Sunday, November 20, 2011

Turkey Kill'in

So 4 years ago we were all turkey killing virgins. We only had five of them to do, but it took us 4 hours to compete along with a case of beer. Today we did 4 in and hour with only a few beers. We did have one new virgin this year but no more. Thing sure go well with a little practice.













Location:Brookfield, VT

Monday, November 14, 2011

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Cookin a 40 pounder

So in case anyone wants to know how to cook a 40 pound turkey I think that after the past few years have come up with a good plan. Now just because the bird is twice the size of those that normal families have doesn't mean that the cook time is doubled. A few things that need to happen before the cooking starts is
1. Do you have a pan that is big enough for the bird?
2. Will the bird in the pan fit into the oven?
3. Is the rack inside the oven strong enough to hold the bid, pan and stuffing?
4. Check the with the rack pulled out and the bird setting on it that the oven doesn't tip over. Most ovens and not hooked to the floor and this size and weight is close to the limits of most residential ovens.
5. Get yourself one of those meat thermometer that allows you to monitor the temperature from outside the oven, it's a pain to have to pull the bird halfway out to check the progress.

And then all the fun begins on cook day. Go to bed early if you plan on eating early the next day.
Wash and stuff the bird, rub down the skin with oil, install remote meat thermometer and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Add 3 cups of water into pan

Hour 0 - preheat oven to 325 and put it in oven.
Hour 4.5 - reduce oven to 275, meat should be 110
Start basting every hour, putting juices into stuffing, helps keep the bird from drying out
Hour 5.5 - reduce oven to 250, meat should be 150
Hour 7.5 - meat should be 160
Hour 9.0 - meat should be 170
Hour 10.5 - uncover, increase oven to 325
Hour 11.0 - done when meat is 185

Remove from the oven, cover tightly and let rest for 1 hr.



Location:On the farm