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cornomama4
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| Posted: Nov 23 2010 at 8:37am | IP Logged
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I have a 37 pound turkey. I am afraid, very afraid. No, actually I feel up to the challenge, but would love any tips for cooking a really big turkey from those who have done it.
I usually use an oven bag and had a happy accident the last time I cooked one. I had it in the oven for 3 hours and the timer popped out. I still had about 2 hours until the meal, so I turned off the oven and let it sit there. When I went to carve it an hour later it was so tender it just fell off the bone! Just like crockpot meat. Maybe too tender for the best presentation, but yummy yummy.
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hylabrook1
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| Posted: Nov 23 2010 at 8:55am | IP Logged
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I've never heard of such a large turkey! Wow! Do you have a pan and oven that can handle that?
Peace,
Nancy
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cornomama4
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| Posted: Nov 23 2010 at 10:25am | IP Logged
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I'll have to get a bigger pan (need one anyway) and the oven will be big enough. I just don't want to have dry on the outside/raw inside issues :)
I raised these stupid birds myself....out of 10 birds, 7 were over 30 pounds. And they're free range too! Maybe I've got sticks of butter and milkshakes growning under my pine trees.....
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MaryM
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| Posted: Nov 23 2010 at 11:12am | IP Logged
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Oh my! Several years back my mom got a 40 lb.er from my cousin. It was insanely big. We still talk about that bird  . I'll have to ask her what she did for the cooking. All I know is I wouldn't even fit in the fridge. Had to be in a big rubbermaid tub in the garage which fortunately was cold that Nov.
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mom2mpr
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| Posted: Nov 23 2010 at 11:15am | IP Logged
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We have a 28 pounder and I am searching for a pan large enough.
I have heard you can cut a big one in half to fit it in the oven. Ours thankfully fits in our oven so I didn't need that hint. 
I think it will be cooking about 7(!) hours. If it defrosts all the way. I am a little stressed about this whole experience.
I will be coming back here to hear more hints
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stacykay
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| Posted: Nov 24 2010 at 7:21am | IP Logged
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I've never had a 37 pounder. Closest was 29 pounds (thank heavens for our local turkey farm.) The biggest problem I had with that bird was the enormous amount of liquid it generated, over-flowing the largest pan I could find (and I searched every store!) We had to keep ladling out the liquid, but we had a ton of gravy!
Let me know where you find your pan. I am still (15 years later) searching for that perfect large roaster!
Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble, gobble!!!
In Christ,
Stacy in MI
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Servant2theKing
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| Posted: Nov 24 2010 at 9:38am | IP Logged
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Would a full-size commercial steam pan, covered with a foil tent work? You can often find larger cookware available at restaurant supply stores, Gordon Food Service or Sam's Club. Good luck with "Tom, the Giant"!
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Nov 24 2010 at 3:38pm | IP Logged
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I have cooked a bird of that size only once. It was a long time ago so I don't recall all of the details, but I do remember it did take forever.
I coated the bird all over with lots of butter and herbs. Did not stuff it (I put a peeled onion, a lemon, and some whole fresh herbs inside).
I covered the bird with tented aluminum foil during the middle part of the roasting, leaving it uncovered during the first and last hours to get a dark, golden skin.
The most important thing is to get a good meat thermometer and use it to test for done-ness:165 degrees in the thickest part of the inner thigh. If it is a very "breasty" bird you may want to test that too, but the thigh is most important.
Good luck!
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us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
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cornomama4
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| Posted: Nov 26 2010 at 2:52pm | IP Logged
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Thanks for the tips, ladies. The turkey was awesome and cooked with only a small amount of stress and back strain ;)
I ended up brining it for about 8 hours and then foil tenting it during the middle cooking time. And I got almost a gallon of juices for gravy with only about 1/2c. of fat :)
Next year I'm going to order my baby poults about 1 month later and hopefully have "smaller" birds of 15-25 pounds. Dh said I should raise 50...we'll see :)
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MaryM
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| Posted: Nov 27 2010 at 12:47pm | IP Logged
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cornomama4 wrote:
| Thanks for the tips, ladies. The turkey was awesome and cooked with only a small amount of stress and back strain ;) |
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Glad to hear the outcome was good.
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Mary M. in Denver
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Topic: really big turkey--help!!
