My turkey fought back.

[testkitchen45]

So I made a turkey yesterday, & poked a few holes in it w/instant-read thermometer. Picked up done bird w/Orka gloves to tilt & drain bird b4 removing from roaster. Bird's 24 lbs, so I'm squeezing it to tilt--& juices squirt out at me thru the holes as if turk's nailing me w/water gun! Nice. Drain juices more slowly; carve bird; change clothes; start laundry; & hope grease comes out of new jeans. I've made a LOT of turkeys but this bird's the fattiest I've ever seen, so carving's a joy. Then start stock around 6 p.m., later than I usually do it but whatever. Stock's still not too flavorful by the time I'm going to bed, so now what? I'm not going to leave a gas flame unattended, and I'm not leaving stock out to cool a bit & setting my alarm to stick it into the fridge. So DH and I, against both of our better judgment regarding putting boiling-hot items into fridge, portion out the stock & meaty bits into several small containers, thinking maybe they'll cool quickly in fridge since amounts are very small. Nope; not small enough. Temp of stock this morning is 58 degrees, so all the stock gets to be thrown out. And both fridges smell like turkey stock anyway.

I've made MasterCook notes never to start stock so late again, b/c you don't have the option to let it cook down for a few more hours. I got the meat, but also a load of laundry, a messy kitchen, an unwelcome lesson in the stupidity of thinking that a fridge can cool down anything that's so hot, and no stock. :( Live and learn! Usually I'm like the Food Safety queen, so this morning, rested and clear-thinking (unlike last night, after a very long day), I'm amazed I tried that with the stock--even in small containers, it can't cool down fast enough. Anyone else have major cooking problems this week??

[shscharles]

No recent disasters here, but still giggling at the thought of the turkey squirting through the holes like a sieve!:D:D:D

Thanks, I needed a laugh!

[LakeMartinGal]

Not major, but I couldn't take the cake I'd planned to the Easter dinner:( -- cook's error, I'm sure, but it just wasn't pretty. (Tasted good, though;))

[avariell]

it was fowl play on the part of the turkey. teehee.

next time, stick your stock in the oven to brew overnight :)

[testkitchen45]

it was fowl play on the part of the turkey. teehee.

next time, stick your stock in the oven to brew overnight :)

Oh, that's horrible--fowl play! :D Bad avariell; bad! :)

I thought about putting my stock into the oven, but our electric rates are ten times those that many OPs have posted about in the past (in threads discussing utilities), so I figured that by the time I paid to run my oven for 8 hours, I'm not saving any money. :(

[avariell]

you would notice on your bill if you ran your oven for 8 hours?!?!?! holy cow. *praise whoever controls my utilities*

[testkitchen45]

you would notice on your bill if you ran your oven for 8 hours?!?!?! holy cow. *praise whoever controls my utilities*

Passed by the laptop (so I've *gotta* refresh the BB, right? ;)), so popping back in here . . . I don't know for sure if I'd notice, but late last night, when I wasn't sure if the stock would even be good after reducing further, using the oven seemed like a bad idea. This turkey was good but really fatty, & I know I'd scrape off the chilled fat later but was so surprised that the stock was still bland-tasting after nearly four hours. I had suspected that this turk was fed an unusually cheap diet, hence the fat and the pockets of juice I noticed here & there under the skin; it was probably injected with so much "flavor solution" (I can't get at the original label in the trash, or I'd check & never buy this kind again) that I suspect it wasn't worth much for flavoring the stock. Just a weird turk all around. :(

[bbenedict]

Just wanted to say...poor thing...poor, poor thing.

Reminds me of the time I made Ina's stock and got the 3 chickens. Couldn't fit it all into my one huge stockpot. It ended up taking me TWICE as long. I wrote myself a note to half the recipe next time.

Poor, poor thing....

Bonnie

[testkitchen45]

Just wanted to say...poor thing...poor, poor thing.

Reminds me of the time I made Ina's stock and got the 3 chickens. Couldn't fit it all into my one huge stockpot. It ended up taking me TWICE as long. I wrote myself a note to half the recipe next time.

Poor, poor thing....

Bonnie

Thanks--you do mean me, not the turkey, right? ;)

And I just spent HOURS making Carrot-Tomato Soup for 16, to be frozen for a party on Sunday. I'd forgotten how long it takes to blanch & peel & deseed & peel two other things & shred . . . yikes, that recipe takes awhile! I'm bushed! Thank goodness for leftovers tonight. :)

[heavy hedonist]

test, you needed a crockpot for that stock. and some parsnsips, maybe.
what an experience!