Thanksgiving Turkey

[ha_asfan]

Thanksgiving is just about a month away and looks like I'll be putting a turkey into the Lisk then into the Chambers. Chickens are no problem for me but a bird as large as a turkey gives me pause. So, how have y'all [love that word] cooked your turkeys in the Chambers ? It's the risk of undercooking that has got me all stirred up..not that the in-laws aren't forgiving and it's not my reputation as a cook that even concerns me, it's the reputation of the Chambers and CWTGO that I need to protect. Am I going to be safe following the timing chart in the cookbook ? Any hints or tips are greatly appreciated. I've already been reminded to remove the plastic bag inside the bird...didn't do it a few years ago...that was the year I decided to cook a 30 lb. turkey on the BarBQ...

[chipperhiker]

Yum, yum, yum. A 30 lb. plastic-flavored turkey, just when I thought brining was the "in" thing! [img]wink.gif[/img]


-Jenn

<font color="#FFFFFF" size="1">[ November 02, 2006 06:50 PM: Message edited by: chipperhiker ]</font>

[lowracer]

Two words: Meat Thermometer.

[Todd W. White]

Right now, turkey is the same or less per pound as chicken.

Needless to say, we've cooked a lot of turkey lately - better flavor and more meat for the money.

You can safely and easily cook a large (and I do mean LARGE) turkey in your CHAMBERS oven on retained heat. All you have to do is follow the instructions found in the [b][i]"Idle Hour" Cookbook, 3rd Edition.[/b][/i] It will tell you how to cook whatever size turkey you've bought.

When we do it at our house, we:

1. Remove the racks.
2. Prepare the turkey. To do this, we:

---A. Wash it inside and out, pat it dry with paper towels.
---B. Place it on the inner tray of the monster-sized LISK roaster (that's been sprayed with non-stick spray).
---C. Then, using a large bottle of Tobasco sauce, I drench the inside of the bird, then liberally pour it all over the outside. If we're making dressing, I pour it inside before I put the dressing inside the turkey, then pour it over the outside. (Note: Do NOT use any salt or seasonings with salt in them, as it really dries out the turkey! Use Tobasco or seasonings of your choice, such as Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, etc., but NO SALT!)
---D. Place the tray with the turkey in the LISK roaster.
---E. Add about 1 Cup of chicken broth to the tray.

3. Preheat the Oven to 500 degrees for 10 minutes.
4. Place lid on LISK roaster and put the roaster in the Oven. Note: You can wait a bit to put the lid on if you want a browner bird - see the Cookbook for details on how long to leave it off. Personally, I leave the vents shut to maintain as moist a finished product as I possible.
5. Cook with the gas turned ON for 45 minutes for a 25-pound bird, slightly longer if you open the Oven door part way through and put the lid on the roaster.
6. Turn the gas OFF.
7. Cook on retained heat for 4 hours (I believe that's how long it takes - double check the Cookbook for exactly how long to cook on retained heat for the weight of the turkey you're cooking).
8. Re-light the Oven and burn the gas for an additional 20 minutes, then turn the gas OFF.
9. Cook on retained heat once more for approximately 2 additional hours.
10. Remove, carve, and serve (incidentally - make gravy using the Tobasco-laden drippings: FABULOUS! The only seasoning you'll need in it is salt!)

That said, here's the way CHAMBERS said you can do your turkey for THANKSGIVING (this is all quoted from the "Menu's of the Month" booklet that I have available on the Literature page):

[b][i]WEDNESDAY P.M. -[/b][/i] Bake pies...make cranberry sauce in Thermowell (a REALLY good recipe, too - TWW). Make ice-box rolls.

[b][i]WEDNESDAY NIGHT -[/b][/i] Start soup in Thermowell. Place turkey on oven. Sleep without worry.

[b][i]THURSDAY A.M. -[/b][/i] Prepare balance of Thanksgiving Dinner in not more than one or two hours.

[b][i]THURSDAY P.M. -[/b][/i] Serve dinner from 1:00 to 6:00 p.m.

A little judicious planning makes it possible to serve large dinners, home-cooked from soup to nuts, from your single-oven Chambers Range. ...our first suggestion is;

On Wednesday: Bake pies; cook cranberry sauce in Thermowell; cook soup in Thermoweel starting Wednesday night; mix ice-box rolls.

Thursday A.M.: Start turkey at breakfast-time; add yams and turn off gas. make salad and prepare Irish potatoes and Brussels sprouts for cooking; add tomato to soup and put back in Thermowell. Get table set, dishes out, celery and carrot curls prepared and in to chill.

Thursday P.M.: Whether you choose to serve dinner at 1, 2, 5 or 6, you are free after the above perparations to go places and do things for several hours. When you return, put potatoes and Brussels sprouts into Thermowell after removing soup from Thermowell and setting soup kettle on Griddle with very low flame under it. Remove turkey and yams and set on Griddle too. Make gravy and season yams. Bake rolls in Oven while getting meal onto table and mashing potatoes. Toast saltines just as roaster is removed to serve turkey, releasing broiler. Place pies back into Oven when rolls are removed, without any gas at all, and they will warm up deliciously from the "retained heat".

Now isn't that easy? It's easier to do than to write about, and a meal about which you can expand with pride, because you have accomplished that very modern American feat of being a chic, charming hostess, while serving delicious food with little or no assistance.

Alternate sequence, particularly adaptable to large turkeys:

On Wednesday: Make cranberry sauce and mix rolls. Start turkey Wednesday night and cook over night on "retained heat", just as you do the soup.

On Thursday: Remove cooked turkey from Oven and set on warm Griddle while you bake pies and rolls; reheat turkey, putting it back inot Oven after pies are made, with or without burning any more gas; continue as above.

Choose your method.

Happy cooking with the gas turned [b][i]OFF![/b][/i]

[Gasseous]

Todd,

You said to remove the racks.... do you put the Lisk directly on the bottom of the oven?

Gasseous

[ha_asfan]

Well Todd, that certtainly is thorough! Thank You. Your recipe seems easier to follow than the cookbook...and Tobasco is an intriguing ingredient. I'll re-read all the Chambers literature to get a solid handle the timing before I get too far along. I figure if this group can survive a plastic bag bird and not complain, I don't have much to loose here.

[berlyn]

Once again Asfan you have me LMAO [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

I admit turkey is under the "never done that" list along with the pie crust and pot pie.
This Thanksgiving I am getting out of it once again. We'll be headed north to Cowtown, that's Fort Worth for ya'll Yanks. The new sister-in-law
will be hosting us.

I have clients who have told me nothing beats a turkey baked in a Chambers. They swear by the retained heat of the oven!!

That's my story.......
berlyn

[Todd W. White]

If you use the monster-sized LISK roaster (which are hard to find), you do take the bottom rack out and place the roaster on the Oven floor. For the next biggest, you put one rack in it's lowest position, then place the roaster on it. Both the monster-sized and the jr.-monster-sized ones need to be turned slightly to the side to get them to fit in the oven.

[tux_sf]

Todd-
How big are the 'monster sized' roasters? I have the small, medium & large ones, but in the last several months of watching eBay I haven't run across the huge one.

Just curious about the size as I probably, really, honestly, don't need one! Not that that would stop me if I ran across one in the local thrift stores. I have the collector gene, so it has been a chore to restrain myself from getting the weird colored ones on eBay that have come up recently (now, if I had a yellow range there would have been no stopping me from getting the pale yellow one with green trim that was on a few weeks back!).

I will be doing a turkey in my B next week, but since it is just 2 of us & 1 little dog I probably won't go for the HUGE turkey. Maybe something around 16-20 lbs. will do. . .

After all, you do need those leftovers for turkey pot pie & turkey congee (Chinese rice porridge--more correctly called 'jook' in Cantonese).

--Danny