Oh man... this will be the first time ever...

[ScoobyRoo]

Quote:
He would have to crawl in there with the turkey.

Sometimes you gotta wonder when people make (invent) things if they have ever used it for themselves. I say this because our wood stove is not designed to use daily but rather to 'look at' I think.

I do hope the seller will do him right on those cones.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Well I bought them from featherman.net and you would think more people would have problems with them. They are not big turkeys by no means. Especially when they claim that they can handle up to 50 lbs.

http://www.featherman.net/killcones.html

Yes, I do cut the gland out when I package them. I'm not sure why you do it, I just do... I think it has something to do with the oil leaking into the meat... but I don't see how that would happen.

I'm taking the day off and will start tomorrow morning at the meat locker taking the turkeys from the blast freezer to the normal freezer they have. It's pretty cool how the blast freezer works as it's like -30 degrees and completely freezes a turkey in 4 hours!! Pretty cool and it makes me wish I had one.

I want to go on vaccation so bad havn't been on one for a few years now but I'm looking at visiting floriday the first week or two in January but we will see.

$6.50 / lb is good for a turkey they highest around here is $7.00 / lb but they are heritage breeds (organic). Mine are just pasture raised with a commercial feed. They ate a lot of pasture though in the time that they were here... I'm getting $4.00 / lb this year but that was hard to do as I'm currently at the 200/300 sold. So I have 100 more to sell, hopefully they will start selling here in the next couple of weeks.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Forgot to mention that I have to cut the necks first... then put them in the cones. I have to stick my hand all the way up the cones and I pull to get the head out but... the head only will pull so far!! I spent a lot of money on something that is no more than a fancy road cone!!

 

[jaku]

Wow, great system- I'm telling ya, go with the Whizbang scalder! Only about $300, and it's definitely something you can do. Mine works great! Yeah, those cones look really long.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Well.... it's done. I did 65 yesterday by myself. I'm exhausted, but like anything else you develop a system and you just do it. I started at 7:00 and was done by 6:00 so it made for a long day.

After a porterhouse and a few Christmas Ales... I was content and happy to have the job done. Now I'm confident that a 3-4 people can takle the bigger turkey's the week of Thanksgiving. I have to process 150 in two days.


I have some pics of the Blast Freezer and the walk in Freezer I rented for the month. Hopefully if all goes well, I will have one good Thanksgiving weekend.

When I get things cleaned up from the turkey mess I will post some pics tonight.

 

[becky3086]

I really enjoyed reading this and look forward to the pictures. You really did a great job!

 

[card5640]

Brings back memories, my grandparents had a turkey farm here in Maine when I was a kid we would do 150-200 the week before Thanksgiving and again at xmas, all of worked hard those weeks, Christmas wreath making too. No scalder or cones back then, we just slipped them into a grainsack w/ the corner cut away and pulled the head thru and stuck the neck and hung a can from it. All of us would pull feathers, we women would work hard pin feathering with a strawberry huller. We had broad breated whites in later years, but mostly whites, Narragansets, and palms. I have 2 to do this year, ones pushing 48 lbs. My male cousins would take the biggest leg they could find and pull the tendons so the claws would curl and would chase me around the house till my granmother would come to my rescue! Great memories for those hard working times for my Uncles and Dad. Thanks for the updates, great price by the way, only bringing 3-3.50$ a lbs here, and thats for organic birds.

 

[GBov]

What GREAT pictures

One question though, why the cone at all? I talked to a turkey processor once that said he used clamps for the feet (the legs slipped in and the feet held, a bit like a shovel clamp), cut the throat and held the wings for a moment or two till the flapping died down so there was no bruising of the meat or breaking of wing bones.

Remembering how tired I was after doing two turkeys I cant even BEGINE to imagine how tired you must have been after sooooooo many

 

[Overeasyplz]

Wow, thanks for all the sharing! I love how it's your own operation. I truly appriciate all the photos and the story. Amazing! May all your turkeys sell and you get a hard-earned long vacation!

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

WOW! Jeff, you've done such a great job! i think we are all really proud of you


and it makes me hungry for turkey.........
;-)