securely with tin foil. This help to steam the turkey. It literally falls apart and the stuffing is done thoroughly( in the bird). During the last hour or so I take the foil off and finish browning the bird. Then I brush with maple syrup for a little added flavor and to make the skin nice and shiny. It literally fell apart when I took it out of the pan.

[kajungoosehunter]

We always fry a turkey and bake a turkey. Both are injected before we cook them and they are good, but I want to try something new.

I have 15 male turkeys (all jakes I raised from this year) and I am going to try a recipe I heard about in the duck blind this past Thursday. Sounded good when I heard about it. :wink: I need to get rid of a few of these birds as they are not all breeders and they are eating me out of house and home.

Turkey fajitas. Check out how easy this is..

Filet the breast from the bird and thin slice. Marinade overnight using Cajun Injector brand. (cajun butter) Place on hot grill to dry it up. Once it's taken off the grill, pour some fajita seasoning on the meat and let it absorb the seasonings. Fiesta brand from Academy sports was suggested.
While this is resting and absorbing the seasonings, heat your tortillas and grill the onions. Get your salsa ready and cut the turkey into strips...

I'll let you know how the fajitas come out. Looks like we will cook a few birds for New Years. One will be baked and I will go with what CapeCmom said about brushing the maple syrup on the bird once it has been browned....man, that sounds good!

[BonnyLake]

I'm sure we all remember a few of the turkey dinners that weren't quite what we expected, and we probably remember the one or two that were really bad - but I know that we will always remember the first turkey dinner that turned out perfect!

My 22 year old DIL made her perfect turkey and trimmings dinner for her family for Christmas today! She's had a few "dry runs" literally, to see what she needs to know... but when it came to the big one for today she sent me a text and asked for a few pointers - I was so blessed to be asked for her help! So I gave her a few time honored tips (many of the same tips you all have shared here) and she presented my son and her whole family with awe-some-ness (according to my son). He said pefect stuffing, perfect gravy and as they walked around later on during the day, they were picking the bones clean long after dinner was over.

I am so proud of her for giving this a big chance, and so is he and so is her family. Her kin really aren't the big cooking types so her learning these skills has made quite the impact. I have typed out most of my son's favorite recipes and put them into a binder for her and he says they have a couple of meals a week where everything comes from the pantry and is made from scratch!

I'm so proud of her for wanting to learn and for him coaching her and encouraging her every step of the way (and he rarely says "well, how does my mom do hers", anymore)~!

So on her behalf - thanks for asking, the turkey was perfect! :D

[wittey]

I put mine in a cooler 3 days before. seems to thaw right and not to warm. Cooked it breast down in stages, 400 for 30 minutes then 350 for about 2 hrs and then 225 for about an hour. It was a 22lb and turned out real moist.

[Grendal]

The bird I made was so juicy that I jabbed it in the theigh to take it's temp, and well I struck oil. It erupted out burned the back of my hand. A 3 and half inch golden oil well from my turkey that lasted 30 seconds.

I rubbed the 14 pound bird down with olive oil and gave him a sprinkling of poultry seasoning. I added whole black peppercorns, 3 sprigs of thyme and 3 branches of rosemary in the cavity. For extra flavor and to keep the bird moist...I injected him with turkey broth. I folded the wings under him, trussed the legs over the cavity to seal in the flavorings. I got a pan of some sort with a bunch of holes in it, that I put over my roasting pan, that I've filled with some water. This way I can grill it in the oven without all that smoke backing into my kitchen and setting off the smoke detectors.

I got this theory when I bought a smokeless stove top grill off ebay. The fat drips off the bird this will fall into the water and sit there...where as if there's no water in the bottom of the pan it'll hit the hot metal burn and smoke. My oven's not vented outside (like I hired the guy to do) so that smoke backs up into the kitchen and with my asthma thats a no no.

For me the bird always comes out moist, tender, juicy, and very flavorful. I don't put stuffing in the cavity of the bird, my experiance it seems to draw moisture out of the bird.

[CountryBertha]

I remove the neck and bag of giblets from the turkey (sometimes that's hard on a frozen turkey), and put the frozen turkey in a big roasting pan, put it in the oven on 250 and cook it all night. I generally put it in the oven before I go to bed. I also put in some water so I'll get enough juice for dressing. Use a lid on the roasting pan.

If we are doing a thawed turkey, it is soaked in salt water overnight, the next morning pour off the salt water and rinse the bird. Then put it in the roasting pan, put on the lid, and roast the bird in the oven using the time and temp recommended on the bag that held the turkey.

I also like to keep several turkeys in the freezer, quartered or halved. That turkey meat is what I use spiced up in rice dishes, soups, pot pies or whatever else I can think to use turkey meat in. This bunch also likes the turkey meat smeared with soy sauce, garlic and ginger and baked in the oven til done, and eaten with rice and green beans. This bunch also likes turkey bone soup.

Turkey is a real bargain around holidays so we do stock up around here. The toms are always the cheapest (35 cents a pound) and they are huge. They are also the toughest which is why I cook them the way I do to get them juicy and tender. The toms don't have any of the bells and whistles except the giblets and neck -- no little pop out things that tell you when it's done, or butter injected under the skin. It's just a big nice bird. Four to six big turkeys a year, in the freezer is plenty for this bunch and actually six of them are a little too much unless company is coming. Four is about right.

I haven't canned turkey but will likely do some turkey canning this year. Canning meat is something I've stayed away from but now other canning people are telling me they are getting good results for canning all kinds of meat and fish now so I'm going to start canning meat again. I only do cooked meat and fish for canning and it's pressure canned. For several years we just weren't getting good lid seals for the jars but now that seems to be resolved.