Processed our First Turkeys today!

[Lelilamom]

We processed our three Turkeys today. Our big Tom dressed out at 44.6 lbs. Our other Tom dressed out at 42.6. Our female dressed out at 29.6. It took an hour per bird from start to finish.

We put painters plastic on the floor in the basement since it was 16 degrees outside and we couldn't do this outside.
We lined all the garbage cans and had disposable table cloths on the tables for easy cleanup.

All three are in brine for 24 hours. Two will be frozen and one will go in the refrigerator for Thursday.

Now the big question. HOW LONG to cook a 44 lb turkey?! We have 27 people coming for dinner on Thursday, so we need the biggest one. We will not be stuffing it, to keep the cook time down.

Happy Processing Folks!

 

[AK Baha]

That's a big bird!! Never cooked on that big but would think 10-12 hours. Use a meat thermometer in the breast and bake till it reads 170.

May be as little as 7 hours not stuffed.