Is it just me or do turkeys seem to get bigger every year? Here's the thing: if you're feeding a crowd at Thanksgiving, it's really better to buy a second turkey rather than one of those mammoth ones. This is why.
With a big turkey, you start running into some big problems. It takes longer to thaw if it's frozen and then exponentially longer to cook. Plus, it tends to cook less evenly, leaving you with a platter of dry meat. These turkeys are also harder to maneuver, flip, carry, carve, and just about everything else.
All these problems are solved with a second, smaller turkey. You can cook them side-by-side in the oven without changing the cooking time for either bird. If you can't borrow a second roasting pan, these turkeys cook just as well in a baking pan or even a large cast-iron skillet.
Another bonus: buying smaller turkeys opens up a whole world of local, humanely-raised, heritage, and organic turkeys that you can buy. These turkeys aren't likely to be more than ten or twelve pounds, and two of them will be much tastier and more environmentally-friendly than one of those huge guys.
When buying turkey, figure on about a pound of meat per person. Two ten-pound turkeys for a crowd of 15 would feed everyone with plenty left for meals over the long weekend.
What kind of turkey are you roasting this year?
• Pictured Above: Roast Spatchcocked Turkey from The Bitten Word
Related: Against Trussing: Turkey Advice from Fine Cooking
(Image: The Bitten Word)
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Good tip.
Hooray that I don't have to cook turkey for the first time this year in several years, thanks to us finally moving closer to family.
I'll gladly eat my mother in law's turkey any day just as long as all I have to do is show up and ask her if she needs help. :)
I go for the smallest turkey I can get - a ten to twelve pounder.
Also, you can do each turkey with a different set of spices and such. Exciting!
Funny as last night I just decided to change my original order of one 18-20lber to two smaller ones. Our decision was based on the fact that we wanted to smoke our bird but were unsure if we would get sufficient drippings for the gravy.
Growing up, we usually had between 30-50 guests for Thanksgiving. So having one person carve slices of turkey for everyone was impractical. My mom would cook one bird the night before and another the day of Thanksgiving. The first bird would be carved and the meat warmed on a platter with some turkey stock. The second (which came out of the oven half an hour or so before dinner to rest) would make its ceremonial way to the table to be carved. The person carving would serve a few people at the dining table, and everyone else (we always had satellite tables in the living room) would help themselves from the platter on the buffet. Then people would just carve slices from the second bird for themselves if/when they wanted seconds.
It's a really good idea, and in the past we have done two, one in the deep fryer and one in the oven. But I couldn't fit two turkeys, not even two smallish ones, side by side in my oven.
You also get extra drumsticks!
All year long, watch for turkey thighs and wings at markets that feature in house roasted tuekey breasts. These parts are delicious when braised/smothered with onion, celery, etc. Very affordable also.
We have a regular size oven and can cook three 10 pound turkeys in it at once by cutting them in half and laying them out on rimmed baking sheets. Takes less time. You can get the meat guy to cut them in half in seconds. The hardest part is finding small turkeys!
Here's how to cook them.
http://wp.me/p2LOx3-3r
We usually get a 25 pounder. I'm not sure if this is the mammoth one you are talking about but it turns out fantastic every year. 25 is our limit though!
We raise our own heirloom turkeys - and this year they got HUGE! We processed the smallest hen two weeks early (a special order) and she was already 20lbs dressed. Smaller turkey? Not an option this year...
Another option is to do one regular sized turkey (15-ish pounds) and a bone-in turkey breast as well. This works well if you have a lot of people who prefer white meat over dark, of course.
EngineerChic - that's exactly what we do. We have 30-35 guest every year and most prefer white meat. So one turkey (and one tofurkey) gets deep fried and we cook 2-3 extra turkey breasts in a counter top nesco roaster. Mashed potatoes stay warm in another roaster and the oven is kept free for everything else.
You can get a local, humanely-raised, heritage, and organic turkey from your local meat farmer, and some of them just grow really big! We usually order a fresh 25 pounder through our meat CSA farmer. Bonus- they take less time to cook than commercial turkeys (no one believes it, but our farmer tells everyone that when they provide cooking instructions, and it's totally true).