OT Big Bird emergencies

Ginger in CA wrote:
.........snipprd.........
My favorite way to cook a turkey was in an oven roasting bag - the
dang thing was so tender it fell apart!

Ginger in CA

But you don't have to buy the special oven roasting bag. My family
has used plain ordinary brown grocery bags forever. It truly is
unbelievable how moist and tender the turkey turns out! And NO, NO, NO
the paper bag does not catch fire :-))! Best part is, it's free -- just
ask next time you go to the grocery store. VBS -- unfortunately brown
paper grocery bags are becoming an endangered species -- I'm gonna have
to start using those wonderful bags with the handles you get from
Cracker Barrel!! CiaoMeow ^;;^

PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^ (RCTQ Queen of Kitties)
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their whiskers!
Visit my Photo albums at http://community.webshots.com/user/tiamary

I had to go find my Julia Child book on the Way to Cook. We hadn't
been able to find a turkey the right size until yesterday and it is
frozen harder than . . . well, you know.
And so - if you just must thaw a turkey quickly, Miss Julia says to
submerge the well-wrapped bird in a sink full of cold water for about
3 hours.
She does not say how to keep it submerged.
I put my heaviest mixing bowl on top and the rascal still floated.
Next weight on top of the bowl on top of the Big Bird is my iron
skillet. Ah. Success. Polly

Many years ago I read a book on forensic medicine that had some
useful tips on that. You wouldn't believe how many newbie killers
have no idea how difficult it is dispose of a body in a lake and
not have it float to the surface. The author recommended wire
ropes and a scrap car engine.

You don't want Julia Child, you want Kathy Reichs.

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ==============
Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760
http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975
stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557

You need to use non recycled paper for that kind of cooking. There is
an apple pie that is done the same way. Recycled is about the only
brown bags I see these days but I don't shop at cracker barrel.

My brother does his turkeys in the big foil tent. I don't do it that
way but I have to admit his turkey yesterday was really good.

The only down side of the roasting bags is the smell isn't as strong in
the house. It cooks a really moist turkey though. That is my preferred
way of cooking them.
Taria

Tia Mary wrote:
Ginger in CA wrote:

.........snipprd.........
My favorite way to cook a turkey was in an oven roasting bag - the
dang thing was so tender it fell apart!

Ginger in CA


But you don't have to buy the special oven roasting bag. My family
has used plain ordinary brown grocery bags forever. It truly is
unbelievable how moist and tender the turkey turns out! And NO, NO, NO
the paper bag does not catch fire :-))! Best part is, it's free -- just
ask next time you go to the grocery store. VBS -- unfortunately brown
paper grocery bags are becoming an endangered species -- I'm gonna have
to start using those wonderful bags with the handles you get from
Cracker Barrel!! CiaoMeow ^;;^

PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^ (RCTQ Queen of Kitties)
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their whiskers!
Visit my Photo albums at http://community.webshots.com/user/tiamary

Thank you, Jack. I'll write a note in Child's book in case we have the same
problem again some day. There are heaps of pickup trucks jacked up on
blocks out here in The Swamp. One of them 'may' have an engine. Polly

"Jack Campin - bogus address" wrote in message
...
I had to go find my Julia Child book on the Way to Cook. We hadn't
been able to find a turkey the right size until yesterday and it is
frozen harder than . . . well, you know.
And so - if you just must thaw a turkey quickly, Miss Julia says to
submerge the well-wrapped bird in a sink full of cold water for about
3 hours.
She does not say how to keep it submerged.
I put my heaviest mixing bowl on top and the rascal still floated.
Next weight on top of the bowl on top of the Big Bird is my iron
skillet. Ah. Success. Polly

Many years ago I read a book on forensic medicine that had some
useful tips on that. You wouldn't believe how many newbie killers
have no idea how difficult it is dispose of a body in a lake and
not have it float to the surface. The author recommended wire
ropes and a scrap car engine.

You don't want Julia Child, you want Kathy Reichs.

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk
==============
Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660
4760
http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554
975
stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739
557

Howdy!

Both the brown paper bags & the plastic oven bags are made
w/ chemicals I don't want in my food, chemicals that can & do
leach into the food during the cooking process.
I've cooked turkeys for 35 yrs. and have never had a bad/dry bird;
just rinse them, pull off some of the fat around the cavities,
cut off the tail, put bird in the big cake pan & into a 325* oven.
IF I'm not concerned about "presentation" (no one else will see the
cooked bird) I put the bird breast-side-down, letting all those
lovely fat juices dribble into the white meat; best damn' turkey ever!
This in not a brag; this is just fact; I think all the hype about
The Proper Way to Cook a Turkey is silly, much of it made up by the
twits on the t.v. talk programs & the Marthy types --$$-$$$.
Learn how to do it the first time and leave the bird alone. G
I buy the cheap turkeys, w/ as little basting chemicals added as possible.
mmmmm: that's good eats!

While the turkey is cooking I can do about 4 hrs. of quilting; this is
a Good Thing. VBG

http://kinderprintables.com/thanksgi...iltsquarec.pdf

http://www.needlework.com/gallery3/gallery3-4a.html

http://www.quilt.com/ColoringBook/Tu...ntheStraw.html

http://craftandfabriclinks.com/thank..._applique.html

R/Sandy --turkey in the straw g


On 11/23/07 7:04 AM, in article , "Tia
Mary" wrote:

Ginger in CA wrote:
.........snipprd.........
My favorite way to cook a turkey was in an oven roasting bag - the
dang thing was so tender it fell apart!

Ginger in CA

But you don't have to buy the special oven roasting bag. My family
has used plain ordinary brown grocery bags forever. It truly is
unbelievable how moist and tender the turkey turns out! And NO, NO, NO
the paper bag does not catch fire :-))! Best part is, it's free -- just
ask next time you go to the grocery store. VBS -- unfortunately brown
paper grocery bags are becoming an endangered species -- I'm gonna have
to start using those wonderful bags with the handles you get from
Cracker Barrel!! CiaoMeow ^;;^

PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^ (RCTQ Queen of Kitties)
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their whiskers!
Visit my Photo albums at http://community.webshots.com/user/tiamary

This year's turkey got the same treatment most meats get from me.
A bottle of balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing, liberally spiked with
whatever I have on hand. This time it was soy sauce, chicken roasting rub,
garlic salt, butter and honey. Stuffed the turkey cavity side up into a soup
pot (only thing I had big enough to hold it up and not tip in the fridge)
and poured the marinade inside, Left it that way overnight, then dumped the
whole thing into a big dish and continued to marinade it, flipping it a 1/4
turn whenever I remembered to. Next day about midday, I sprayed the roasting
pan and rack with Pam, put the bird on top and poured the marinade over the
top. I did put a foil tent over it partway through cooking because the honey
was making the breast brown too fast. Aside from that, I left it alone. At
the end of the cooking time, I pulled it out of the oven and we had dinner!
Got a london broil in the fridge right now with a similar marinade, this
time no honey and some Worcestershire instead. It's all good.
--
Debi

Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.

Hey, Ragmop! The turkey cooking with the breast side down makes a lot of
sense, but most turkey breasts are kinda 'pointy' in the middle. How do you
prop that bird so it doesn't lay on one side or the other? Or do you flip
it right side/left side during the cooking time?

I always start my turkey at 425 degrees for the first hour. I want it to
heat up quickly, kill any 'germs' that accumulated on the outside from
thawing in the sink and then I turn it down to 325 for the remainder of the
cooking time. That works well for me. Maybe the 'germ' theory is flawed,
but.... ;-)

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies in MO.

"Sandy Ellison" wrote in message
...
Howdy!

Both the brown paper bags & the plastic oven bags are made
w/ chemicals I don't want in my food, chemicals that can & do
leach into the food during the cooking process.
I've cooked turkeys for 35 yrs. and have never had a bad/dry bird;
just rinse them, pull off some of the fat around the cavities,
cut off the tail, put bird in the big cake pan & into a 325* oven.
IF I'm not concerned about "presentation" (no one else will see the
cooked bird) I put the bird breast-side-down, letting all those
lovely fat juices dribble into the white meat; best damn' turkey ever!
This in not a brag; this is just fact; I think all the hype about
The Proper Way to Cook a Turkey is silly, much of it made up by the
twits on the t.v. talk programs & the Marthy types --$$-$$$.
Learn how to do it the first time and leave the bird alone. G
I buy the cheap turkeys, w/ as little basting chemicals added as possible.
mmmmm: that's good eats!

While the turkey is cooking I can do about 4 hrs. of quilting; this is
a Good Thing. VBG

http://kinderprintables.com/thanksgi...iltsquarec.pdf

http://www.needlework.com/gallery3/gallery3-4a.html

http://www.quilt.com/ColoringBook/Tu...ntheStraw.html

http://craftandfabriclinks.com/thank..._applique.html

R/Sandy --turkey in the straw g


On 11/23/07 7:04 AM, in article , "Tia
Mary" wrote:

Ginger in CA wrote:
.........snipprd.........
My favorite way to cook a turkey was in an oven roasting bag - the
dang thing was so tender it fell apart!

Ginger in CA

But you don't have to buy the special oven roasting bag. My family
has used plain ordinary brown grocery bags forever. It truly is
unbelievable how moist and tender the turkey turns out! And NO, NO, NO
the paper bag does not catch fire :-))! Best part is, it's free -- just
ask next time you go to the grocery store. VBS -- unfortunately brown
paper grocery bags are becoming an endangered species -- I'm gonna have
to start using those wonderful bags with the handles you get from
Cracker Barrel!! CiaoMeow ^;;^

PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^ (RCTQ Queen of Kitties)
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their whiskers!
Visit my Photo albums at http://community.webshots.com/user/tiamary

Most of us that cook have been cooking turkeys our own way for a lot of
years. I figure it is my bird, I'll do it my way. If anyone is willing
to feed me theirs I am glad to eat it their way! Long as it is cooked
I don't mind. (that probably comes from the dh in the military that got
fed too much under cooked poultry)

If you want the basics in a 'no martha', practical way try this:
http://www.melindalee.com/recipearch...124&item_id=95
The folks at KNX food news really taught me to cook in good sensible
ways. Folks in LA have listened to them for more years than I have been
alive! There is the method for the breast side down turkey on that
site, Leslie.


I think if you are getting the cheap turkeys you are getting a lot of
salt and chemical type liquids injected in them. I buy those too but
they have stuff that isn't great for you. They beef the weight with
those liquids so you get less turkey for the actual weight.

I was teasing yesterday. My brother is a marvelous cook. Like I told
dad though, you put enough butter in anything and it will taste good.
A good cook is one that can feed folks healthy food that tastes great.
I am still learning healthy cooking methods. It is really a different
ball game.

I have my cheap turkey in the freezer. I miss the leftovers when I
don't cook on holidays so I'll do my bird later in the week. I like
to cook almost as much as I like to eat LOL
Taria


Leslie & The Furbabies in MO. wrote:
Hey, Ragmop! The turkey cooking with the breast side down makes a lot of
sense, but most turkey breasts are kinda 'pointy' in the middle. How do you
prop that bird so it doesn't lay on one side or the other? Or do you flip
it right side/left side during the cooking time?

I always start my turkey at 425 degrees for the first hour. I want it to
heat up quickly, kill any 'germs' that accumulated on the outside from
thawing in the sink and then I turn it down to 325 for the remainder of the
cooking time. That works well for me. Maybe the 'germ' theory is flawed,
but.... ;-)

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies in MO.

"Sandy Ellison" wrote in message
...

Howdy!

Both the brown paper bags & the plastic oven bags are made
w/ chemicals I don't want in my food, chemicals that can & do
leach into the food during the cooking process.
I've cooked turkeys for 35 yrs. and have never had a bad/dry bird;
just rinse them, pull off some of the fat around the cavities,
cut off the tail, put bird in the big cake pan & into a 325* oven.
IF I'm not concerned about "presentation" (no one else will see the
cooked bird) I put the bird breast-side-down, letting all those
lovely fat juices dribble into the white meat; best damn' turkey ever!
This in not a brag; this is just fact; I think all the hype about
The Proper Way to Cook a Turkey is silly, much of it made up by the
twits on the t.v. talk programs & the Marthy types --$$-$$$.
Learn how to do it the first time and leave the bird alone. G
I buy the cheap turkeys, w/ as little basting chemicals added as possible.
mmmmm: that's good eats!

While the turkey is cooking I can do about 4 hrs. of quilting; this is
a Good Thing. VBG

http://kinderprintables.com/thanksgi...iltsquarec.pdf

http://www.needlework.com/gallery3/gallery3-4a.html

http://www.quilt.com/ColoringBook/Tu...ntheStraw.html

http://craftandfabriclinks.com/thank..._applique.html

R/Sandy --turkey in the straw g


On 11/23/07 7:04 AM, in article , "Tia
Mary" wrote:


Ginger in CA wrote:

.........snipprd.........
My favorite way to cook a turkey was in an oven roasting bag - the
dang thing was so tender it fell apart!

Ginger in CA

But you don't have to buy the special oven roasting bag. My family
has used plain ordinary brown grocery bags forever. It truly is
unbelievable how moist and tender the turkey turns out! And NO, NO, NO
the paper bag does not catch fire :-))! Best part is, it's free -- just
ask next time you go to the grocery store. VBS -- unfortunately brown
paper grocery bags are becoming an endangered species -- I'm gonna have
to start using those wonderful bags with the handles you get from
Cracker Barrel!! CiaoMeow ^;;^

PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^ (RCTQ Queen of Kitties)
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their whiskers!
Visit my Photo albums at http://community.webshots.com/user/tiamary

You use a poultry rack -- or you make your own rack from celery,
carrots, and onions. My daughter did that last year and it was good. We
tossed the veggies, but had lots of good broth that made some wonderful
gravy. She had also brined her turkey before cooking.

Julia in MN

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO. wrote:
Hey, Ragmop! The turkey cooking with the breast side down makes a lot of
sense, but most turkey breasts are kinda 'pointy' in the middle. How do you
prop that bird so it doesn't lay on one side or the other? Or do you flip
it right side/left side during the cooking time?

I always start my turkey at 425 degrees for the first hour. I want it to
heat up quickly, kill any 'germs' that accumulated on the outside from
thawing in the sink and then I turn it down to 325 for the remainder of the
cooking time. That works well for me. Maybe the 'germ' theory is flawed,
but.... ;-)

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies in MO.

"Sandy Ellison" wrote in message
...
Howdy!

Both the brown paper bags & the plastic oven bags are made
w/ chemicals I don't want in my food, chemicals that can & do
leach into the food during the cooking process.
I've cooked turkeys for 35 yrs. and have never had a bad/dry bird;
just rinse them, pull off some of the fat around the cavities,
cut off the tail, put bird in the big cake pan & into a 325* oven.
IF I'm not concerned about "presentation" (no one else will see the
cooked bird) I put the bird breast-side-down, letting all those
lovely fat juices dribble into the white meat; best damn' turkey ever!
This in not a brag; this is just fact; I think all the hype about
The Proper Way to Cook a Turkey is silly, much of it made up by the
twits on the t.v. talk programs & the Marthy types --$$-$$$.
Learn how to do it the first time and leave the bird alone. G
I buy the cheap turkeys, w/ as little basting chemicals added as possible.
mmmmm: that's good eats!

While the turkey is cooking I can do about 4 hrs. of quilting; this is
a Good Thing. VBG

http://kinderprintables.com/thanksgi...iltsquarec.pdf

http://www.needlework.com/gallery3/gallery3-4a.html

http://www.quilt.com/ColoringBook/Tu...ntheStraw.html

http://craftandfabriclinks.com/thank..._applique.html

R/Sandy --turkey in the straw g


On 11/23/07 7:04 AM, in article , "Tia
Mary" wrote:

Ginger in CA wrote:
.........snipprd.........
My favorite way to cook a turkey was in an oven roasting bag - the
dang thing was so tender it fell apart!

Ginger in CA
But you don't have to buy the special oven roasting bag. My family
has used plain ordinary brown grocery bags forever. It truly is
unbelievable how moist and tender the turkey turns out! And NO, NO, NO
the paper bag does not catch fire :-))! Best part is, it's free -- just
ask next time you go to the grocery store. VBS -- unfortunately brown
paper grocery bags are becoming an endangered species -- I'm gonna have
to start using those wonderful bags with the handles you get from
Cracker Barrel!! CiaoMeow ^;;^

PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^ (RCTQ Queen of Kitties)
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their whiskers!
Visit my Photo albums at http://community.webshots.com/user/tiamary




--
This message has been scanned for viruses by Norton Anti-Virus

http://webpages.charter.net/jaccola/

Howdy!

I check the "ingredients" list when I buy birds. Often the cheaper
ones have fewer chemicals (self-basting fluids) injected. One year an
uncle brought over a "fresh" turkey, we cooked it breast-side-down, and it
was fabulous, no chemicals injected. Turned down his offer of a duck;
just not going to that level. g Btw, I thaw the frozen bird in a
huge Tupperware bowl filled w/ cold water, changing the water often;
everything near the sink (faucets, sinks, counters, floors, fridge)
get scrubbed to de-contaminate after handling the bird (I used to work
in that deli...).
We don't have stuffing as that sucks up all kinds of fat from the bird;
we have "dressing" cooked separately, w/ chopped veggies thrown in; I can
control the amount & type of fat in that (olive or other veggie oil); the
2nd batch of dressing also contains chopped turkey (started doing that so
the kids would actually eat turkey g).

"beef the weight" of a turkey: LOL! Taria: mixed meats!

Leslie, the wings of the bird are folded in as they taught us at the deli
where I worked 100 yrs. ago. Those wings fit perfectly into the 13"x9"
cake pan, holding the bird steady; that & the size of the bird (15-20 lbs)
makes that sucker sit still in the pan. g

Admittedly, I take the easy way out; I have lazy-turkey cook syndrome.
Love to cook, love to feed crowds, enjoy getting everything ready at the
same time. Love to quilt, too. ;-P

http://www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/quilts/fullturkey.html

http://quickquilts.com/motifs/designs/index8.html

http://www.northaz.com/TurkeyPurseSet.htm

Hooray for the many different ways we can cook (or not) and enjoy the
annual Thanksgiving Feast!

R/Sandy--just finished pin-basting a small, very scrappy quilt while
listening to Lincoln Child's "Deep Storm"
p.s. we had light snow flurries yesterday; Cool! g




On 11/23/07 2:11 PM, in article rtG1j.6659$ch.2046@trnddc03, "Taria"
wrote:

Most of us that cook have been cooking turkeys our own way for a lot of
years. I figure it is my bird, I'll do it my way. If anyone is willing
to feed me theirs I am glad to eat it their way! Long as it is cooked
I don't mind. (that probably comes from the dh in the military that got
fed too much under cooked poultry)

If you want the basics in a 'no martha', practical way try this:
http://www.melindalee.com/recipearch...124&item_id=95
The folks at KNX food news really taught me to cook in good sensible
ways. Folks in LA have listened to them for more years than I have been
alive! There is the method for the breast side down turkey on that
site, Leslie.


I think if you are getting the cheap turkeys you are getting a lot of
salt and chemical type liquids injected in them. I buy those too but
they have stuff that isn't great for you. They beef the weight with
those liquids so you get less turkey for the actual weight.

I was teasing yesterday. My brother is a marvelous cook. Like I told
dad though, you put enough butter in anything and it will taste good.
A good cook is one that can feed folks healthy food that tastes great.
I am still learning healthy cooking methods. It is really a different
ball game.

I have my cheap turkey in the freezer. I miss the leftovers when I
don't cook on holidays so I'll do my bird later in the week. I like
to cook almost as much as I like to eat LOL
Taria