An unexpected turkey dinner...

[pookiegoldman]

This morning I did something I didn't plan on doing today. I went out to feed the animals, and my youngest turkey, Ronnie who was 7 months old was lying down letting the hens peck him on the bottom. On closer inspection, I saw that he had at least an 1 1/2" hole pecked out of his vent area. He didn't even try to run from me. My chickens were full of blood, the whole situation just disgusted me. I know that a hole that size would have taken a lot to get better if ever, and I was worried about the turkey getting septic, so we went ahead and butchered him. He wasn't even one of the turkeys we had reserved for Thanksgiving OR Christmas

After we killed him, we scaled him in the 80quart crab boiling pot and plucked him. He dressed out very nicely at 15 1/2 pounds and looks very much "store bought". This would be my first home-raised turkey and I'm not quite sure what to do now. I've read a bunch about ageing, but HOW? He's chillin' in the fridge right now wrapped in plastic... I will be brining him in water, salt, sugar and spices for a day or so, but what do I do NOW?
Keep him the fridge in a bag?
Put him in a pan of water?
I can't assume dry, right??

How do you guys keep them till rigor mortis passes?

Oh, and sidenote, I went ahead and butchered my 5 extra roosters right along with Ronnie... I figured the water was already on...so bad day for the animals at Sally Pat Farms

 

[PatS]

I aged mine in plastic in the fridge for several days, then brined overnight and cooked. Good eatin'!

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

We age our whole birds in the fridge in a big roaster pan with the lid on for 3 or 4 days.

Steve

 

[ddzFunnyfarm]

Quote:
Uh-oh! We're really new to this turkey raising and hadn't heard about aging them.... we butchered in the morning and roasted one that night, freezing the other two in plastic wrap and then butcher paper. Can someone explain a bit further about aging and the rigor mortise factor, please? I hope we haven't ruined our investments, uh, I mean birds.

 

[terri9630]

Quote:
Uh-oh! We're really new to this turkey raising and hadn't heard about aging them.... we butchered in the morning and roasted one that night, freezing the other two in plastic wrap and then butcher paper. Can someone explain a bit further about aging and the rigor mortise factor, please? I hope we haven't ruined our investments, uh, I mean birds.

You can age them after they thaw. Aging is to let the muscles relax after rigor so the meat isn't tough.

 

[pdpatch]

Resting and aging are two different things but are usually combined, resting lets the rigor leave the muscles tissue at a minimum 4 hours is needed for most of the rigor to leave but 24 hours is better.

Further the aging process allows the tissue to start to break down to be more tender, that is the long chains of molecules that make up the muscles start to uncoil. In a commercial environment they inject a solution to speed things up, this solution usually is a brine solution with flavoring. With poultry they should be kept at below 34 degrees while resting/aging as recommended by the FDA but most refrigerator only go down to about 37 degrees so this is what most of use.

You could also use an ice water bath but you must change the water frequently to prevent bacteria from growing. Personally we never use the ice water method more the 48 hours, because it's a pain to keep changing the water.

Some people use a brine solution while resting, originally this was used to extent the time the meat could be kept, since in those time no on had refrigerators. Personally brining usually adds to much salt for me. If you are going to Smoke the meat, or not you can also use the resting time to marinate the meat.

Tom

 

[ddzFunnyfarm]

Thank you so much *pdpatch*....
Actually, thank you to ALL the turkey posters, as I think I've read every single post about turkey butchering, aging/resting, marinating/brining, etc., and I am amazed at your combined knowledge and experience! I apologize for being sooooo long in replying. I guess I've been what all y'all call a "lurker" but really I'm so busy spending the little bit of time I can carve out for BYC with researching, that I'd call me "a LEARNER!"

Finally, here's my update: After messing up turkey #1 by roasting 14-pound "Manny" just hours after butchering = tough and stringy but with good flavor, we were a terrific success with our 2nd (and largest, by far!) bird. Our BBB "Turkey-Lurky" dressed out at, ah-hem, 34.5 pounds. Yeah, I know, he went a little long.

Tight fit in the oven! We were confident though, using all the wonderful turkey threads, to marinate him in a super-flavorful dark ale, citrus and herbs mixture. The reward? The most succulent Thanksgiving turkey we've ever tasted. Seriously incredible! Again, thank you all for sharing your tips and tricks.

We smoked turkey #3 in Dec, which was beyond yummy! Again, your encouragement through posting your experiences inspired us. Our Royal Palm-X, "Turkey-Jerky" was a petite 17.5 pounder.

He smoked up tasty and juicy, with a dry rub we put under the skin. mmm-mmm-good!

I promise to get better at posting and letting you know who WE are, since I feel like I've already gotten to know so much about YOU!

Dee

*****
Devoted wife to the most patient coop-n-run builder on Earth, mom to 4 and their spouses, g-ma to 3+1 on the way

....I'm graciously allowed by the FunnyFarm inmates to serve them: Ruby the Lab/Pit galoot who thinks she's a lapdog, Smalls the slinky black feline who thinks she's God's gift to Ruby, 14 Jumbo CornishXs we're sending to Camp Freeze-em-up on April 1 (funny timing, eh?!!), Bruuuce the Ameraucana Roo who does not "get" that whole 'crow only at sun-up thing', our laying flock of 22 (Eenie, Meenie, Miney & Mo and The 3 Stooges the Ameraucanas, Cruella the WCBP and Balayage the GP, Lucy the RIR, Ethyl the NHR, Winnie & Dottie the BRs, Splash the SLW, Foghorn & Leghorn the WLs, Goldie & Starr the RSL & BSL, CC the Blk Minorca, JetBlue the Blue Andalusian, 'CBOF the Greedy' the Lt Brahma, and Abby-Normal the Red Frizzle Cochin Bantam who runs the place!)

 

[seabreeze]

DD, sounds like you learn FAST!!!!

Want to share the recipe of dark ale, citrus and herbs marinade/brine?

Thanks!