# Cooking a utility turkey?



## ai731

I don't usually buy "grocery store" meat - we raise chickens, and get the rest of our meat from people we know at the farmer's market, but our finances are really bad right now, so I'm looking at the $0.88/lb utility turkeys in the (Canadian) Thanksgiving grocery store flyers. We'll be roasting one of our own chickens for Thanksgiving dinner, but I'm considering picking up a 10lb utility turkey for freezer meals.

Question: What would be the best way to cook a 10lb utility turkey for cooked meat (to add to soups, stews & casseroles) and stock? Can I just stick it in a big stock pot with some onions, herbs, etc. and boil it for a few hours, like I usually do with a chicken?


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## chickenista

You will need to use a drip type roasting pan. You know, the ones with the slotted tray that fits on the pan.
It will most likely pour liquid out while cooking.
I used to always bring home the carcass from my mother's on Thanksgiving and it was cooked on a regular roasting pan.
The 'drippings' were copious and the stock would never separate the fat.
It stayed this gross milky white color.

It put me off eating turkey for years.... until we grew our own and then I learned to have my mother use a drip pan roasting pan for her birds.

You will want to wrap the pan tightly in foil and cook it a little lower than 350*.

But your turkeys could be a better quality and not injected with so much water (plus other things)


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## wanda1950

ai731 said:


> I don't usually buy "grocery store" meat - we raise chickens, and get the rest of our meat from people we know at the farmer's market, but our finances are really bad right now, so I'm looking at the $0.88/lb utility turkeys in the (Canadian) Thanksgiving grocery store flyers. We'll be roasting one of our own chickens for Thanksgiving dinner, but I'm considering picking up a 10lb utility turkey for freezer meals.
> 
> Question: What would be the best way to cook a 10lb utility turkey for cooked meat (to add to soups, stews & casseroles) and stock? Can I just stick it in a big stock pot with some onions, herbs, etc. and boil it for a few hours, like I usually do with a chicken?


Mama used to cook turkey like that--they were cut in half--the store butcher might halve it for you. It worked really well--you end up with a huge amount of turkey & broth & I think it's not as dry as when roasted.


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## suzyhomemaker09

When cooking a turkey for a multi meal scenario I prefer to roast it ...then it can be cooled and parted out as needed...
Last time I cooked a turkey...it was a 14 lber for our family of 5....we made several meals from it...5 maybe 6?


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## suitcase_sally

A 10 lb. bird is not going to provide much meat. 

after roasting the bird and removing the meat for the freezer, put the carcass in a giant pot and throw in some celery tops, quartered onions, maybe some garlic, salt & pepper and cover with water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Let it simmer all day. Remove bones and let the broth cool (back porch overnight works well). When cool, take some Syran Wrap (or other brand) and gently lay on the surface of the broth. Pull it off gently and any fat on the broth will adhere to the plastic. You may have to do this twice. Bring the broth to a boil once more and let simmer 5 minutes. Pour into hot jars leave 1" headspace and process your stock for 20 minutes for pints or 25 minutes for quarts at 10 lbs. pressure. GREAT!! I use chicken and turkey stock when making rice. (Smoked wild turkey makes interesting stock also.)


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## deb_rn

The bones weigh less proportionally in a large bird. Get the biggest one that will fit in your roaster.
The reason most people think turkey is dry is that they don't let it "rest" after baking... they want to slice it right open... all the juices run out and it is very dry. Let the bird rest 20-30 covered while you prepare potatoes, gravy, veggies... and you will have a very tender, juicy bird. 325 degrees and 15-20 min per pound. Put just a tiny bit of water in the bottom of the roaster (no drip rack for me) and cover with heavy duty foil. It will be moist every time. I just did a 24# turkey for the 3 of us. I put enough for 4 meals in the freezer and we had great leftovers for 3 days. I don't like turkey stock/soup as well as chicken, so I just pick it off good and toss the bones. If you like the soup... put all the wing parts, etc in a pot and simmer it down to a rich stock.

I love to freeze the turkey in the leftover gravy to pop out of the freezer for quick hot turkey sandwiches. Great for a busy day!

Debbie


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## MO_cows

My MIL used to roast her turkey breast side DOWN until the last hour or so, then she would flip it. Her theory was the juices ran down into the breast that way. She never had a dry turkey, but wrestling with that hot bird to flip it over is no fun. My mother uses the Reynolds cooking bags and her turkey is always exceptionally moist and tender. I like roast turkey best for using leftover meat. Have done it with stewed, deep fried and roasted and roasted is the hands down winner.


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## suzyhomemaker09

IMHO the best tool for properly cooking a turkey is a good probe thermometer so just as soon as you get the right temp you can take it out of the oven and stop the cooking.


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## suitcase_sally

MO_cows said:


> My MIL used to roast her turkey breast side DOWN until the last hour or so, then she would flip it.


I do that, also. But, we usully have just a large roasting chicken as there are only two of use.


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## Belfrybat

I too prefer to roast a turkey even if only for freezing the meat. I roast in a covered pan (or use a roasting bag or foil) to keep it moist. Store bought turkeys in the US usually have brine injected in them to keep them moist, so a rack is helpful. But I don't bother as the back gets stewed later with the rest of the bones for stock. 
Roast turkey seems to hold it's shape better when frozen, whereas the one time I boiled a raw turkey the meat was too soft and broke up into strings rather than pieces.


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## ai731

Belfrybat said:


> Store bought turkeys in the US usually have brine injected in them to keep them moist, so a rack is helpful.


*nod* Here too, and that's one of the reasons I don't usually buy a store turkey - they taste WAY too salty! I was hoping that a utility turkey wouldn't have anything injected in it. I'll have to read the package lables really carefully.


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## Meconella

I also don't like the salt injected birds - salt is an excuse for no flavor. But if you look carefully, you can usually find inexpensive store ones that haven't been brined/injected. 

And another 'yes' for roasting the bird just for freezing the meat. It will taste better IMO. 

As to making stock from the turkey bones (it's my favorite), for it to taste the best you have to separate the meat from the bones and make the broth the same day ... or no longer than the next day after roasting. That way no weird turkey tastes develop.


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## rags57078

everyone around my house loves it when I smoke them


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## campfiregirl

MO_cows said:


> My MIL used to roast her turkey breast side DOWN until the last hour or so, then she would flip it. Her theory was the juices ran down into the breast that way. She never had a dry turkey, but wrestling with that hot bird to flip it over is no fun. My mother uses the Reynolds cooking bags and her turkey is always exceptionally moist and tender. I like roast turkey best for using leftover meat. Have done it with stewed, deep fried and roasted and roasted is the hands down winner.


I use the bag AND breast side down; always moist!:thumb:


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## Capt Quirk

I gotta ask, what is a "utility turkey"?


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## ai731

Capt Quirk said:


> I gotta ask, what is a "utility turkey"?


It's a bird that isn't "perfect" enough to be the centrepiece of your Thanksgiving table. Some of them are missing a leg or a wing, or have a gouge in the skin somewhere. Think "seconds" or "scratch & dent" . HTH.


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## Capt Quirk

Scratch and dent turkey? What'll they think of next?


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