Thanksgiving Turkey Processing

[chicken pickin]

I interact with mine everyday also. And they are so easy to love. I just kept reminding myself that if I dont process my own when I buy from the store that turkey or chicken died by the hands of someone also only difference is I know mine were raised the way I wanted happy and healthy feed what I wanted them to eat and they were loved and free ranged and interacted with other animals and lots of people. So that makes me feel better

. As for after processing I let my chickens and turkeys rest in the refridgerator for 3-4 days before transfering to the freezer. And when its time to eat i let it thaw for a few days in the refridgerator. For chickens on the day of cooking I brine for a few hours(mayeb 5-6) in a water bath with salt and a little sugar. I take out of the brine an hour before cooking rinse well and pat dry then put back in the fridge uncovered for an hour so the skin can dry so during cooking it can crisp up better. For the turkeys I think I will Brine the same way but do it longer maybe 12hrs for the smaller turkeys and longer for the bigger ones.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I interact with mine everyday also. And they are so easy to love. I just kept reminding myself that if I dont process my own when I buy from the store that turkey or chicken died by the hands of someone also only difference is I know mine were raised the way I wanted happy and healthy feed what I wanted them to eat and they were loved and free ranged and interacted with other animals and lots of people. So that makes me feel better . As for after processing I let my chickens and turkeys rest in the refridgerator for 3-4 days before transfering to the freezer. And when its time to eat i let it thaw for a few days in the refridgerator. For chickens on the day of cooking I brine for a few hours(mayeb 5-6) in a water bath with salt and a little sugar. I take out of the brine an hour before cooking rinse well and pat dry then put back in the fridge uncovered for an hour so the skin can dry so during cooking it can crisp up better. For the turkeys I think I will Brine the same way but do it longer maybe 12hrs for the smaller turkeys and longer for the bigger ones.

You are absolutely right and it took me a LONG time to think the way that you do. We know what we're getting when we process our own animals. We DON'T know what we are getting in the store. The only thing that I cannot do is "The Deed". My cousins always come over to do "The Deed". I go in the house until that is done. Then I come out and help to pluck feathers.

The other day one of my guineas has an unfortunate accident. He got stuck in the fence and died during the day. I came home from work and found him and decided to process him. It wasn't bad at all. I guess because he was already dead.

Thanks for the info as far as what to do with chickens and turkeys. So, it sounds like I should process my turkey about 5 days in advance, which would be on the weekend being as though Thanksgiving is on Thursday.

I'm looking forward to everything.

 

[LadyinRed]

I processed my first tom turkey last year, he was a broad brested bronze that I had bought in april and did not do the deed until December. His dressed weight was 39 pounds. He was so large he would not fit in the oven without cutting him in half (breast half/leg half) We brined him for about 4-5 days in the refridgerator then cooked him. He was the most tender breasted turkey I have EVER eaten. When I sliced into him liquid litterally poured out. that was the best turkey ive ever eaten in my life.

I went with the lightly brown the skin first then cover with foil and cook method.

 

[debir1966]

We have 5 BBW that were hatched June 27th. We are hoping that one of them will be big enough before T-day to process, I am hoping for at least 20+ pounds.

They are 12 weeks old today (the 19th), and will be 20ish weeks old when we are ready to butcher before Thanksgiving (depending on which day we do it).

They seem pretty small still LOL, though they are huge compaired to their hatch-date chicken-mates! We have 2 bigger ones, 1 medium and 2 smaller ones.

Here is a pic when they were 8 1/2 weeks old - I don't have any more recent.


Next year I have to decide if I am going to raise another group of BBW and/or get some heritage turkeys to breed my own. If I do the BBW's again, I want to get them earlier than the end of June (probably in March or April) so that they will be ready to process earlier in the year instead of us left hoping one will be big enough LOL.

 

[chicken pickin]

We have 5 BBW that were hatched June 27th. We are hoping that one of them will be big enough before T-day to process, I am hoping for at least 20+ pounds.

They are 12 weeks old today (the 19th), and will be 20ish weeks old when we are ready to butcher before Thanksgiving (depending on which day we do it).

They seem pretty small still LOL, though they are huge compaired to their hatch-date chicken-mates! We have 2 bigger ones, 1 medium and 2 smaller ones.

Here is a pic when they were 8 1/2 weeks old - I don't have any more recent.


Next year I have to decide if I am going to raise another group of BBW and/or get some heritage turkeys to breed my own. If I do the BBW's again, I want to get them earlier than the end of June (probably in March or April) so that they will be ready to process earlier in the year instead of us left hoping one will be big enough LOL.

Between 12 and 20 weeks they will grow alot. I just processed mine at 20weeks old and the tom was 27lbs and the hen was 17lbs.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I processed my first tom turkey last year, he was a broad brested bronze that I had bought in april and did not do the deed until December. His dressed weight was 39 pounds. He was so large he would not fit in the oven without cutting him in half (breast half/leg half) We brined him for about 4-5 days in the refridgerator then cooked him. He was the most tender breasted turkey I have EVER eaten. When I sliced into him liquid litterally poured out. that was the best turkey ive ever eaten in my life.

I went with the lightly brown the skin first then cover with foil and cook method.

 

39 lbs?????????? WOW!!!!!!!

Sounds delicious!!!!!!

I hope mine will be as tasty as yours sounds.

Thanks for sharing your story.

 

[kuntrygirl]

We have 5 BBW that were hatched June 27th.  We are hoping that one of them will be big enough before T-day to process, I am hoping for at least 20+ pounds. 

They are 12 weeks old today (the 19th), and will be 20ish weeks old when we are ready to butcher before Thanksgiving (depending on which day we do it).

They seem pretty small still LOL, though they are huge compaired to their hatch-date chicken-mates!  We have 2 bigger ones, 1 medium and 2 smaller ones.

Here is a pic when they were 8 1/2 weeks old - I don't have any more recent.


Next year I have to decide if I am going to raise another group of BBW and/or get some heritage turkeys to breed my own.  If I do the BBW's again, I want to get them earlier than the end of June (probably in March or April) so that they will be ready to process earlier in the year instead of us left hoping one will be big enough LOL.

Looking good.

 

[mstricer]

We will be processing our White Heritage. We have 3. 2 toms and a hen. I saw on the Beckman Boys, they gave their turkey vodka before the deed, calmed it down and it was relaxed, I think that's what we will do. Here's a pic of them...

 

[kuntrygirl]

We will be processing our White Heritage. We have 3. 2 toms and a hen. I saw on the Beckman Boys, they gave their turkey vodka before the deed, calmed it down and it was relaxed, I think that's what we will do. Here's a pic of them...

Beautiful birds AND puppy!

 

[kuntrygirl]

I hope that everyone can take a pic of their cooked turkey and post when the time comes. I'm excited to see everyone's cooked bird.