I’d like to tell you a little bit about them….
They have their variety and weight on each of them, which is important. I am looking forward to your reports.
I cooked one a week ago, a Bourbon Red, and it was quite incredible.
This is how I did it:
I let it thaw for a full 24 hours. And began with it at room temperature
I pre-heated the oven to 500 degrees
I rubbed the outside with olive oil and salt. (they have also been brined)
I stuffed it with chilled stuffing.
I put it in BREAST DOWN for 15 minutes.
then I turned the heat down to 320
I cooked it for 4 hours. Then I pulled it out and turned it over to crisp the breast
After 6 hours on a 17.5 pound bird… the meat thermometer read 145 (quite a bit short of the 185 that the thermometer indicates for poultry)
I pulled it out and let it rest for a half hour.
It was tender and juicy, but not pink in the slightest.
I hope that helps! Our bird could have easily fed 10.
We then made sandwiches, turkey salad, turkey soup, turkey enchiladas, and turkey fajitas and I think I might make one more thing…
THE WORD FROM THE KITCHEN
~”Delicious! One of the best birds my guests had ever eaten. I used your directions.”
Cheers! Kristin Wills
~”Turkey was really, really, amazingly yummy!!!”
Thank you, Mare Shey
~”Hi Sarahlee,The short report: it was (and still is – will be eating it for many days!) – wonderful! Very tender, juicy and flavorful.Our experience cooking was different than what you indicated in your email, however. I realized, of course, that ours being smaller (13.6 lbs.) and unstuffed (except for some seasoning veggies), the cooking time would be less than yours. However, ours was considerably less. It took a total of about 2 ½ hours. I started it at 500 as you suggested for 15 minutes, but then turned it down to 325 (5 degrees higher than you suggested – wasn’t sure there was enough difference and I thought I was starting it late!). At the end of 2 hours I decided to put the thermometer and found that it was already at 160 degrees in most places I put it. It was hard to find a deep piece of flesh, however. Since we were a long ways from being ready to eat it, I turned the temp down to 300 for another 30 minutes, then let it rest at room temperature for closer to 45 minutes. I was worried it was overdone but it did not seem to be.
Another interesting aspect was that I was afraid I would not get it into the oven in a normal erect position. In the roasting pan and rack, the top part of the turkey, breast and back, touched the upper heating element so I had to tilt it a bit on its side. Since I have roasted many turkeys that were well over 20 lbs., this was surprising.
Congratulations on your first turkey season. I am wondering if your chicks for next season have hatched yet. We will definitely want to buy one for Thanksgiving.” Linda & Tom
~”Ray and Tara, here. I (Ray) picked up our 15 pound turkey Thursday morning. Just wanted to let you know that I gave it a quick thaw Thursday, brined it all day Friday, dried it in the refer Friday night and cooked it up Saturday for family. It was absolutely delicious. Other than the brine, I gave it no additional seasoning. It came out fully cooked and maintained its flavor and moisture.
Put me down for another one this Thanksgiving. If frozen, I’d like to get it about a week and a half before the big day so it can thaw slowly in the refer and give me time to soak it in my brine. Oh yeah, 12-14 pounds would be perfect.
Thanks again. It was delicious. It got great reviews from the consumers.” ray k
~”I carved it out (it was too big for my oven and we had a small group anyway) smoked the legs and wings and kept the breast frozen. The flavor was very rich, a huge improvement over even the organic free range birds we would get in Portland. I made a reduced stock from the bones later in the week and it was quite good as well.” –Jim
