Processing Day Support Group ~ HELP us through the Emotions PLEASE!

[Beekissed]

Good job! Clean toilet! Er...turkey. Let us know how she tasted! Oh...BTW...welcome to BYC!

 

[fisherlady]

Add me to the list of people who rarely use specific recipies...a few I've written down so I don't miss ingredients once I have them figured out, but most are just 'to taste ', not to a certain amount.

 

[Kassaundra]

Same here! Like our recipe for jerky that isn't really a recipe...it's just a "feeling" for a recipe. A certain level of smell to the spices, a certain look to the meat, a certain texture to the meat....just more of a feeling than a written down fact.

If I had a nickle for each time I've said add until it "feels right"!!!!! And I don't know how a person could either choose which spices to add or how much w/o smelling?

 

[Beekissed]

I've washed so many dishes today I'm a prune! I've deboned and cooked a turkey, made homemade bread rolls, a peach brown betty, two pumpkin pies, and gravy stock. And tomorrow it starts all over again with another turkey and other fixin's. Having a big family is a lot of cooking for the holidays.

I think I need a nap....

 

[katbriar]

Beekissed- a special thank you on this Thanksgiving day. I started reading your no-nonsense, practical-minded posts about a year ago when I started "thinking" chickens.

A woman with almost no construction skills, I was inspired to build my coop and take a test run to raise 8 meat birds and 9 layers this spring, feeding them fermented feed.

Today we ate one of those fine hens stewed and baked in cornbread dressing. It was wonderful in so many ways.

Thanks for all of the wisdom you've shared on this post. You've helped so many of us do what we were uncertain we could accomplish.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

OK guys, I'm doing a turkey today, probably in just a few minutes. Ever since I did my first rooster a few months ago and found it not that bad, I never figured I'd need this thread. But I'm kinda freaking out- I don't even know why, exactly- and I just need someone to tell me it's gonna be OK and give me a virtual hug.

I can't even figure out why I'm freaking out, I only bought the bird yesterday. I've had the four roosters I've done so far their entire lives, save the first couple days during shipping from the hatchery. I can't explain why I'm so nervous, I mean I know how to do it and all, and I've made sure to keep as far from the turkey as possible, but it's just... those noises she makes and.... I just don't know... she's so sweet and innocent... and my mom freaking out isn 't helping...

Welcome!

 

[Beekissed]

Beekissed- a special thank you on this Thanksgiving day. I started reading your no-nonsense, practical-minded posts about a year ago when I started "thinking" chickens.

A woman with almost no construction skills, I was inspired to build my coop and take a test run to raise 8 meat birds and 9 layers this spring, feeding them fermented feed.

Today we ate one of those fine hens stewed and baked in cornbread dressing. It was wonderful in so many ways.

Thanks for all of the wisdom you've shared on this post. You've helped so many of us do what we were uncertain we could accomplish.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow! Thank you! What a blessing to read your post...it really did my heart good. Those chickens fed FF really taste flavorful, don't they? I'm so glad I could help in any way and I'd love to see your coop! I love it when women do construction.

 

[buffaloacres]

Good job! Clean toilet! Er...turkey. Let us know how she tasted! Oh...BTW...welcome to BYC!

Haha, actually funny enough I've been on here for a while... I accidentally posted on my mom's account and SHE just joined... LOL... for some reason it was logged into my computer... I should probably go log back into mine but I wanted to reply on this one so you knew who I was...

She's almost done! The timer says there's 8 minutes left!

Welcome!

Thanks, but like I said, I'm not really new. That picture is AWESOME though!

 

[DavidILoveYou22]

Hey! It's buffaloacres, well I mean it's me but on my account not my mom's, and I just wanted to say the turkey was AMAZING! The dark meat especially. I found the white meat a little flavorless, but I think that's because I only know what DP birds taste like, not meat breeds like BBWs... since I got Dark Cornish roosters for my first meat birds... and I haven't eaten store chicken since we got our first chickens like six years ago, and I was really little then... but anyways, she was so tasty!

Dad took video of the whole thing in between helping me, but the camera kept shutting off so he only got the viscera and feet removal, and on a separate clip the killing... I wish I had gotten the scalding too... I thought it worked quite well, considering I kinda put the idea together last minute (since we got the turkey last minute, I had been intending on buying one sooner but forgot), what I did was boil four big pots of water on the stove, probably 30+ gallons total, then dump it into a big, brand new metal trashcan. Worked perfectly! Anyways, here's the video of the killing (REALLY graphic, I mean I guess that's kinda obvious but ya know, better safe than sorry):

Since the evisceration one is almost ten minutes long, it's taking a really long time to load.

Also... I've heard that you're supposed to rest/age animals, so that rigor mortis passes and they aren't all stiff... but my aunt, who I think used to (and maybe still does?) process her own turkey every year, says she's both aged them AS well as sometimes just put them in the oven right after dressing... and I decided that I'd rather take a gamble on it being tough than wait for days after Thanksgiving to eat her... and man am I glad I did! She was a little tough in the white meat because she was overcooked, but that was still soft enough to be good, and the dark meat was AWESOME! So... anyone have any idea why the heck this would've worked? I'm stumped!

 

[3 NH reds]

3NH, How big and how old are your Giants??

Weight I will know later but I would guess the roisterer is under 12 lbs and the hens are 5 or so up to 8 lbs . two hens and the rooster are 1.5 years and the others are like 8 months. Today is the day for them, or most of them, we ran to a Bass Pro Wednesday and got the process table. I'll post later hoe it went.

It would be a thin book...I've got 14 recipes in my recipe box. The rest of what we cook has no recipes whatsoever. Dash of this, pinch of that, season to taste, plain food that tastes good. It would be more like a pamphlet.

Same way I cook. I would doubt it is the same each time, but it's good.

Alright, thank you very much for the hug. I needed it. I've done her now, and it was a lot like my first rooster- the anticipation and nervousness was really bad, but once it was over and she was dead it was much better. Looking forward to a yummy meal! She ended up weighing a lot more than we expected, 22-23 lbs. with everything out. We figured she was only 20 when she was alive, but clearly she was more.

Once it's over it gets better. We had one we thought was a 25 lb bird but he was over 30, hard to get in the pan and took way to long to cook.

If I had a nickle for each time I've said add until it "feels right"!!!!! And I don't know how a person could either choose which spices to add or how much w/o smelling?

cook and taste then add is my method. I start with some basics and move on. Yesterday I cooked our 17 lb hen. I injected black strap molasses and salt for the brine and It was great, nice color but it made for a dark brown gravy

Hey! It's buffaloacres, well I mean it's me but on my account not my mom's, and I just wanted to say the turkey was AMAZING! The dark meat especially. I found the white meat a little flavorless, but I think that's because I only know what DP birds taste like, not meat breeds like BBWs... since I got Dark Cornish roosters for my first meat birds... and I haven't eaten store chicken since we got our first chickens like six years ago, and I was really little then... but anyways, she was so tasty!

Dad took video of the whole thing in between helping me, but the camera kept shutting off so he only got the viscera and feet removal, and on a separate clip the killing... I wish I had gotten the scalding too... I thought it worked quite well, considering I kinda put the idea together last minute (since we got the turkey last minute, I had been intending on buying one sooner but forgot), what I did was boil four big pots of water on the stove, probably 30+ gallons total, then dump it into a big, brand new metal trashcan. Worked perfectly! Anyways, here's the video of the killing (REALLY graphic, I mean I guess that's kinda obvious but ya know, better safe than sorry):

Since the evisceration one is almost ten minutes long, it's taking a really long time to load.

Also... I've heard that you're supposed to rest/age animals, so that rigor mortis passes and they aren't all stiff... but my aunt, who I think used to (and maybe still does?) process her own turkey every year, says she's both aged them AS well as sometimes just put them in the oven right after dressing... and I decided that I'd rather take a gamble on it being tough than wait for days after Thanksgiving to eat her... and man am I glad I did! She was a little tough in the white meat because she was overcooked, but that was still soft enough to be good, and the dark meat was AWESOME! So... anyone have any idea why the heck this would've worked? I'm stumped!

Over cooked could be bad if it was dry, that would make it tough. Buy an injector and play around with spices and or wine. You will never have a tough bird again.