The 40 lb. Turkey Saga

18 years ago

My daughterÂs ice hockey coach raises turkeys. Being new to the team, I had no idea he raised turkeys or the size of the birds. So when the coach asked if I would like a turkey, I of course said yes. When he asked what size, I said the bigger the better (we normally have a 30 lb.+ turkey). Now these turkeys are free range and fed organic feed only and are FRESH (slaughtered this Sunday) so they are "primo" hence I was very excited untilÂmy turkey was delivered. The behemoth weighed in at 40.5 lbs. Once I got a gander at the bird, I knew I was in trouble. I didnÂt have a pan big enough to fit a 20"L x 15"W x 10+"H bird. Heck my oven is only 21.5"L x 16"W.

Now I was in a panic, only 4 days until the big day and no pan. I called every restaurant & kitchen supply place within 50 miles, left messages and hit a lot of dead ends to no avail. Then late last night a company called back; they had a pan. At 6 AM this morning before work, I drove 30 miles to pick up a roaster pan to fit my bird. Pan in hand and definitely poorer, I flew to work. Hopefully I have calculated correctly and with the bird in the oven by 11 PM tonight, it should be ready for our feast tomorrow. By all reports from other team parents who have had these enormous birds in the past, the birds are delicious and tender. Keep your fingers crossed. (Yes I brined it.)

Did I mention my alarm is set to go off every 2 hours so I can baste the beast? :-)

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moosemac
Original Author

18 years ago

We ran into a couple of snags along the way. After 25 years of marriage, this is the first year I have hosted Thanksgiving for my in laws. My DFIL took it upon himself to turn the oven up on the turkey. Of course I didn't noticed until it was too late, so the bird was a tad over cooked. Also DFIL started carving the turkey BEFORE I took a picture. DFIL mean well, he was just trying to help but I wished he'd let me do the work. Anyway here's what I got.

The flavor of the bird was outstanding and it was tender. It had huge breast in relation to the legs which was great for my family since everyone like white meat. I already placed my order for next year.

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Comments (28)

kathleen_li
18 years ago
WOW! I am surprised it fit in your oven!!
Hope it is tasty, enjoy!
msmarion
18 years ago
OMG! I'm coming for sandwiches! I don't know enough people to invite to eat 40# of turkey.
Hope your turkey turns out great. Enjoy your Thanksgiving.
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scott55405
18 years ago
Wow! I didn't even know there were 40# turkeys, or even 30 for that matter. I think low 20s is the biggest my mom ever made, and even those were pretty big. I'm glad you found a pan, and it sounds heavenly. I don't think I've ever had a fresh turkey; if I ever cook for Thanksgiving again I'll have to look into that. Let us know how your dinner went.
sands99
18 years ago
Holy Cannoli Batman that is one big turkey! Best of luck I hope you have a great meat thermometer!
moosemac
Original Author
18 years ago
And my turkey wasn't the largest. There were 2 bigger, 47 lbs. 11 oz. and 43 lbs. 2 oz. Thanks everyone for the encouragement; I'll be sure to report on how the bird tasted. I'm praying it's not tough.
wizardnm
18 years ago
Never had a 40lb turkey, I'll be anxious to hear all the details. Bet it holds a lot of stuffing...

Nancy
ritaotay
18 years ago
Oh my!!!. That won't even fit in my oven ( 18 X 16.5 )... The two of us would be eating turkey for a year... LOL

Reminds me of the post about turkey wrestling from a few days ago... Tell hubby not to stand by the window tomorrow... LOL

I'll keep my finger crossed that all turns out well...

Rita
Terri_PacNW
18 years ago
That reminds me..There is a family here that farms on their families old homestead..They raise turkeys for T Day too...
Apparently home grown turkeys often get to be monsters! LOL
She was telling us one time that they had to "carve" the turkey in half to roast them..and carved them for everyone they sold them too..They were definately 40 plus pounders.

Yummm I wish I was in their "network" of people the sell them to!
femmelady
18 years ago
Can you take a picture of this big bird? I also have not heard of turkeys that big. I would love to see it all golden. Do you have a platter big enough? Good luck!!!
moosemac
Original Author
18 years ago
I will definitely take pictures and post them. The platter is no problem, years ago my Dad bought some huge round copper & brass trays at an auction; one is 36" in diameter. The smallet is 24" in diameter, I plam on covering it with foil.
msafirstein
18 years ago
When I was growing up my Mom always got a 25 lb, or thereabouts, turkey.

Make sure and take a picture I want to see it!

Michelle
User
18 years ago
My mom use to roast large turkeys. Somewhere in the 27 to 30 pound range and they were huge. I don't think I've ever seen a turkey that big. I would have had trouble fitting a container big enough to brine a turkey that size in my fridge. I hope you had help lifting it. I can't wait to see pictures of your beautiful roasted turkey.

Ann
woodie
18 years ago
My friends brother also raises turkeys and this year their bird is 44 pounds. Arnie said he got a hernia carrying it downstairs to the basement fridge and that he wishes he had a video of Kay trying to fit it into the fridge :)
Her daughter has a big enough oven, supposedly, but the biggest she's ever cooked was 39 pounds. I hope they send me pics!
scott55405
18 years ago
That reminds me of my dream range I saw in my friend's appliance collection on the east coast a number of years back. I think it was a Westinghouse. It was a 40" range, which were popular in postwar/mid-century times, but this one, instead of a half oven and storage space or two half ovens, it had one HUGE oven with 3 racks that spanned the entire 40" of the range. You could do some SERIOUS holiday cooking in that.
arabellamiller
18 years ago
Wow! I am dying to see a picture of that monster!

It's just the 5 of us this year, I should have just gotten a turkey breast, but I love the look of the whole bird so ours is a small one - around 13 lbs. We're still going to have plenty left over.

AM
The Dinner Chronicles

PS Moosemac, we have a couple of hockey moms on the board.
pkramer60
18 years ago
OMG, I would be afraid that I would drop that bemoth!
sprout26
18 years ago
But did you name it? Somewhere I read about people naming their turkeys...
May I suggest Puck?

Have a really fabulous day.
Lisa
susytwo
18 years ago
40 lbs! Holy moly.

Are you sure it's not an ostrich? ;-)
jojoco
18 years ago
40 lbs??? That outweighs my son's hockey bag! Sheesh, it almost outweighs my son.
Hope it came out well.
Jo
lascatx
18 years ago
Wow! I don't think I've seen a turkey over 27 lbs. Ours was 16 lbs, and then we had 3 additional guests, so we had almost no leftovers. No sandwiches and no tetrazini formy son. We wouldn't have had enough for dinner if we didn't have the ham also. I'm a bit jealous. Hope it was a good bird!
sands99
18 years ago
are you sure it wasn't a pterodactyl?

c'mon where are the pictures already?!?!
msafirstein
18 years ago
WOW...look at the size of those breasts!!!!!!!! Gorgeous bird!! I don't blame you for placing your order early, you've already got the pan, might as well make use of it!! LOL!!

Michelle
sands99
18 years ago
Looks good to me! but you could of put a small child/your MIL/a buick next to it so we could get a better idea of the size, relatively speaking.
acorn
18 years ago
A friend gave me alive turkey one Thanksgiving but we were visiting other friends so the turkey was saved. We were going to have him for Christmas. We went to dinner at the families, so the turkey was saved again. He was becomming a pet and had free range on the place. By the end of summer we would have to break the turkey to harness or butcher it. We butchered him and he weighed 40 lbs. This turkey was free range and went all over with the dogs so he was quite fit. LOL Too big for my oven. I baked the breast by itself with bacon strips over it, the breast was 11 lbs. I stewed the rest, made nice turkey and dumplings and turkey noodle.
femmelady
18 years ago
That is one beautiful bird! Glad he turned out so well for all the trouble and help from dear family members! Bet you have some leftovers! We're making turkey pot pies tomorrow!
san_
18 years ago
WOWZA! and congratulations on getting the job done! and i have to ask--will you ask for a similar-sized bird next year or are you going to step it down a bit?
moosemac
Original Author
14 years ago
Hi All,

This is my 5th Thanksgiving with a 40+ lb. turkey. This year's bird is a hefty 46 lbs. I'm doing things a little differently this year. I'm not putting the stuffing in the bird this year. He's heavy enough without it and I worry about getting the stuffing hot enought to be safe.

On the flip side that means I can't put the bird in the oven just yet so I have to stay up later. ARGH! The bird is beautiful as usual, freshly slaughtered on Sunday. With having such a big turkey you'd think there would be a slew of leftovers but last year we had enought for one turkey pie and one meal of sandwiches. Everyone loves the turkey so they all eat and eat and then take home doggie bags. LOL!

I'm trying the Crockpot Mashed Potato recipe this year. They tasted yummy today so...

Happy Thanksgiving!

The 40 lb. Turkey Saga

moosemac
Original Author

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