Thanksgiving 2014 is coming, when to process?

[Cyberous]

Hi All,

I have raised 4 broad breasted white turkeys since July and I need to process them to be fresh for TG. Two are Toms and two are Jerry’s? (what’s a female turkey called?) Obviously, I’ve never had turkeys LOL!!!

I’ve processed meat chickens before and I know you need to let them rest a day or two so you don’t get chewy rigor mor´tis chicken.

Since a Turkey is bigger, like 35-40lbs how long should I let them rest? Also, I think I might brine them. I’m preparing one for our family, and two neighbors will take one ea, then one in the freezer.

I'm thinking process on Sunday the 23, to be roasted on Thursday the 27th?

Walk me through this…

Thanks in advance!

Don

 

[cnicho05]

Hello,

When processing meat there are a few things you will want to consider...especially when you have a set date for consuming the meat.

Firstly, you need to consider how you will freeze the turkey you want to keep stored away. Typically, a fresh (yet frozen) turkey is one which will never drop below 26*F but not raise above 40*F. This is typical for most turkeys which will be stored for a short period of time (1-3 months). If you plan on storing the turkey for a longer period of time you might want to consider a lower temperature, below the 26*F mark, which will allow you to safely store the meat for upwards of a year (10-16 months).

Secondly, when processing a meat bird of this size you will want to allow time for the meat to rest. As you mentioned before the two day resting period should be just fine for your scenario. I would simple process the meat as best as possible and place in the refrigerator for this period...to ensure the meat does not spoil.

The date of the 23rd, however, might be pushing it a little. The timeline for processing the meat/resting the meat (2 days), brinning the meat (1-2 days), re-resting the meat (12 hours) and finally cooking the birds is a lengthy process. This should take you between 3 1/2 - 4 1/2 days not including cooking time. Since you are only giving yourself four days (23rd - 27th) you might run into problems. Every time I've attempted something like this I always run into the problem of needing to run to the store for something or another.

You might have better luck adding a day and doing this on the 22nd.

 

[Cyberous]

Excellent, thanks for the break down. I can do Saturday too, going to print this out and get setup before D day, or... T day

Don

 

[cnicho05]

I'm glad it helped...

Best of luck...