Things to do instead of buying a giant Thanksgiving turkey

When buying a big bird for a big meal, aim for 1 1/2 lbs of turkey meat (bones and all counted) so you have enough leftovers for sandwiches to make sure there’s enough for everyone I can do it. This he’s not a big deal for a family of five, but if you’re feeding a large crowd like my Catholic family, it can be a little daunting. Also 17 of your best friends.

Things get tricky once you get into the 20+ pound range. Larger birds may not fit in standard ovens. Greater bulk means it takes longer to thaw (about 5 days). because it has to spend more time in the oven, running The risk of drying out the breast that you already have to deal with when roasting a turkey, a thermodynamic nightmare for birds.

There are several strategies that can be taken here.You can break the bird apart to cook it more evenly (ask a spatchcock or butcher completely separate parts); You can buy two small turkeys. or you can buy Good sized turkey and extra turkey thighs and drumsticks. You can also buy a reasonably priced turkey and add ham, roast, or duck.

if you want a big bird

If you really want to serve One big bird, you really have to patchcock it. at length (Some people say “nausea”m”) several times over the years, but the rationale behind spatch cocking goes something like this:

Darker meats such as legs and thighs need to be cooked to at least 165°F to break down the connective tissue, while breast meat will dry out well above 150°F. Traditional roasting leaves the breast more exposed than the legs, which are protected by the sides of the pan. This is the exact opposite of what you want.

The bigger the turkey, the more pronounced and exacerbated these problems. Unfortunately, doubling body weight does not equate to doubling the amount of fat and collagen, so these massive breasts are at a higher risk of drying out than those found in less fortunate birds.

In addition to spatch cocking and roasting, sous vide cooking is also a good option, especially if you want to completely disassemble the bird and cook the light and dark parts at two different temperatures. You can also heat it in the oven just before to make it crispy.) this blog We’ll cover both methods.

For 2 small birds or 1 bird and additional bird parts

My biggest complaint with the giant turkey approach is that I only get 2 drumsticks, even after working hard. they want drumsticks If he buys two small birds, he doubles the number of drumsticks, but putting two birds in the oven is not as easy as putting one big bird in the oven.Unless you patchcock them and roast them on two different racks (not all ovens are big enough to accommodate that).

If you can’t fit two birds in your oven, there are two ways you can cook them.smoke When roast (Also oven smoke)or smoked and sous vide, or sous vide and roasted—or you can buy one good-sized turkey and add more of your favorite turkey parts. One advantage is that it’s easier to find humanely raised birds.)

Instead of buying two birds, buy one for the whole turkey purist and then buy a bunch of your favorite turkey parts.This means fewer fights over drumsticks, and you can have a little more fun. black meat confitcure some renaissance fair style legs,roast extra breastor roll up the snow-white meat roulade, now is the time.

ham (or different, better bird)

She said she hated cooking turkey, but she’s actually good at cooking turkey and likes to do what she’s good at. However, I still prefer to eat other animal proteins most of the time and have been known to plump up my Turkey Day menu with non-turkey products.

ham is my favorite. The city ham is already cooked, so all you have to worry about is warming it up to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. In a slow cooker, sous vide situation, or low profile oven.

Then there are ducks. roasted Next to a reasonably sized turkey, put in the grill (and mostly ignored) good result. (Bonus: A lot of duck fat will come out, which you can save and use for roast potatoes on Christmas Day.)

You can also supplement the occasion with something a little “weird”. You know what I’m talking about—a dish you wish you’d made for Thanksgiving, but never for the turkey purists in your family. After serving meat Mississippi roast Also kimchi pork shoulder in your Instant Pot Sous vide brisket mustard and wine, or suck lamb shoulderIf you just need a little bit of extra meat you can roast some pork tenderloin, or have one of the men who need a job grill a steak. Men love to grill steaks.