Processing my turkey

[Theoverseer]

No, not to worry. Do you have a thermometer? Put it in the cavity and see the temp. If it is too warm, you can rinse it an put it in ice water now. If it is under 60 by now, good.

It is at 62 degrees. Guess I'll take it out, rinse and put it in ice water. Wish all the tutorials that I read would have told me about this. Lesson learned!

 

[Parront]

Big birds cool slower. Not a problem. Your bird will taste great! You want to be sure that you have safe meat. An extra rinse, and quick chill down with ice water, you are fine. It is a problem if you have meat above 60 for too long, from 60-40, a lot less growth. There are tables for the times but you do not need to stress about it. Just remember: under 40 the bacteria quit growing. When you cook it, that kills remaining bacteria. It is not possible to live a bacteria-free life on planet earth!

 

[rjohns39]

Great job @Parront The only statistic I'll add is feel good one. USDA requires processors to get to 40* in 4 hours. With the ice water, you'll get there with plenty of time to spare.

When I process I have a pre-chill tank (just tap water) and then main chill tank. About 4 pounds of ice per bird plus water. Ideal temp is about 35*

 

[Parront]

Great job @Parront The only statistic I'll add is feel good one. USDA requires processors to get to 40* in 4 hours. With the ice water, you'll get there with plenty of time to spare.

When I process I have a pre-chill tank (just tap water) and then main chill tank. About 4 pounds of ice per bird plus water. Ideal temp is about 35*

You are the turkey expert. I just go by normal kitchen food safety for restaurants! I use a large cooler with ice water bath directly after killing. Then, dunk in scalding water and pluck. Then, fresh ice water. Then, frig for a few days.

 

[Theoverseer]

Thanks for all the advice. It dressed out at 30.5 lbs, so should have plenty of food.

 

[Parront]

Thanks for all the advice. It dressed out at 30.5 lbs, so should have plenty of food.

Sounds like enough food for 30 people! No wonder it was not below 60 yet! You should go over to the "turkey talk" thread where all the turkey guys like @rjohns39 are.

 

[rjohns39]

how old is the bird?

 

[Theoverseer]

One more quick question. I am going to process the last turkey tomorrow, for Christmas. My plan is to process it and then place it in a turkey bag and put it in the freezer. Is a turkey bag for cooking, acceptable to prevent freezer burn?

 

[Theoverseer]

how old is the bird?

7 months

 

[rjohns39]

I'd recommend letting rest in the fridge for 3-5 days before freezing. I'd get a big ziplock vacuum bag for it. They do sell huge freezer bags as well, but hard to get the air out. I put mine in a shrink bag.

If you're interested, I posted my recipes for 24 week old birds here and there's another guys recipe above mine.

ETA: 7 months, you want to cook low and slow, not the Alton recipe.