Cooking Turkey for Thanksgiving?

[OldMcAndy]

Hi, all!

My wife and I are new to farming, but we can't wait for Thanksgiving! We have a big ol' bronze breasted turkey ready for the main course.

How should we cook him for Thanksgiving? Fry him? Bake him? How long should we cook him for?

Any advice possible would be great!!!

-Andy

 

[KrisH]

Hi, all!

My wife and I are new to farming, but we can't wait for Thanksgiving! We have a big ol' bronze breasted turkey ready for the main course.

How should we cook him for Thanksgiving? Fry him? Bake him? How long should we cook him for?

Any advice possible would be great!!!

-Andy

how big?

We bought the Char Broil Oil-LESS Infra-red turkey fryer. LOVE IT!!! Highly recomend it, it says a 16#, but cooks 20# store bought just fine.
skin is crispy all the way around, and takes about 10 minutes per pound. yes, 10 minutes per pound. makes the BEST beef and pork roasts too (30 Minutes / pound). and add a shelf for great baked potatos too.

http://www.charbroil.com/the-big-easyr-infrared-turkey-fryer.html

just a satisfied user, but at least 9 friends have bought them after visiting and tasting the results.

RobertH

 

[emptynesterMom]

Hi, all!

My wife and I are new to farming, but we can't wait for Thanksgiving! We have a big ol' bronze breasted turkey ready for the main course.

How should we cook him for Thanksgiving? Fry him? Bake him? How long should we cook him for?

Any advice possible would be great!!!

-Andy

Hello Andy,
I processed my first turkey last year and would be happy to share what my husband and I did. My birds free range in wooded areas and pasture and free feed a mixed flock commercial feed. I give BOSS as a treat once a day for the last few weeks before processing. We processed on the Saturday before Thanksgiving so the meat had time to rest (it will be tough if you don't give it time for all the chemical changes to take place in the meat). We brined the bird for 24 hours before cooking. I made an old fashioned giblet stuffing and put fresh herbs under the skin then slow roasted. It was the best turkey we ever ate. Yummy! I sold one of my birds to a foodie friend and he has already placed his order for this year. Hope this is helpful. Good luck.

Cheryl

 

[Oregon Blues]

You know to butcher 3-7 days before thanksgiving to let the bird rest, right?

How do you usually cook a turkey?

I usually put the turkey on the barbecue grill with the heat down low, indirect heat. The bird is wrapped in foil and set into one of those disposable aluminum turkey roasting pans. When the meat is done, the turkey is unwrapped and some apple wood is put onto the fire for smoke and the bird gets smoked until it is gorgeous brown.

The disposable pan makes the bird easy to get off the grill and it also catches all the drippings to make gravy.

 

[Celie]

Hello Andy,
I processed my first turkey last year and would be happy to share what my husband and I did. My birds free range in wooded areas and pasture and free feed a mixed flock commercial feed. I give BOSS as a treat once a day for the last few weeks before processing. We processed on the Saturday before Thanksgiving so the meat had time to rest (it will be tough if you don't give it time for all the chemical changes to take place in the meat). We brined the bird for 24 hours before cooking. I made an old fashioned giblet stuffing and put fresh herbs under the skin then slow roasted. It was the best turkey we ever ate. Yummy! I sold one of my birds to a foodie friend and he has already placed his order for this year. Hope this is helpful. Good luck.

Cheryl

Hi,
I keep hearing the term" BOSS" in this site. Can anyone tell me what it is and is it a "finisher for" Thanksgiving Turkeys and what does it do?

 

[emptynesterMom]

Hi,
I keep hearing the term" BOSS" in this site. Can anyone tell me what it is and is it a "finisher for" Thanksgiving Turkeys and what does it do?

Hello, BOSS is black oil sunflower seeds. It is high calorie and IMO helps fatten up meat birds before slaughter. I have to confess though, I just stumbled onto using it when my turks were heading for my neighbors place and I needed them to come home. They quickly learned to come to calls of chick, chick, chick. (I think they would run me down for a treat of BOSS.) When I processed those birds they had a layer of fat that I had never seen in commercial birds, sooo, I'm continuing with a process that worked for me.
Thanks,
Cheryl

 

[emptynesterMom]

Mmmm, this sounds yummy! I'll have to give this a try also.
Thanks,
Cheryl

 

[emptynesterMom]

You know to butcher 3-7 days before thanksgiving to let the bird rest, right?

How do you usually cook a turkey?

I usually put the turkey on the barbecue grill with the heat down low, indirect heat. The bird is wrapped in foil and set into one of those disposable aluminum turkey roasting pans. When the meat is done, the turkey is unwrapped and some apple wood is put onto the fire for smoke and the bird gets smoked until it is gorgeous brown.

The disposable pan makes the bird easy to get off the grill and it also catches all the drippings to make gravy.

Mmmmm, This sounds yummy. I'll have to give this a try too.
Thanks,
Cheryl

 

[OldMcAndy]

Thanks for the replies, guys! I don't have an exact weight on the turkey, but I've attached some images of the turkey. Just took the pictures 5 minutes ago. How big do you think it is? Is it a male or a female? If we fry him, how long in the fryer? Any other advice? Thanks guys!

 

[Celie]

Hello, BOSS is black oil sunflower seeds. It is high calorie and IMO helps fatten up meat birds before slaughter. I have to confess though, I just stumbled onto using it when my turks were heading for my neighbors place and I needed them to come home. They quickly learned to come to calls of chick, chick, chick. (I think they would run me down for a treat of BOSS.) When I processed those birds they had a layer of fat that I had never seen in commercial birds, sooo, I'm continuing with a process that worked for me.
Thanks,
Cheryl

Thank you sooooo much for clearing that up for me! I have 6 Holland whites, I am trying to fatten up for the freezer, I will start giving BOSS to them tomorrow. Would I find it in the Wild bird feed section at Wal-mart or my local feed store? I think I will BBQ one and bring it to my brother's house for Thanksgiving!