Author Topic: The smallest frozen turkey I could find was 20 lbs.  (Read 4144 times)

zxcvbob

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The smallest frozen turkey I could find was 20 lbs.
« on: November 23, 2019, 05:02:22 PM »
That's gonna be a lot of turkey for the two of us.   ;/  (and 2 dogs)  Almost all of them in the bin were 22 lbs.  Friday I will make a big pot of gumbo, and probably freeze a bunch of small packages of roast turkey for casseroles.  And maybe even can some turkey stock.
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charby

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Re: The smallest frozen turkey I could find was 20 lbs.
« Reply #1 on: November 23, 2019, 05:14:38 PM »
That's gonna be a lot of turkey for the two of us.   ;/  (and 2 dogs)  Almost all of them in the bin were 22 lbs.  Friday I will make a big pot of gumbo, and probably freeze a bunch of small packages of roast turkey for casseroles.  And maybe even can some turkey stock.

Try HyVee? I got a 12Lb bird there this summer. Wife got a free 14# bird with the buy a Cure 81 ham last week.
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Ben

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Re: The smallest frozen turkey I could find was 20 lbs.
« Reply #2 on: November 23, 2019, 05:32:19 PM »
Huh. I have always had the opposite problem in that we always had a hard time finding over 20lb birds. I decided not to go to CA for Tday this year so just got a 12lb bird for me and the dog and the cat.  :laugh:

Got it at Costco, where there were more 12lb birds than 20lb birds. Also, something I'd never noticed before, so either I didn't pay attention, or it's kinda new, or it's an Idaho thing, but Costco had way more prepared turkey dinners than they had turkeys. Probably 50% more cooler space dedicated to those than to turkeys.
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MillCreek

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Re: The smallest frozen turkey I could find was 20 lbs.
« Reply #3 on: November 23, 2019, 05:59:25 PM »
We are going to have 25 people over, and we got a 21 lb. fresh turkey and a 5 pound ham at Costco, and a 9 lb. frozen turkey breast from Safeway.  There were lots of fresh turkeys in the Costco bin under 20 pounds.  I in fact grabbed a 12 lb. bird, but my wife made me put it back since she felt it was not big enough.
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zxcvbob

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Re: The smallest frozen turkey I could find was 20 lbs.
« Reply #4 on: November 23, 2019, 06:37:20 PM »
This was at Aldi; Butterballs were on sale for 87 cents, and their warehouse was out of small and medium birds.  They said they wouldn't be getting anymore in in time for Thanksgiving, and might not get any more biguns.  So I had an excuse to buy a 20-pounder.  :laugh: 

I know Butterball is a sucky turkey, but it is better than some, and it will make good gumbo.

I might ought to check HyVee anyway though, to get a turkey for the freezer while they are cheap.
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Ben

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Re: The smallest frozen turkey I could find was 20 lbs.
« Reply #5 on: November 23, 2019, 08:55:01 PM »

I might ought to check HyVee anyway though, to get a turkey for the freezer while they are cheap.

Crap - I didn't think about that. I like turkey at Xmas too, and they are hard to find that time of year. At least they were in CA, where my dad always bought two at Thanksgiving. I might have to make another trip next week for a freezer bird.
"I'm a foolish old man that has been drawn into a wild goose chase by a harpy in trousers and a nincompoop."

charby

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Re: The smallest frozen turkey I could find was 20 lbs.
« Reply #6 on: November 24, 2019, 11:31:03 AM »
Crap - I didn't think about that. I like turkey at Xmas too, and they are hard to find that time of year. At least they were in CA, where my dad always bought two at Thanksgiving. I might have to make another trip next week for a freezer bird.

Bob lives about an hour from me, we can get a whole frozen turkey year round anymore. Usually pay a little more once the Thanksgiving/Christmas turkeys are clearance out.
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zxcvbob

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Re: The smallest frozen turkey I could find was 20 lbs.
« Reply #7 on: November 24, 2019, 12:11:05 PM »
If I was smart, I'd get a fresh turkey while they are available and cut it up like a fryer for the freezer.  I will check Costco and Sam's.
"It's good, though..."

sumpnz

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Re: The smallest frozen turkey I could find was 20 lbs.
« Reply #8 on: November 26, 2019, 04:45:55 PM »
Yesterday I slaughtered the turkey for Thanksgiving.  Going to get the salt on it tonight.  About 15lbs.  It was a heritage breed (Bourbon Red).

sumpnz

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Re: The smallest frozen turkey I could find was 20 lbs.
« Reply #9 on: November 27, 2019, 12:01:50 AM »
Posted this on Facebook too.

SWMBO requested that I braise the leg quarters and roast the breasts with the Bourbon Red turkey for Thanksgiving.  So I parted it out tonight and salted it.  I'm floored at how dark the leg meat was.  It looked more like dark pork than any domestic poultry I've ever seen.  And the fat layer on the back is amazingly thick.

Also, popping the leg joints was surprisingly difficult.  The wing joint was also in a very slightly different location. Otherwise breaking it down was pretty easy compared to any other turkey or chicken.

Pictures at link below.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/6XYAuHYRkHUkA4PQ9

p12

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Re: The smallest frozen turkey I could find was 20 lbs.
« Reply #10 on: November 27, 2019, 06:28:45 AM »
The company I work for gave away frozen turkeys to the employees yesterday.

9.01 lbs.

Just enough turkey to piss ya off.

zxcvbob

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Re: The smallest frozen turkey I could find was 20 lbs.
« Reply #11 on: November 28, 2019, 09:57:03 AM »
The company I work for gave away frozen turkeys to the employees yesterday.

9.01 lbs.

Just enough turkey to piss ya off.

They probably paid extra for birds that small. ;)

Mine has been in the roaster for about 45 minutes.  I took it out of the freezer last night and covered it with a towel to insulate it a little.  This morning it was still mostly frozen, but thawed enough I could get the giblet bag out, which is just what I wanted.  (it'll take about an hour longer to cook than if it was fully thawed.)
"It's good, though..."

p12

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Re: The smallest frozen turkey I could find was 20 lbs.
« Reply #12 on: November 28, 2019, 10:09:00 AM »
They probably paid extra for birds that small. ;)

Mine has been in the roaster for about 45 minutes.  I took it out of the freezer last night and covered it with a towel to insulate it a little.  This morning it was still mostly frozen, but thawed enough I could get the giblet bag out, which is just what I wanted.  (it'll take about an hour longer to cook than if it was fully thawed.)


Wouldn’t surprise me one bit. Companies and logic don’t belong in the same sentence.

The wife said we’ll cook it for her and I. Probably spring or summer.

MillCreek

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Re: The smallest frozen turkey I could find was 20 lbs.
« Reply #13 on: December 01, 2019, 10:59:54 PM »
We ended up with 26 people for Thanksgiving this year. In order to free up oven space, we did the turkey in an Oster electric roaster. We bought two matching 22 quart units from Amazon, since the local stores did not carry that size. We brined and did a butter/herb rub for a 22 lb. fresh turkey and a 9 lb. bone-in turkey breast. They each went into an Oster roaster for 350 for the first 30 minutes and then reduced the temp to 325. After reading wildly conflicting times on the Internet, we went with the Oster instruction manual, which recommended up to 15 minutes per pound for the breast and up to 8 minutes per pound for the whole turkey. I timed the start so both turkeys were ready at 2:30 pm. The whole turkey went about 20 minutes longer than expected to a final temp of 180 degrees at the breast. All present agreed the turkeys were very moist and perfectly cooked. I was able to use the turkey drippings from the roasters to add to a roux to make a fabulous gravy.  We had the oven free for the dressing, sweet potatoes, rolls, and other side dishes. This plan worked well, and we will likely do this again in the future.
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MillCreek
Snohomish County, WA  USA


Quote from: Angel Eyes on August 09, 2018, 01:56:15 AM
You are one lousy risk manager.

zxcvbob

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Re: The smallest frozen turkey I could find was 20 lbs.
« Reply #14 on: December 02, 2019, 01:07:11 AM »
We ended up with 26 people for Thanksgiving this year. In order to free up oven space, we did the turkey in an Oster electric roaster. We bought two matching 22 quart units from Amazon, since the local stores did not carry that size. We brined and did a butter/herb rub for a 22 lb. fresh turkey and a 9 lb. bone-in turkey breast. They each went into an Oster roaster for 350 for the first 30 minutes and then reduced the temp to 325. After reading wildly conflicting times on the Internet, we went with the Oster instruction manual, which recommended up to 15 minutes per pound for the breast and up to 8 minutes per pound for the whole turkey. I timed the start so both turkeys were ready at 2:30 pm. The whole turkey went about 20 minutes longer than expected to a final temp of 180 degrees at the breast. All present agreed the turkeys were very moist and perfectly cooked. I was able to use the turkey drippings from the roasters to add to a roux to make a fabulous gravy.  We had the oven free for the dressing, sweet potatoes, rolls, and other side dishes. This plan worked well, and we will likely do this again in the future.

I'm not sure you can overcook a turkey in an electric covered roaster.  I roasted mine (still partially frozen) at 325 degrees for almost 6 hours.  When I checked it at 5 hours it was still less than 150 degrees in the breast and cooler than that deep in the thigh.  Next time I checked it, the breast meat was 185 which is too hot.  I turned it off and let it rest for 15 minutes, and took it out and started cutting it up.  The breast meat was not dry like you'd expect; it was moist and tender.  I have cooked them longer than that before, to about 200 degrees where the whole bird is falling apart, and it's still not dry or stringy.

Wife has really been enjoying turkey sandwiches, and says I should cook a turkey about once a month; it's a lot of good eating for $18.  I made a big pot of turkey gumbo Saturday; it was not one of my best batches but it was okay, and a *lot* better the next day.  There's still 2 quarts of it left, and that's without the rice.
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MillCreek

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Re: The smallest frozen turkey I could find was 20 lbs.
« Reply #15 on: December 02, 2019, 07:14:13 AM »
^^^Because one of my wife's sons was two hours late, we had to keep the turkey on the 'keep warm' setting on the electric roasters, and still they were not overcooked. I may have made some comments about holding up dinner for the 21 people who had arrived on time......
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MillCreek
Snohomish County, WA  USA


Quote from: Angel Eyes on August 09, 2018, 01:56:15 AM
You are one lousy risk manager.