Turkey Day Help and/or Rant Thread

[cloudy]

Happy Day's


So... who is eating anything other than Turkey. Venison? (or Moose), Duck or quali?

A Rib of Beef in a souflet (don't ask - I still haven't mastered it - but it was the most delicious feast ever)

We nearly ran over a deer yesterday, that would have been great for Christmas Most of the road kill Pheasant look past their best, but I'll drive round till we find one

Not sure what my mother's cooking this year, but she doesn't always do traditional dishes for holidays. Last christmas we had filet mignon.

 

[NoJo]

Good mornin toots!

Yeah I have that problem in the morning sometimes

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Turkeys Query

Here's my Burning Turkey Issue: A problem in thermodynamic heat transfer

This year I've decieed to cook two 14-pounders rather than one giant bird. How long should I cook them for. Assuming it's 10 minutes/lb, should I cook them for 140 minutes? or 280 minutes?

Ideally, I know it would be 140 minutes, but with an additional bird absorbing heat, each bird won't be getting its full thermal load, so I suspect the answer is something like 180 minutes or so.

I think maybe I just just use a thermometer, huh?

--Windy Douchebag

 

[Safe_Bet]

Here's my Burning Turkey Issue: A problem in thermodynamic heat transfer

This year I've decieed to cook two 14-pounders rather than one giant bird. How long should I cook them for. Assuming it's 10 minutes/lb, should I cook them for 140 minutes? or 280 minutes?

Ideally, I know it would be 140 minutes, but with an additional bird absorbing heat, each bird won't be getting its full thermal load, so I suspect the answer is something like 180 minutes or so.

I think maybe I just just use a thermometer, huh?

--Windy Douchebag

If a train leaves Chigago going 70 mph and another train leaves Buffalo going 60 mph...

Yeah, use the thermometer.

 

[Safe_Bet]

Helpful Hint #2: Put your turkey/roasting pan inside of two large grocery bags when you cook it. The turkey will get a much more even color and it keeps the grease from splattering in your oven.

Helpful Hint #3: Thicken your gravy with instant potatoes instead of flour. It doesn't clump or become pasty like roux.

Helpful Hint #4: Mix grated Parmesan cheese in with your mash potatoes. It gives them a bit of zing for those people who don't eat them with gravy.

Helpful Hint #5: Cheese Whiz is not edible!

 

[lil_elvis]

Here's my Burning Turkey Issue: A problem in thermodynamic heat transfer

This year I've decieed to cook two 14-pounders rather than one giant bird. How long should I cook them for. Assuming it's 10 minutes/lb, should I cook them for 140 minutes? or 280 minutes?

Ideally, I know it would be 140 minutes, but with an additional bird absorbing heat, each bird won't be getting its full thermal load, so I suspect the answer is something like 180 minutes or so.

I think maybe I just just use a thermometer, huh?

--Windy Douchebag

You've got it about right, doc. However, I always use a thermometer on the birds. Check both thighs and the stuffing.

Also, rotate and swap the positions of the birds as they cook to help even out the cooking as you've got a combination of convective and radiative heat transfer going on. Where the birds face each other there will be less radiative transfer,

 

[lil_elvis]

Helpful Hint #2: Put your turkey/roasting pan inside of two large grocery bags when you cook it. The turkey will get a much more even color and it keeps the grease from splattering in your oven.

Helpful Hint #3: Thicken your gravy with instant potatoes instead of flour. It doesn't clump or become pasty like roux.

Helpful Hint #4: Mix grated Parmesan cheese in with your mash potatoes. It gives them a bit of zing for those people who don't eat them with gravy.

Helpful Hint #5: Cheese Whiz is not edible!

I always add some cloves of raw garlic with the potatoes while their simmering then just rice them along with the potatoes.

Never done it, but I would think parm cheese would clash with the gravy, but that could just be me.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

You've got it about right, doc. However, I always use a thermometer on the birds. Check both thighs and the stuffing.

Also, rotate and swap the positions of the birds as they cook to help even out the cooking as you've got a combination of convective and radiative heat transfer going on. Where the birds face each other there will be less radiative transfer,

Good ideas! Especially the radiative transfer thing.

We don't stuff. Put some onion and apple tossed in sage and black pepper inside the cavity. Cook the dressing separately. It's the only way to go.

 

[Shwenn]

I have a serious question.

Does anybody have any pointers on when to stop beating the cream so that it doesn't turn to butter and remains whipped cream?

 

[lil_elvis]

I have a serious question.

Does anybody have any pointers on when to stop beating the cream so that it doesn't turn to butter and remains whipped cream?

First make sure the bowl, beaters and cream are all cold.

As you whip the cream, stop beating every once in a while. Set the beaters on the bottom of the bowl then pull them up slowly. They're properly beaten when peaks form but still fall over slightly. If you beat to stiff peaks, you're on the verge of making butter.

Also, for sweetening, you're better to use confectioner's sugar as regular sugar can give a grainy texture.

 

[Shwenn]

First make sure the bowl, beaters and cream are all cold.

As you whip the cream, stop beating every once in a while. Set the beaters on the bottom of the bowl then pull them up slowly. They're properly beaten when peaks form but still fall over slightly. If you beat to stiff peaks, you're on the verge of making butter.

Also, for sweetening, you're better to use confectioner's sugar as regular sugar can give a grainy texture.

Perfect! This is exactly what I wanted. A litmus test, as it were.

And I've got the confectioner's sugar in my pantry.

I'm good to go!

Thank you!

 

[sweetness6280]

Helpful Hint #2: Put your turkey/roasting pan inside of two large grocery bags when you cook it. The turkey will get a much more even color and it keeps the grease from splattering in your oven.

Ooh... I need to call my daughter in Germany right away. I always use cheesecloth and she couldn't find any.

Helpful Hint #3: Thicken your gravy with instant potatoes instead of flour. It doesn't clump or become pasty like roux.

Instant potatoes are my favorite secret!!!

Helpful Hint #5: Cheese Whiz is not edible!

Does anyone really know what Cheese Whiz is?

 

[Weird Harold]

Ideally, I know it would be 140 minutes, but with an additional bird absorbing heat, each bird won't be getting its full thermal load, so I suspect the answer is something like 180 minutes or so.

You have an additional bird soaking up the heat, but you will also have the thermostat turning the burner back on more often to add more thermal energy -- so it's going to be pretty much the timing for cooking each bird individually.

I'd start checking the pop-up indicator at around 130 minutes and expect it to have popped no later than 150 minutes.

For those cooking two birds at once, I'd check about every thirty minutes or so for even cooking. You're actually going to be cooking in areas of the oven you don't normally cook in, so any un-even heating problems are likely going to be exposed if there are any. Two hours into roasting is a bit late to figure out that only the outleg of each bird is cooking. You may need to rearrange/rotate the birds once or twice during cooking.

 

[freshface]

Helpful Hint #2: Put your turkey/roasting pan inside of two large grocery bags when you cook it. The turkey will get a much more even color and it keeps the grease from splattering in your oven.

If using paper bags, make certain none of the ink on the paper touches the turkey. If possible, use paper bags that don't have any printing on them. Some of the inks aren't edible.

 

[Weird Harold]

Helpful Hint #2: Put your turkey/roasting pan inside of two large grocery bags when you cook it. The turkey will get a much more even color and it keeps the grease from splattering in your oven....

That would be a terrific hint except there are no stores in this vicinity that offer paper grocery bags and haven't been any for about five years. Do NOT use plastic grocery bags in this fashion!

The basic idea is what makes "roasting bags" so popular, but I find they make for a rather "soggy" Turkey instead of moist -- almost more steamed than roasted.

A roll of brown Kraft Paper or unwaxed "butcher paper" (if you can find them) work as well as paper grocery bags, but beware of the potential fire hazard of putting paper next to the heating elements of an electric oven or the bottom of a gas oven.

Helpful Hint #4: Mix grated Parmesan cheese in with your mash potatoes. It gives them a bit of zing for those people who don't eat them with gravy.

Mashed Potatoes are the elder granddaughter's specailty and she prefers chives. I think she'd be amenable to using one of the many "Mrs Dash" brand salt-free spice assortments like "Onion & Herb" "Garlic and Herb" or my personal preference for mashed potatoes, "Tomato, Basil, & Garlic"



As for Gravy, anyone who makes Turkey Gravy with anything other than pan drippings with cornstarch as a thickener is a lazy piker. The only real trick to using cornstarch is to keep stirring until it thickens (and turning the heat down just before it poils over after adding the cornstarch)

 

[lil_elvis]

Helpful Hint #2: Put your turkey/roasting pan inside of two large grocery bags when you cook it. The turkey will get a much more even color and it keeps the grease from splattering in your oven.

Or drape some cheese cloth soak in a little melted butter and white wine. When you baste the bird, it holds the liquid and keeps the breast from drying out. Remove (carefully) about 1 hour before the bird is done so the skin still crisps properly

Helpful Hint #3: Thicken your gravy with instant potatoes instead of flour. It doesn't clump or become pasty like roux.

I use Wondra flour. Slurried in some water before adding to the gravy. It won't clump. Just whisk untilk it boils. It needs to cook at a boil for a while to remove the raw flour taste, but eliminates the fat and calories of a roux.

Remember that with a slurry or a roux, the gravy must come to a boil to achieve the maximum thickening potential.

 

[JagFarlane]

Another mashed potatoes tip: Toss in a packet of dry onion soup [offhand I know Lipton makes some]. This makes "smashed potatoes" from Houlihans restaurant.

 

[glynndah]

If you like the crispy edges of the dressing more than the mushy middle, make your favorite dressing recipe into patties (about the same size as hamburgers) and bake them on a cookie sheet in the oven. The cooking time is reduced, they can be made ahead of time and they reheat wonderfully.

 

[3113]

Perfect! This is exactly what I wanted. A litmus test, as it were.

And I've got the confectioner's sugar in my pantry.

You might also want to think about adding a spoonful or so of Grand Marnier--providing no one objects to a little liquor in the whipped cream. If they do, then add a small dash (like a capful) of vanilla extract. You want to add this extra bit of flavor in after the cream has begun to thicken, but isn't at drooping-peak thickness, so that it blends in well.

 

[Weird Harold]

If you like the crispy edges of the dressing more than the mushy middle, make your favorite dressing recipe into patties (about the same size as hamburgers) and bake them on a cookie sheet in the oven. The cooking time is reduced, they can be made ahead of time and they reheat wonderfully.

This is a great idea that I'm going to pass on to the chief cook for tomorrow -- it's going to help resolve a timing problem with a cranky oven.

 

[cloudy]

This is a great idea that I'm going to pass on to the chief cook for tomorrow -- it's going to help resolve a timing problem with a cranky oven.

You can also spoon it into muffin tins, and have individual helpings of dressing.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Dinner's at my sister's, and she's doing the turkey n stuffin'... I'm the baby, so they always put me in charge of rolls, relish and dessert... which is fine, less work for me!

I made banana split cake (again!) this year by request. Because my mom always makes the pies. (And when I say pieS, I mean pieS, plural. Apple, cherry and pumpkin, plus something else, sometimes pecan, sometimes a cream pie...)

We'll do my in-laws on the weekend (two Thanksgivings, twice the leftovers!). The very first Thanksgiving I had at there, I was shocked. They have, like, three sorts of meat. Turkey, of course, but usually some sort of roast, plus sausage... and one dessert. ONE.

Of course, hubbie was equally as shocked at my family's spread. One turkey. Forty-seven desserts. (That's only a slight exaggeration... )

 

[lil_elvis]

Ladies and gentlemen - Start your turkeys!

 

[JagFarlane]

Ladies and gentlemen - Start your turkeys!

LOL plan to in about an hour...turkeyzilla here [26lbs], so planning at least 6.5hrs of cooking time.

ETA: Turkeyzilla has reached the oven...

 

[fieryjen]

This will be my first year ever making Thanksgiving dinner.

Luckily it's just my sister and my husband that are here today, so I'm at least not cooking for a large expectant group of people. And sister will help.

Menu is 12-lb Turkey, MiL's stuffing (made separately), mashed potatoes (no gravy - we're hessisch, we don't do that crap), carrots in rosemary butter, rolls and pecan pie. Our grocery store didn't have the unseasoned stuffing I needed, so I've got to get to toasting bread and making it myself.

I do hope the Turkey will be thawed by the time I need it to, and that I'll manage the stuffing, because otherwise the husband will be heartbroken.

Sister will be disappointed if the mashed potatoes don't turn out.