Pastor Rick
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Turkey
I hope I do this right (I have mentioned that I do not cook haven't I?). Anyway, I told the church I would cook a turkey for this Sunday and had no idea it took so long to prepare... One thing I have figured out though is that Turkey is definitely not picnic food.
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11/19/10, 10:24 pm
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Pastor Rick
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Re: Turkey
So I figured I would share my experience on cooking my very first turkey which was nerve wracking but actually funny (looking back on it).
First I figured I could wait till Friday after work to get the turkey. I figured this would give me Friday night plus all day Saturday to get it ready. Steaks take less than an hour to cook so what could go wrong? So Friday I walk into WalMart and start looking around looking for a turkey. I figured the meat counter was the place to go and sure enough they had turkey breast in every size you could ask for but no "complete turkey." The man behind the counter asked me what flavor I was looking for and I told him "turkey flavored" which turned out not to be one of the flavors on the list! Uh? How can they not have a turkey flavored turkey?
I decide the meat counter is not the right place so I start going down the meat isle... hamburger, steaks, hams, pork chops, lamb chops, liver, baloney, cheese... cheese? What does that have to do with meat and where is the turkey? Aha, center isle freezers Finally, I think as I start looking... Cajun turkey, young turkey, butterball turkey, BBQ turkey, honey smoked and fruity turkey... fruity turkey? Why all the different kinds when all I am looking for is a regular old turkey? I finally figure out that a "young turkey" is what I am looking for and grab a 15 pound (6.8 kg) bird. I am in luck, the turkey is on sale at only $4.00 and is on my "triple rewards" list with my credit card (I almost never carry cash). So feeling rather pleased at deciphering the art of grocery shopping I pay for my bird and head on home. The rest should be a "piece of cake."
Last edited by Pastor Rick, 11/22/10, 10:23 am
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11/21/10, 10:11 pm
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Pastor Rick
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Re: Turkey
Somebody mentioned that I needed to thaw my turkey before I cooked it so I left the bird in the refrigerator until Saturday, then around 7:00 PM or so I decided to start in on the cooking. A website said to cook for an hour and a half at 350 degrees (177 degrees Celsius) so I pre-heated the oven then pulled out the bird. Panic, the bird is hard as a rock! Why didn't it thaw? What am I going to do? I look at the bag the bird is in and it says thawing takes over 3 days! Okay, first things first, I have to get the bird unwrapped and the bag is held closed by this metal clamp... off to my tool box for some pliers (no one told me pliers should be considered a kitchen utensil)... I wrestled with that clamp for about 5 minutes before I finally got it loose enough that I could use a steak knife to cut it off and then peeled the bag off my frozen turkey. Back to the internet... what do you do with a frozen turkey!!!
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11/22/10, 10:40 am
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Queenyforever
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Re: Turkey
YEAH....I start thawing my Thursday turkey in the fridge, on Saturday....before.
I guess you figured it out, as I read at Queeny's in the what made me smile, that it turned out perfectly!
---
“Freedom and democracy are dreams you never give up.”
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11/22/10, 11:10 am
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Susa
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Re: Turkey
And? This sounds like a very good beginning to a great story.
By the way. I keep needle nose pliers on the kitchen counter at all time.
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11/22/10, 11:16 am
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Pastor Rick
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Re: Turkey
Well, when I got the bird unwrapped I went back and looked at the website and it told me to put the bird in a turkey-bag (which I didn't have because I didn't know there was such a thing) or line a shallow pan with tinfoil and put the bird on it, then cover it with a "foil tent." Okie Dokie I say to myself and start looking around the kitchen for a "shallow pan," but the only thing I can find is this large roasting pan so I take that, wrap it up in tinfoil and put the bird in it. Then I see this plastic bag stuffed into the turkey and think to myself that this shouldn't be there so I try and pull it out. It won't budge, not even a little bit so I figure I'll let it stay for an hour or so then take the bird out of the oven and remove it then. Then I see the legs are held together by this iron wire and try to take it off. Of course it refuses to budge, even when I use the pliers to tug at it for almost 10 minutes so I finally give up on that as well and go back to the web-site for the next step. There it tells me not to remove that wire so I feel better
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11/23/10, 11:41 pm
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Susa
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Re: Turkey
I am loving it! So did you get that little bag out? In my formative years, I cooked the bag in the turkey once. It didn't harm the turkey.
You might still want to buy those turkey bags! I use one to cover my desktop keyboard so that when I slop coffee it doesn't get in the keys.
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11/24/10, 8:23 am
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Susa
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Re: Turkey
LOL . . . I always took off the metal thing, too.
Edited because I misspelled off.
Last edited by Susa, 11/25/10, 5:12 pm
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11/24/10, 1:04 pm
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Pastor Rick
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Re: Turkey
So now what? There doesn't look like there is any juice to baste the turkey with and the internet is not being very helpful with that for cooking a frozen turkey. Hmmm... I have some beef bullion cubes and some extra "Ramen Noodle flavor packets" but they are chicken flavored. I decide to err on the side of caution and make one glass of water flavored with a single bullion cube and one of those packets which I pour over the bird before putting the foil tent on the bird and put it in the oven and set my timer so I won't forget. The plastic bag in the turkey has me worried though. I hope it doesn't melt or something while the bird is defrosting. The timing is bad... I am in the middle of doing the BotW winners when it goes off so instead of 1-1/2 hours the bird gets an extra 10 minutes while I finish up that chore.
I unwrap the tent and the bird still has ice in the cavity holding on to that plastic bag. It takes me 5 minutes to wrestle it out and it says it is a "turkey gravy" packet. Weird I am thinking, but I use the giant eyedropper thing my wife has to suck up some juice and baste the bird, turn the oven down to 225 degrees (107 degrees Celsius) put the tent back on and return the bird to the oven.
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11/25/10, 11:16 am
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