To anyone who is good in the kitchen here---
For the past 13 years, I cooked turkey for Thxgvng day, but it is usually less than 15 pounds. The past 3 years, I have been brining it.
This year, I have a 25 pound bird, and I just want to know if anyone has any good tip to cooking this ostritch in my oven.
I still plan on brining it, doubling the brining solution, leaving it to brine for 12 hours. The one I am concerned about is the cooking time and heat necessary, without burning the skin and coming out dry (even though it is brined) because of the longer cooking time... Any advice? I appreciate the advice.

My father always bought the biggest bird he could find, much to my mother's dismay. Over the years, she did a few things to make sure the turkey was moist and brown.

First, cover the wing tips with foil so they don't burn.

Second, buy regular bacon, but instead of buying the leanest you can find, buy the fattiest you can find. Cover the complete outside of the bird with the bacon, and leave it on until the last 60 minutes. The bacon will baste the bird, protect it from burning, and gives the chef a treat. Turkey bacon ROCKS!!

Also, what my mum did was put about 2 cups of chicken stock in the bottom of the roasting pan, and instead of putting the cover on it, (face it, it wouldn't fit), she would then tent loosely with foil for the first couple of hours.

After that, the bacon does it's thing, and then for the last hour, you brown it, by basting with the drippings.

A 25 pound bird, on a low temp, might take 4 - 6 hours to cook.

To this day, my sisters and I always cook turkeys this way.

See....this just lets me know that my nasty mind is always in the gutter because from the title of this thread, I did not think you were referring to how to handle an actual bird. I just figured "big bird" was a euphemism for big... well....you know.....!!! Darn...I could've actually offered some good insight on it too. As for the turkey, can't help ya there buddy. I fried my first turkey last year, and always leave the traditional cooking to my boyfriend or another relative. But, I'm sure MarthaStewart.com, and the "Martha Stewarts" of the board will be able to offer you good insight.

"A 25 pound bird, on a low temp, might take 4 - 6 hours to cook."

I would be very careful about this statement.

Since you are cooking a pterodactyl, at 25 lbs, follow the instructions for hours/pound.

Just don't do what I did several years ago, when I tried to 'speed cook' a big bird, raising the oven temperature from 350 degrees to 375.

Midway through, when I opened the oven, those wings were flame throwers. No more eye brows and eye lashes for me that Thanksgiving.

TRL

325 degrees, 20 min per pound following LSimcoe instructions

equals about 8 hours.

TRL

OK, I can't speak to the bacon issue... though being the bacon fiend that I am, it sounds interesting.

A trick I like to use for flavor and to make the bird more moist (works for chicken too, obviously). Take butter (slightly softened works best) and rub it between the skin and the meat before you put it in the oven. You will have to do some minor work separating the skin from the meat, but generally just start at one end and slowly insert your fingers between the skin and meat. Sort of like a pocket... leave it connected on 3 sides. Also works well if you soften the butter and stir in spices before rubbing it in... poultry seasoning is great, and already has salt and pepper in it (you can add more if you want). You don't want to stretch the skin too much... just enough to fit your fingers (or a small utensil if you have big hands) underneath and spread the butter mixture.

Try to have a roasting pan with a cover (that fits over the big bird). Keeping it covered for most of the cooking will prevent the skin from burning. If that is not possible, then baste a couple of times (not too often, or you will slow down the cooking time by opening and closing the oven too often. The aluminum foil (oh God, I almost called in tin foil, 'cause that's what my mother called it) trick is key. Don't just put it on the wings. Put it on the drumsticks too. And, depending on the turkey, you may need to put it on the breast for some time in the beginning as well (though not as long as on the wings and drumsticks).

Also, be sure to have a rack in the bottom that keeps the turkey off the bottom of the pan. Otherwise, the bottom soaks up too much juice, and the skin won't cook at all and can be soggy. You want drippings for basting, for stuffing (see below), and for gravy.

If possible, when basting, take the turkey out of the oven, close the oven door, and baste, then put back in. With a big bird, that may not be feasible due to size/weight, but if possible do it. The reason is heat escapes out of the oven dramatically when you open the oven, and by the time you're done basting, the temp has dropped so much, it will take the oven awhile to heat back up. This makes cooking the bird take longer. If this is too awkward, and you're going to spend too much time trying to get the turkey out of the oven and then back in, just leave it in the oven, but be quick with the basting.

Best way to know when the bird is done... an thermometer stuck in the deepest part of the thigh. Don't know the optimum temp off the top of my head (you can look it up online, I always have to look). You can check the temp when you are basting... but I recommend you get a thermometer with a gauge that you put in the thigh, and leave it there, with a slim wire that you close in the door and leads to the thermometer reading outside the oven.

Also, if you are stuffing the bird, it will take longer to cook. If not, you can loosely put some aromatics in the cavity to help add flavor (lemon wedges, carrots, onion, etc.). Personally, I like to stuff the bird, as I feel the stuffing tastes better when it cooks in the bird. Plus, in my family, we have stuffing, not "dressing." However, a trick I have learned is to stuff the bird very loosely, or even only half stuff it. The rest of the stuffing goes in a roasting pan or casserole, and gets added to the oven for the last hour or so of cooking (depends on quantity). After it's done cooking, mix the stuffing from the bird, with the rest of the stuffing. Then take some of the drippings from the bottom (before you make the gravy) and add to the stuffing, and stir it all together. Gives it that "cooked in the bird" flavor. You can also do this without stuffing the bird at all... I just prefer to have some of the stuffing come from the bird itself. Sort of a tradition.

I was hoping this thread would give me advise on what to do with my partner's large parrot who still tries to bite me every chance he gets, even tho I've been with my partner almost 17 years.....

You can always open the cage door, and the back door, and when "Polly" doesn't come back, you can use the excuse that it was a nice day and you wanted it to get some fresh air.

Or show it the roasting pan, and say that parrot with a honey-ginger glaze sounds good this year.


8 Hours to cook sounds about right.

My father always bought "commerical grade" as it was cheaper, and my mother learned over the years that using the bacon, and the stock, moistened a bird that otherwise would have been like eating sawdust.

I still use the bacon, but NEVER buy a frozen bird, as I don't care what they say, it takes a lot longer than 24 - 48 hours to thaw in the fridge. WAY too many times I've dumped a frozen bird in the bathtub and run cold water for about 3 hours to that that bloody thing on Christmas morning, so now, I spend the extra .50 per kilo and buy fresh. Free range is WAY more, and since hubby can't tell the difference, why spend it, (although for someone who can't even turn on the stove, which he refers to as "that thing", he seems to have a lot of suggestions about what I'm doing "wrong").

This is really helpful!!! THanks!!!


I really appreciate the advice!!!

Jeff

How did the bird turn out? What did you end up doing?

Hi Lksimcoe
It turned out great. I brine every year, but this one , I was a little intimidated with the bird's size. Turns out that the major issue I had was putting the brining container in my fridge, because the darn thing was huge and heavy, I was afraid that it would break the fridge shelves. So I did some reorganization on the fridge and eventually able to fit it.
I modified the brining solution because of the time factor. Instead of 1 cup of kosher salt, 1 cup of sugar to 1 gallon of cold water, I did 1.5 cups of salt and sugar to 1 gallon of water. The brining time was 16 hours. If I brined it 24 hours, I would have used the regular solution.
As for cooking... I am glad that I bought the digital thermometer, because with that, I was able to know how long it would take to cook to 180. So around noon, the inner thigh (actually, i placed the thermometer from inside the cavity to pierce the inner thigh) reached 160... so I lowered the heat to 280 and by 2:00, bird was fully cooked. Let the turkey sit for 25 minutes, presented the bird, brought it back to the kitchen, and when I cut the turkey, juice started to flow out from the breast. I just twisted the legs and it came off easily, and no tinge of pink at all in the joints. All of my guests quoted that it is the juiciest and tastiest turkey they've had. We didn't have any left overs at all and that was 25 lbs for 3 people.
Anyway, thanks for the advise... and I hope you also had a great thanksgiving.

JEFF

Jeff,

Congrats on your turkey cooking success.

But you are kidding about no left-overs, right?

Three people devour a 25 lb. bird?

How is that possible?

TRL

DId I write 3? It's 8 people...
roughly 3 pound a person. but no kidding on no left overs. The dogs got the little pieces of meat between the ribs and cavities (my loving boyfriend had to strip the meat bones of meat for them by hand), and I think my cocker spaniel said to me "WTF!". But he really shouldn't be eating this stuff now anyways because he's now 38 pounds, and I just realized that he has become a rolly polly as he walked down the stairs last week... he's a fatty now like me.