Need advice: cooking a large turkey

K

Kay Bixler

Kay Bixler
My friend raised a few turkeys this year and it kind of got out of hand. Does anyone have experience cooking a 20 pound plus bird? I think mine weighs 22 pounds to be exact.

I've cooked probably two turkeys before and they were wild and not nearly as heavy. Do I start with a hot oven and then turn it down? Should I stuff the bird or make the stuffing separately? (Sal found a recipe for cornbread and chorizo stuffing.) How many hours will something like this take? Any other tips?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Best,
Kay
 
I generally don't stuff birds with stuffing. Cook the stuffing in separate pans and splash with some of the pan juices from the bird as they cook.

I put herbs and citrus in birds, along with lots of salt and pepper.

I generally don't have enough lead time to brine, but everyone swears by it. A cup of brown sugar and a cup of salt and a bunch of peppercorns per gallon of water.

I cooked a 22 lb bird last year, couldn't get the lid on the Weber. So I smoked it for 25 minutes and finished it in a low oven.

You may have problems with the skin burning, so I wouldn't start hot. Baste, though.

It takes a long time, several hours, and you want to let it rest for 30 or 40 minutes under foil and a towel before you carve. I'm not a big believer in timing directions, there are too many variables. But the thigh should be, what, an internal 155 or so? Is that right? Poke around a bit on the Internet.
 
I've cooked 20 pound turkeys and I've done it with the stuffing inside. The only reason to cook the stuffing separately is health concerns. By the time the stuffing is done, the bird is burned. If the stuffing seems insufficiently hot when the bird is done, you can finish it separately. But if you like your stuffing redolent of turkey, you need to cook it in the bird at least initially.

For all turkey, regardless of weight, I cook it at 450 for the first hour and then turn it down to 350, turning the bird frequently. The real problem is the same for both sizes: by the time the thighs are cooked the breast is dry. I solve this problem by stuffing a mixture of pancetta and spices between the skin and the breast. The breast still cooks too long, but the pancetta keeps it moist. Other people simply cut the breast away when it is done (internal temperature between 165 and 175, not 180) and then put the thighs back in to finish. Again all this is true for all size turkeys. The only difference is that a 20 lb. bird will take much longer to cook.
 
Well, you see, everyone's a critic.

I accept 165 as a better temp. But at 180 you might as well shred newspaper and eat that.

The other thing you can do is cut the legs off and cook them separately, roast or braise or smoke. But you lose on the presentation.

Carving is easier if you cut the wishbone out of the raw bird.
 
Brining gives you a better chance of coming out with moist breast meat if you plan to roast it whole.
 
virtually impossible to have the dark meat and breast meat done togethor on a bird of that size.
thigh meat needs to get to 170'ish but anything above 160 on the breast meat and you have a very dry white meat.
i would consider removing the legs and thighs and braising them seperately.
if you must cook the bird whole, try placing ice packs on the breasts for an hour,so their internal temp rises slower than the dark meat.
 
I am so glad to live in France. The foods of Thanksgiving have always provoked recoil (my mother doesn't baste).

Though, happy Thanksgiving to all. May cook a duck breast with gooseberry sauce and sweet potato pure, in honor.
 
This year at Thanksgiving we cooked a twenty-two pound turkey in the Weber kettle just fine. It was very delicious, and yes, the skin was fairly crisp. Brining will definitely help with keeping the bird moist and tender, but if you're used to the flavour of wild turkey, you might want to forego the brine.

As far as timing, cook the bird as slowly as possible. The breast meat you should cook to 145 F, and no more. If you let it get up to 155 you might as well shred newspaper and eat that. But for the thighs, I would say 165 should be the maximum. I'm not sure if you really can cook a whole bird and accomplish both. If you have lots of gravy or sauce from the pan, and some really good stuffing (whether stuffed or not), the white meat will be great. Much better than shredded newspaper!
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
I am so glad to live in France. The foods of Thanksgiving have always provoked recoil (my mother doesn't baste).
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Just wait until we start the gefilte fish thread.
 
We just did a 24 lb turkey
Brined for 8 hrs then dried overnight in the fridge
Stuffed and cooked in a brown in bag
Prior to cooking, put ice packs on the breasts for about 30 minutes (the bird's breasts not yours!) to cool the meat down and slow the cooking
Took about 3 hrs for 170 degrees.. moist as could be
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
I've cooked 20 pound turkeys and I've done it with the stuffing inside. The only reason to cook the stuffing separately is health concerns. By the time the stuffing is done, the bird is burned. If the stuffing seems insufficiently hot when the bird is done, you can finish it separately. But if you like your stuffing redolent of turkey, you need to cook it in the bird at least initially.
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What temp should stuffing be cooked to in order to kill bacteria? And if the stuffing is removed and put back in the oven after the bird is done is there still any danger from the interior cavity?
 
originally posted by JasonA:
originally posted by Jay Miller:
Really, brining is so 2007...

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www.bonappetit.com

(w/thanks to John Tomasso for the link)
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Might as well confit the whole thing then. Gonna take a awful lot of duck fat....
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You know, there's an idea. I've stuffed butter under the skin of turkeys and chickens but I've never tried duck fat...
 
It doesn't have to be duck fat. Lard will serve just fine. And you know, it is an idea, at least an alternative for someone who might be thinking of deep-frying their turkey. 'Course you would have had to start already.
 
originally posted by Jeff Connell:
It doesn't have to be duck fat. Lard will serve just fine. And you know, it is an idea, at least an alternative for someone who might be thinking of deep-frying their turkey. 'Course you would have had to start already.
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24 hrs of salting and 12-18 hours in the oven - can be done, just. But ideally do it now for next years Thanksgiving.
 
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