Posted on 11/25/2015 8:37:55 PM PST by LoneRangerMassachusetts
For years, I have slow roasted a turkey for Thanksgiving. I bake it at 180 degrees for an estimated time of one hour per pound. This rule has worked for 25 years. Tonight, the thermometer is rising about twice as fast as usual. I put a second thermometer into the bird to check the first. I put an oven thermometer into the over to check its temperature. I found no disparities in the thermometers. Something is different with this bird. It's from Whole Foods, no hormones. I've gotten my turkeys from them for years. What's going on with my turkey?
Are you sure you have a turkey and not a muzzie
seriously...
If you have to, go to Julia Childs deconstructed turkey
“https://www.americastestkitchen.com/episode/413-revisiting-julia-childs-roast-turkey";
Berdie I have also cooked my turkey this way for 20 years now!!! Turkey is ALWAYS perfect!!! Would NEVER cook it any other way!!! I can’t imagine why you would be having this problem, unless your oven is not operating correctly!!!
I’ve never heard of this method so I won’t say it’s risky or wrong. However, when we make German sausage and cook it at low temps like this we have to add “pink salt”. (Sodium Nitrite) This is needed for food safety because it’s smoked at such a low temp.
The reason the bird is cooking faster could be that it was brined. Since we started brining our turkey, we’ve found it cooks much faster than mot brined.
Since you paid too much for your liberal Whole Foods turkey I think you can blame the rapid temperature rise on Global Warming.
I thought this was another Putin vs Erdogan thread.... :-)
Just a guess, but most turkeys are injected with broth to make them more moist. I’m thinking the broth evaporating cools the turkey and slows down the cooking. This happens in barbequing big cuts like brisket. They heat up at a regular rate for the first 2-3 hours, then stay at the same temp for several hours more while the liquid inside evaporates. BBQ chefs call it the “stall”. Maybe your organic turkey doesn’t have the broth, so no stall.
I'm of the opinion that slow roasting at 180 is perhaps not the best or the recommended way to roast a turkey - too low of a temp IMO - salmonella is not your friend FRiend. But then I looked it up on the interwebs and found several recipes for slow roasting turkey and you said you've done it for years so there's that. With that being said, many so called food safety experts don't recommend this method or slow cooking in a crock pot but they also say you shouldn't stuff a turkey either = pish on that. : )
But all the slow roasting methods I read recommend pre-heating the oven to a much higher temp to start - anywhere from 500 to 400 or 375 and putting the bird at that high temp and cooking anywhere from 15 minutes to a half hour or more so as to raise the temp of the surface and cavity of the unstuffed bird to a safe temp in order to kill any bacteria and THEN turning the oven down to 175, 180 to 200 for the remainder of the cooking time at 1 hour per pound and some also say to raise the oven temperature for the last 1/2 hour or so of cooking for browning. I've always started my turkey (stuffed) at a temp of about 500 for about 15-20 minutes, covering the breast, legs and wing tips with foil so they don't brown to fast and then lowering the temp to 325 for 20 minutes per pound, taking off the foil for the last 1/2 hour.
As for taking the partially turkey out of the oven and I presume refrigerating and then resuming cooking in the morning - that doesn't sound safe at all. It is doubtful that the bird will cool sufficiently and you will basically be putting a partial cooked and perhaps still somewhat warm in spots but not to a proper temp, bird back into a low temperature oven - you will have still raw meat and partially or fully cooked meat stewing all together at a temp just above the minimum temp for where it should finally get to in order to kill any bacteria. Don't do it! I think Whole Foods and some other grocery stores are open today so ditch the partially cooked bird, buy a new one and start over.
I also agree with those who said it might have to do with if whether or not the turkey was brined or injected with broth which could affect the cooking time. A bird not brined or injected with broth or one that is very low in fat, I think would possibly cook more quickly, rise to a higher temp more quickly. I doubt that it being hormone free would have anything to do with cooking times.
“is that wise to have your turkey at that low a temp over night?......its a perfect breeding ground for bad germs....”
Look into sous vide cooking. I’m doing a NY roast @ 129 F for 24 hours.
Then it’s onto my Kamado grill @ 650 F for a final sear.
Low and slow is safe if you get the meat pasteurized and that has to do with time.
Happy Turkey (or roast) day!
menopause
Saturday Night Live skit.
About the funniest skit to come out of that show in the last 25 years.
Just use common sense to cook your bird. Consult the
thermometer if desired; but I’ve always used the
“loose legs” rule to gauge doneness. (If the bird’s
legs are loosey goosey when you rotate them in the
sockets; then bird is done). So far, I don’t reckon
I’ve poisoned anybody who has eaten at my table yet!
I posted this before reading everybody else’s replies;
so there may be more ideas.
How do you make “mott brine”? (Quick! It’s at the last
minute & I have a crowd!!!)
Thanks for the insights. Yes, I believe it’s free ranging and the label does say there are no injections. I can see this affecting the heat capacity of the bird and shortening baking time.
I always double wrap my birds in heavy duty foil and put them in the oven at about 220 when I go to bed. I finally take them out of the oven about 11 or 12 the next day, when I need the oven for other dishes. They are falling off the bone delicious. Easiest way to cook a turkey.
Fresh turkey require only roasting 10 mins/pd. from my experience.
Testing the caliber of your oven temp is a another subject. :(
Famous SNL skit.
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