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Re: My first organic free range turkey: what do I need to know?

Zhills, happy to see you my friend! I would love your soup, and I plan on making it this week! Even though we live in Florida, I love soup and rain is my "snow": it makes me crave comfort food in a big way!  I usually add the beans when I want to make sure the broccoli doesn't overcook. I have also pureed about a quarter of a cup if I thought the soup was on the thin side and I wanted to thicken it- but that hasn't happened too often. What are you making for the holiday?  My next project is to come up with a stuffing/dressing that I can have. I am going to make the dressing that my family is used to, but it's been almost a year since I've had any, and I used to make it frequently. I saw a quinoa dressing that looks pretty good, but I came up with the idea of using English muffins. I have made dressing using rustic bread before, and this could work....Thomas has a multi-grain EM that's only 100 calories and high in fiber (  8 grams!)....I always use the standard onions, celery and a little carrot, but I could add a generous portion of bell peppers and zucchini to dilute the carbs a little more. One of my secret ingredients is to use finely chopped Granny Smith apple: there is a little sweetness that it adds, but it's not "in your face". I found that it makes the stuffing moist.  What do you think? Hugs my friend,

Poodlepet2

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Re: My first organic free range turkey: what do I need to know?

@Poodlepet2

 

We are having Whole Foods Turkey meal again this year.  It has always tasted dry to me... but if I were to want preparation, here is what I would do:

 

Rub turkey all over, inside and out with salt

Stuff (the stuffing I use is Pepperide Farm bread stuffing...

    it has lots of flavor which will give the turkey flavor

Rub a concoction of butter and flour all over turkey breast

Broil at 450* until turkey is as brown as you like (this step

   seals in juices.

 

Turn oven down to 300-325 and cook 1 hour per lb

Baste frequently... start out with a melted concoction of

  1/3 c butter melted in 1/2 c water -- when that is gone 

   use the drippings from the pan

Baste every 10-15 minutes for the first 2 hours

 

Turkey is done when the leg moves freely! 

~Have a Kind Heart, Fierce Mind, Brave Spirit~
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Re: My first organic free range turkey: what do I need to know?

Thanks Love:I think this would work for me. I make roast chicken all the time using Ina Gartens recipe. Her idea is to roast at a fairly high temperature 425) and we have never had dry chicken since using her method . Your method of searing is a great idea. I think I am going to use the compound butter under the skin. Thanks,

Poodlepet2

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Re: My first organic free range turkey: what do I need to know?

@Poodlepet2

 

Don't you find that searing first at a high temp seals in juices?

 

~Have a Kind Heart, Fierce Mind, Brave Spirit~
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Re: My first organic free range turkey: what do I need to know?

The ones I have been getting for a while now are free-range and organic.  I really don't do anything different because of that. Smiley Happy

 

I do brining the night before I'm roasting it.  I revised my schedule a couple of years ago to where I brine on Tues night and roast the turkey on Wednesday.  That created a great freedom for me because it was just too much to have to carve the turkey while I did all the other last minute stuff.  Not to mention, knowing that later that night I had to carve the rest of it off the carcass and deal with that.  After all that work it was daunting to think about.  Now I have it all done.  

 

Anyway, I do a brine overnight.  Then I make up a dry rub (not the same as the steak dry rub I posted the other day of course) and put that on there and just roast it like any other time.  I like to put some onion, lemon, celery, and fresh rosemary, thyme, and sage INSIDE the turkey.  I don't do the 'stuffing' thing because I think that's gross.  I make a 'dressing' that gets baked in a baking dish.  

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Re: My first organic free range turkey: what do I need to know?


lovestoteach wrote:

@Poodlepet2

 

We are having Whole Foods Turkey meal again this year.  It has always tasted dry to me... but if I were to want preparation, here is what I would do:

 

Rub turkey all over, inside and out with salt

Stuff (the stuffing I use is Pepperide Farm bread stuffing...

    it has lots of flavor which will give the turkey flavor

Rub a concoction of butter and flour all over turkey breast

Broil at 450* until turkey is as brown as you like (this step

   seals in juices.

 

Turn oven down to 300-325 and cook 1 hour per lb

Baste frequently... start out with a melted concoction of

  1/3 c butter melted in 1/2 c water -- when that is gone 

   use the drippings from the pan

Baste every 10-15 minutes for the first 2 hours

 

Turkey is done when the leg moves freely! 


 

Your heat methods interest me.  I'm going to take this under advisement.  Every year I try to imagine the best way to go for browning and such and sometimes it's been high heat (bake) for a while, then med-low and sometimes it's been med-low, then high.  But I never contemplated doing the entire browning with broiling.  Hmmm...Thanks  Smiley Happy

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Re: My first organic free range turkey: what do I need to know?

[ Edited ]

@chickenbutt  DON'T DO IT THAT WAY (BROILER) I WAS MISTAKEN...

Here is a picture with the initial preparation shown... please let me know if anybody wants more... I use her turkey recipe, her oyster stuffing recipe and the gravy recipe...and will add those here if anyone requests them!

helen c cover.jpg

hc turkey p 1.jpg

 

The chart for lbs/hour is the same as the chart on prepared turkeys.

Notice that the turkey is rubbed with salt first; stuffed; and then rubbed with 3Tbutter mixed with 2T flour.  

Next, it is browned in an oven at 450*

Then, it is basted with 3/4 c butter melted in 2/3 c boiling water (I microwave).

~Have a Kind Heart, Fierce Mind, Brave Spirit~
Honored Contributor
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Re: My first organic free range turkey: what do I need to know?

Oops!  I'm sorry.  I thought you said to broil it.  d'oh!  

 

Thanks for that page.  I saved it for future reference - well, the NEAR future of course.  Smiley Happy   But I know I will read it now and forget it in 1 minute. hehe  Smiley Happy   

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Re: My first organic free range turkey: what do I need to know?

CB, Happy Belated Birthday! I am happy to hear from you.....have you heard from Shoekitty lately? I haven't seen her around, but then I'm not here every day.....ok....brine......excellent idea and it used to be somewhat straight forward, but now there are as many types as there are stars in the sky. What are you using?  I am a little on the "infirm" side myself, so I am making a few things in advance to lighten the load. I do plan on using a V-rack and I do have convection. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Hugs and happy Birthday once again,

Poodlepet2

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Re: My first organic free range turkey: what do I need to know?

Hey Poodle!    Yes, we talked the other day.   She was out of town for the weekend.  AFAIK, all is aok.  Smiley Happy

 

She's been a very bad girl and sent me THE most beyond fabulous amazing confectionary gifts for my birthday last week.  I feel like a sugar bomb - but, wow !  She knows what I like because we really love some of the same things.

 

I have a brine recipe that was the original one Alton Brown posted many years ago.  I can post it here if you like.  It seems good so I've stuck with it.