Let's talk turkey!

[freemotion]

Soooo.....anyone ever stick a large turkey in the oven and leave it overnight, like 8-9 hours? They are $0.47 per lb this week and I have two 22-23 pounders that thawed too quickly and I have no fridge space. I was going to cook them tomorrow just for picking the meat to use for us and for catfood, but I am nervous about holding them any longer, as it got unseasonably warm here today and is still warm tonight. Not that I'm complaining, but I have 45 lbs of poultry possibly incubating bacteria in my garage.... :/

I am thinking of just putting them in the oven covered tightly with foil, and leaving them at 325 and hoping for the best.

Waddaya think?

 

[Wifezilla]

hummmmmm....

Might dry out. I cook big 'uns and I don't think I have gone beyond 5 or 6. Got an oven timer? Set it for 6 hours and take care of the cooked meat in the morning.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Never done it, but could be done. Assuming you cook it, 20 minutes per pound, at 325, it would need 7ish hours. drop the temp a bit,and increase the time. Or stuff it beofre it goes in and add another 20 minutes. Make sure your corbon monoxide detector has fresh batteries in it, and I would assume your good to go. Another option would be to section it and put it in a stock pot and slow boil it for a while.

 

[freemotion]

Good thoughts. My oven timer is called dh. He will get up and turn it off if I ask him. Then it can cool a couple hours until I get up.

I don't think I have a stock pot that big! My biggest is five gallons. I will sacrifice crispy skin this time, and get a couple more to cook when I can be awake to monitor them. If it really doesn't work, I can always just use it all for catfood. But I am hoping for some turkey salad and sliced turkey for sandwiches, maybe some soup and a pot pie. Oh, now I am hungry, and I just ate!

Thanks for the re-assurance, ladies.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

I always cook my T-Turkey unstuffed, and I put it in the oven around 7 pm the night before, and cook it for 12 hours (until 7 am the next morning) at 175....in the morning I check on it and I turn the temp up to 325 and leave it in until around 2 pm....haven't killed anyone with an under cooked turkey yet.

 

[freemotion]

Oh....yum!

 

[farmerlor]

Another thing you could do is to brine one overnight and then cook it when you're ready.

 

[Beekissed]

Fillet the breast, boil the rest! I would cut off the breast meat, butterfly and fry.....YUM! Then I would cut up the rest to freeze and for making soup later!

 

[freemotion]

I tried to set the oven timer, but it refused to work (dh ) So I went with Quail's method, as it was the least amount of work and I was pooped! I set the oven to 250 (175 made me nervous with turkeys that already probably got too warm all day) and covered them tightly with foil. Just now, uncovered them and turned the oven up to 350. Will let you know of the results!

Bee, I used your method for my home-raised turkeys and it was wonderful! I was too tired to start hacking at turkeys last night, though. I'll get a couple more and probably do that, as it wil be quicker if planned in advance.

 

[Dace]

My mom has always done it that way....puts it in the oven in the evening and lets it cook all night. 250 is a much safer temp than 175.

Aly, 175 is too low. One thinks that 175 kills bacteria but the trouble is that turkey will be going nearly all night in a cozy arm oven with a dangerously low internal temp....prime for nasty bacteria to thrive. Turkeys really only take a few hours, you should be able to safely pop that bad boy into the oven at about 10am and still have a wonderfully juicy moist turkey by 2 in the afternoon. Or if you really prefer the long overnight cook, pop it in at 250 and cook over night, pull it out and cool it, carve it and serve cold turkey sammys instead.