Question about processing and freezing

[Molpet]

not sure if this helps any but, when i processed my first bird (last year) I found a link somewhere on here, that said the usda recommended to use or freeze a turkey within 10 days of processing. .. I kept him on ice for 7 days and he was great.

 

[rjohns39]

I think the best thing I can do is tell you what I do and why so you can make informed choices. There are dozens of different ways to approach this. If it's a 14 week old bird, it'll like be tender what ever you do. If you put it in the freezer last night it won't be fully frozen at this point. Once fully frozen it will take about 3 days to thaw in the fridge.

Why brine? Brining has two purposes: 1) put flavor into the meat and 2) help breakdown the meat to make it more tender. His brine recipe does neither from my view. My brine uses citric acid to help tenderize the meat and herbs and aromatics to add flavor. I brine a turkey that is mostly, if not fully thawed as the brining process doesn't start until the bird is thawed. And I brine for 12-24 hours.

I start with a large (12 qt) pot I'll add a couple rings of olive oil to the bottom.
Every thing is rough chopped
4 onions just chopped into quarters, don't waste time removing skins.
1 bunch celery
4 carrots
6 bunches of garlic
1 sweet apple
1 sour apple
1 orange
2 lemons
4 limes
A handful of cracked or whole black pepper.
3lbs kosher salt
3lbs local honey
Stock
Poultry herbs (parsley, oregano, thyme, and sage)
Sage

Add the first four ingredients, sprinkle with a little salt and saute for 10-15 minutes, then add the next six ingredients and continue to saute another couple minutes. Add the salt and honey, stir well and add 4 quarts of stock and bring to a boil. Make sure the salt is dissolved and turn fire off. Add 1 bunch parsley, two bunches of sage, two sprigs of rosemary and a half bunch of thyme. also a couple sprigs of oregano (or a couple packs of poultry herbs and a pack of sage). Let the fresh herbs steep in the hot water 15-20 minutes.

I use this type of cooler I add a small bag of ice to the bottom, then pour the hot brine into the cooler and stir. Cool the brine to room temp. Submerge the turkey into the brine and top off with ice. Let rest 12-24 hours. When you bring it out of the brine rinse well inside and out.

I'll get into cooking in my next post.

 

[rjohns39]

As for cooking... Again if a 14 week old bird you can use a fast method, but choosing the slow method is safer. I'll usually boil the giblets and neck in stock and use it in my dressing.

When preparing a young bird I follow Alton's recipe...
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe-1950271

Here's the info I give folks with my older heritage turkeys. Slow cooking can dry a bird out if not covered.

Hope this helps...

 

[Jessica08]

Here’s a video he posted last week of his turkeys and the guard dog. Maybe this will help determine what breed?

I am a little OCD, so I’m sure I’m making a bigger deal out of this than I need too. Haha.

 

[Jessica08]

And the bird is just about frozen when I checked it this morning. Mayb put it in the fridge Sunday? Or when do you think?

 

[rjohns39]

Here’s a video he posted last week of his turkeys and the guard dog. Maybe this will help determine what breed?

I am a little OCD, so I’m sure I’m making a bigger deal out of this than I need too. Haha.

Does he have a website?

 

[rjohns39]

And the bird is just about frozen when I checked it this morning. Mayb put it in the fridge Sunday? Or when do you think?

Sunday mid day should be good.

 

[Jessica08]

Does he have a website?

He does. Here it is

http://www.raisedonpasture.com/Turkeys/Turkeyintroduction.html

 

[Jessica08]

See if this link works. He sent this the other day then when I picked the bird up yesterday he gave me the little pamphlet of information.

http://www.raisedonpasture.com/Turkeys/BasicTurkeyCookingandBriningInstructions.pdf

Edited to say I’m not sure which brining method he uses. There are two listed here.

 

[chicken danz]

The reason for freezing the bird is because it is newly processed, it needs to be cooled as quickly as possible to prevent germs. Turkeys aren't like smaller birds in that it takes several hours to cool the meat. Brining is an optional thing but it does make the meat more juicy. Has nothing to do with the age of the bird in this case.
If you do brine the bird, I suggest doing it in a cooking bag, Like Reynolds made for turkeys. Just tied the top shut and put it in the bottom drawer of the fridge. flip it over after about 12 hours. There are many brine recipes out there that are excellent. Anyway, before you cook it drain the water and rinse the bird, then you can cook it in the same bag.