51lb Tom and 30 lb hen I'm thrilled! (Processing Photos in the thread)

[claud]

Wow. I didn't even know turkeys got that big!

 

[card5640]

Kees, All BYCers are welcome to come eat, I'm sure I'll have plenty....hehe, at least come over for leftovers! I have the cranberry sauce made and a cherry pie and tollhouse pie in the oven now. Chocolate cream is cooling. 4 Loaves of date nut bread cooling. Its gonna be a great day!

 

[MissPrissy]

Beautiful job! We had 5 last year over 70 lbs. Are you brining in sugar and salt? Or was that just the tub holding them after cleaning?

I set my turkey to brine this morning. It will sit in a mix of sugar and salt water packed in ice until cooking time.

Here is last years turkey and my 3 yr old.

It took 12 - 14 hours to roast this bird.

 

[card5640]

Beautiful picture. How much did they weigh before they were dressed out. I was surprised at how much they lost in the processing the Tom lost 17 lbs. I am brining in salt, br sugar and vinegar in that bin w/ ice till cooking time. I'll put it in at midnight or so for a 1:00 meal.

 

[the simple life]

That is impressive!
I just picked up my turkey tonight and I had told the guy who raised them that I wanted the biggest one he got when he processed them.
He told me that last year his customers were not happy that the turkeys were so large, they were expecting turkeys to be in the 20-25 lb range and they were all much bigger and they didn't want a 50 lb turkey so he said he started them later this year on purpose so he wouldn't run into the same problem.
Just my luck, I would have taken that ol 50 lb turkey.

He still had one for me tonight that was a little over 27 lbs, so it will do.
I ordered two more from another guy so that I could have some in the freezer but I won't know until tomorrow how big they dressed out at.
This year is our first year with home grown turkeys for the holidays.

I can't believe those turkeys were hatched in July, thats pretty amazing. Congratulations.
You will have lots of turkey, stuffing and cranberry sandwiches for leftovers. mmm mmm

 

[MissPrissy]

This turkey was 70lb dressed. We did not weigh them before processing. I hatched my turkeys this spring. It is a cross of standard bronze and BB bronze for our turkey this year. A nice big breast and better legs to carry them.

I had to make the pan and the turkey almost touch the top broiler of the oven fromt he bottom rack.

These are my breeding toms.

 

[EweSheep]

Holy Moses! I never saw that bird THAT big!

I am surprised they are not that old either. It would feed what? 20 people?

 

[MissPrissy]

They were 28 - 30 weeks when we processed them. Some went all the way to the week before Christmas and were the most tender and succulent meat ever.

 

[the simple life]

Good looking boys.
I am debating on brining mine, I have never brined before but I have always had the store bought ones that were injected with garbage.
I wish I had two right now so I could brine one and not the other and see which way tastes better.
Does brining tenderize the meat or flavor it, or both?
I am thinking it would be worth a try.

 

[MissPrissy]

It helps to tenderize and also helps the meat to retain juices and not be dry due to long cooking times.

I use raw sugar so the molasses does lend a flavor.