Let’s Talk Turkey
Millions fired up ovens for Thanksgiving turkeys last week. Big birds, smaller crowds, turkey allegedly gobbled up top honors at 80 percent of all Thanksgiving feasts, and leftovers filled bellies with leftover turkey sandwiches at least through the weekend. Tryptophan sedation, a chemical chain reaction that calms you down and makes you sleepy, makes napping a certainty. Most Americans eat about 15 pounds of turkey each year and over 45 million of the birds are reportedly cooked every year. To gain popularity at your next holiday turkey feast you may be interested in some turkey talk.
The largest turkey on record reportedly weighed in at 86 pounds. Indigenous native Americans raised turkey for food, mostly in the eastern part of the country. Toms, gobblers, hens and poults spur an agricultural industry grossing over a billion dollars a year. In 2016 it was reported over a 100,000 phone calls were made to the Butterball Turkey Talk Line with an average call time of 3 minutes and 8 seconds.
If talking turkey is that much fun, it could explain why it attracted so many bites on a Facebook post in Hinton last week soliciting turkey recipe ideas.
Within moments of posting a request for turkey recipes, dozens of tried and true methods of roasting, broasting, baking, frying and brining started pouring in. If anything can reunite a divided country, just about everyone can agree that cooking turkey is a tradition most everyone treasures.
There is a science and art to thawing, stuffing, buttering, basting, covering, browning and thoroughly cooking a good-sized bird. Washed, rubbed, seasoned, buttered or stuffed, ideas were posted throughout Summers County and as far away as California. All techniques for preparing turkey for holiday feasting are as good as another, and little differentiates a Thanksgiving turkey from a Christmas turkey other than the date of the holiday. Some of what was not discussed was Turducken, stuffing a deboned turkey with a deboned duck and a deboned chicken. The 3-bird roast was a boast of Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme, allegedly a twist on a traditional English dish replacing turkey with goose, which is called a Gooducken. Prudhomme claimed to have invented and trademarked the Turducken name in 1986, but one New York food writer once suggested “it strikes me as a dish invented by men in a hunt camp.” In Hinton, most cooks kept turkey cooking much simpler.
Most hometown cooks suggested a preference for “brown’n” bags to catch all the turkey juices and drippings and keeping the turkey moist. Others liked covered roasting pans or aluminum foil covers on disposable aluminum roasting trays.
Thawing a frozen turkey is a slow process, requiring days in a refrigerator and/or a little bit of time under running water in a sink. This is a scientific thing, as food poisoning is the second most uncomfortable thing about Thanksgiving turkey meals. Stuffing a turkey isn’t very popular anymore, but stuffing on the side is a thumbs up. Over stuffing oneself is the most uncomfortable malady following the holiday feast.
Time and temperature vary, but rule of thumb is cooking a turkey about 20 minutes per pound, or 3-4 pounds per hour, making turkey cooking anything but fast food. Cooking a turkey can take hours, and some people even prefer cooking at lower temperatures and letting the cooking process continue overnight. There are preferences for herbs and spices, sprinkled or rubbed, stuffed sparsely with onions and celery and garlic, olive oil versus butter on and under the skin, mostly cooked covered until the last half hour or so to brown and crisp the outer layer of the turkey prior to serving. Few suggested stuffing the turkey, which prolongs cooking time, and all suggested carefully following cook time instructions to assure a thoroughly done foul.
Vicki Mills was the first to respond, short, sweet and simply: “This is how I cook mine. I have a big roasting pan that I put it in. I put the lid on it and close the vent on the end. I cook it for about 6 hours on 300 degrees. Once my timer goes off, I pick the lid up just far enough to check it and put the lid back on and scoot back in the oven and leave it until time to eat. If you need the oven set it on the counter but don’t mess with the lid.” This recipe seemed easy enough.
Darlene Bragg followed shortly thereafter with: “I cook it slow on lower temp but longer time (overnight for bigger ones) with a good bit of water in the bottom of a roasting pan that closes tight. (Makes perfect gravy later) Stuff it with an apple and an onion for flavor, oh and rub butter over the turkey too ”
Beverly Sanna suggested: “Brine your turkey Wednesday. This helps keep it moist. I like apple juice with squeezed lemon juice. Throw in apples quartered and oranges. You can even add sprigs of fresh herbs. Brining bags or covered pot work well. Throw the brine away and all the extras, pat dry before rubbing with butter that has been softened and whipped with salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, sage and chopped celery leaves. I like to lift the skin and rub the butter mix under the skin as well.”
Dean Osgood recommends his perfect turkey: “Brine it. Cook it unstuffed. Breast side up. Low heat, long cooking, rub the outside with spices. Every 30 minutes fast open the oven and pan and with a big spoon scoop the pan dripping and drizzle it over the bird. Use a meat thermometer to find out if it is done. About the last 30 minutes roast uncovered to crisp up the skin
Lift it out of the pan and set on the service plate. Quickly skim the fat layer off the pan dripping, then pour the remaining dripping into a skillet. Take about 3/4 cup of flour in a mason jar with a lid. Add water or chicken broth enough to fill the mason jar 2/3 full. Put the lid on and shake it up real good until the flour is in a suspension like cream, pour over the pan dripping and bring slowly to a boil and stir all the time with a whisk or an old fork. When it thickens, turn the heat off and add a little pepper, garlic and salt. Because it just has to have gravy.”
Brenda Shammaa, gently reminded not to forget about THIS step: Remember “to take the giblets from the inside of cavity. One time a relative left them in! I cook mine on a bed of celery sticks and onion, place an onion in the cavity. I lift the skin over the breast and put some stuffing in between, it helps to keep moist. Smear butter over the breast and baste occasionally. Cook at 325 degrees 14 minutes per pound.”
Numerous variations — from cooking in bags or in roasting pans or smoking the turkey — came with a few other suggestions.
Sadie Barnett-Keyes shared: “We actually start our fire pit grill — its enclosed. I use a big roasting pan, clean turkey and pat dry add olive oil and rub the whole turkey, sprinkle all the spices on top rub if you like. We also soak cherry wood in water to place it in the fire to keep the smoke inside the pit, place roasting pan in on rack. I always put some water in the pan. We start this about 10 a.m. the day before Turkey day and we cook all day even into the night. I love it and will post a picture when it’s done. We are now 70 so we have time to do this stuff.”
One of the best cooking stories was very well done by a dear friend of the family. With a dozen people seated around the table ready for a big bird, the host of the dinner went into the kitchen and discovered she had literally forgotten to turn on her oven. Bursts of laughter erupted and an embarrassed but creative hostess threw together a quick cold cuts buffet and everyone left happy with a forever memory of an unwittingly turkey less Thanksgiving.
Thanks to everyone willing to share their turkey cooking traditions. A combination of many of the suggested wound up producing an excellent main dish.
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