Results 1 to 9 of 9
  1. #1
    bisous is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    .
    Posts
    14,564

    Default Total turkey novice. How do I cook it? How do I eat it?

    Sorry for the almost unintelligible title. It had to be short! We were given a 15 pound frozen turkey yesterday. Which just felt fantastic. I have never so much as cooked a chicken with bones let alone a turkey!! I can search recipes and have done a search here. But what do I need to know to be able to cook this? How can I maximize the meat on this thing? My brood are not big roast turkey eaters, except of course the lunch meat you buy from the store, lol. Since we aren't big meat eaters, are there any strategies for making this last as long as possible? It isn't that we don't eat meat, we just don't eat MUCH. We do like turkey breast on sandwiches. I was thinking I can probably use turkey every place I'd use chicken. I've just never repurposed cooked chicken in that way, does that make sense?

    Thank you in advance!!

  2. #2
    hillview's Avatar
    hillview is offline Blue Diamond level (20,000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Posts
    21,536

    Default

    Strongly suggest you brine it. Toss it in a brining bag and fill with water, salt and some herbs about 2 days before you cook it.

    I'd make up a menu plan... my kids LOVED the thanksgiving turkey (they wanted another one for Christmas). We did turkey dinner 2 nights in a row (think mashed potatoes and veggies and canned cranberry sauce) then we did turkey tacos (substitute the meat with turkey and add tomatoes, cheese etc so not really a whole meal about the turkey). You could do a dinner of turkey sandwiches or turkey melts. DH ate a lot of it for lunch too.
    DS #1 Summer 05
    DS #2 Summer 07

  3. #3
    bisous is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    .
    Posts
    14,564

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by hillview View Post
    Strongly suggest you brine it. Toss it in a brining bag and fill with water, salt and some herbs about 2 days before you cook it.

    I'd make up a menu plan... my kids LOVED the thanksgiving turkey (they wanted another one for Christmas). We did turkey dinner 2 nights in a row (think mashed potatoes and veggies and canned cranberry sauce) then we did turkey tacos (substitute the meat with turkey and add tomatoes, cheese etc so not really a whole meal about the turkey). You could do a dinner of turkey sandwiches or turkey melts. DH ate a lot of it for lunch too.
    Thanks that's a big help! Is your turkey fully thawed when you brine it I'm assuming? Just wondering because the calendar is starting to countdown and my 15 pound beast is still frozen. I found a good site that talks about how long it takes to thaw. I have been reading some threads about brining and it sounded really delicious.

  4. #4
    bisous is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    .
    Posts
    14,564

    Default

    If we eat Turkey on Christmas Day we'll have about three days until we travel to my sister's home. I suppose any leftover meat can be frozen. Is there a way to package that/ pre-prepare it (is that a word?) so you can use it in recipes, etc. I'm thinking maybe slice it ahead and pack it in individual sandwich style packets? I don't know, lol. I'm a meat freezing newbie.

  5. #5
    hillview's Avatar
    hillview is offline Blue Diamond level (20,000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Posts
    21,536

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by bisous View Post
    Thanks that's a big help! Is your turkey fully thawed when you brine it I'm assuming? Just wondering because the calendar is starting to countdown and my 15 pound beast is still frozen. I found a good site that talks about how long it takes to thaw. I have been reading some threads about brining and it sounded really delicious.
    Yes I thaw it before brining.

    Quote Originally Posted by bisous View Post
    If we eat Turkey on Christmas Day we'll have about three days until we travel to my sister's home. I suppose any leftover meat can be frozen. Is there a way to package that/ pre-prepare it (is that a word?) so you can use it in recipes, etc. I'm thinking maybe slice it ahead and pack it in individual sandwich style packets? I don't know, lol. I'm a meat freezing newbie.
    You can carve it up and package it in ziplocs or in containers (pyrex for freezing). Once you get it all off the bone it isn't as giant as you think it will be. If you are going to keep it and freeze it you should remove it from the bone (even the leg bones etc) as I don't think it would freeze well on the bone. The carcass is huge. We had a 15 lb bird for thanksgiving. We ate it twice for dinner (with my mom so 5 of us) and had only a little left over after that.
    DS #1 Summer 05
    DS #2 Summer 07

  6. #6
    bisous is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    .
    Posts
    14,564

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by hillview View Post
    Yes I thaw it before brining.



    You can carve it up and package it in ziplocs or in containers (pyrex for freezing). Once you get it all off the bone it isn't as giant as you think it will be. If you are going to keep it and freeze it you should remove it from the bone (even the leg bones etc) as I don't think it would freeze well on the bone. The carcass is huge. We had a 15 lb bird for thanksgiving. We ate it twice for dinner (with my mom so 5 of us) and had only a little left over after that.
    Thank you so much! This really helps. Now I'm counting back days and we'll see how much we really have leftover after the big meal.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    .
    Posts
    9,744

    Default

    Aren’t you supposed to take it easy since you have pneumonia? Someone else can make the turkey.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    DD (3/06)
    DS1 (7/09)
    DS2 (8/13)

  8. #8
    hillview's Avatar
    hillview is offline Blue Diamond level (20,000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Posts
    21,536

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by georgiegirl View Post
    Aren’t you supposed to take it easy since you have pneumonia? Someone else can make the turkey.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    DS #1 Summer 05
    DS #2 Summer 07

  9. #9
    bisous is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    .
    Posts
    14,564

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by georgiegirl View Post
    Aren’t you supposed to take it easy since you have pneumonia? Someone else can make the turkey.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    I'm getting a lot better! Most of the days of this turkey preparation include letting it thaw in the fridge. Totally not too strenuous for me to do. Actually since I'm "resting" I feel like I"m online more since I'm trying to stay still, lol.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •