Two-Fer
My wife's employer has always given all their employees a turkey. This year for reasons I didn't hear, my wife brought home two turkeys. As normal, they give them to us way early and so I have to debate on what to do with them until our American Thanksgiving day rolls around. This year, the birds were given to us two weeks early.
I ended up putting them into our refrigerator which was no small feat and letting them thaw out. They were fully thawed out and ready to cook 9 days before Thanksgiving and so I decided to do the next best thing. I smoked both of them and they are resting on the counter as seen above cooling. When they cool, I will carve them up and freeze them. Then a day or two before Thanksgiving, I can just thaw them and reheat everything in the oven before eating, perhaps leaving the other bird still frozen and awaiting a rainy day.
I'm not sure how long I've been smoking turkeys but it has been for a long time. I suspect it coincided when I was gifted the smoker by my brother probably 20 or 25 years ago. It has seen it's better days and I had every intention of taking it apart and repainting it before the rust starts eating deeply into the metal but time got away from me this year.
We love smoked turkey, the following day. For some reason, smoked meats always taste better the next day. So by smoking our turkey early, we sort of get the best of both worlds, great tasting turkey and an oven that isn't working so hard come Thanksgiving morning.
We don't have any plans for this Thanksgiving and our respective families are scattered over the globe so it will be just my wife and kids. We've invited over a few other stragglers with no close family so perhaps we'll still have a table full. If not, I'm still thankful for my family and plenty of smoked turkey for everyone.
I used to regularly smoke turkeys, but my smoker didn't make the move from Utah back east... Those are some good looking birds!
ReplyDeleteThey certainly are bulky, and probably worst of all, smelly things to move.
DeleteI dub you, The Smoking Turkey Man. We have almost almost precooked the turkey but only a day or two before, and we have never smoked them -- in any form. 😎
ReplyDeleteOnce you eat one smoked, you have a hard time going back to plain old turkey.
DeleteSounds delicious, Ed.
ReplyDeleteSmoking is not something I have every done but probably should learn to do. I do like smoked meat.
It is so delicious. One of my favorites is to smoke chickens because I can fit a lot of them in it, and then make smoked chicken salad sandwiches for lunch.
DeleteI worked at for a grocery company for many years. At one point, they gave away turkey's but they gave us a certificate to be used at any one of our stores. This allowed us to pick the size we wanted and when we wanted.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, both of these were on the smaller side, at least comparing those dinosaur turkeys my grandmother used to make when I was young.
DeleteI'm not sure I've ever had smoked turkey. It's cool that your wife's employer still gives them to employees. That seems like such an old-fashioned thing to do, but it's a nice gesture.
ReplyDeleteI like it because we don't have to worry about fighting the crowds for our turkey.
DeleteThose are BIG turkeys! I bought a 5 pounder when I thought I might be doing Thanksgiving by myself with my mom and younger daughter. (prior to my brother's invitation) I'll have to figure out what to do with it--perhaps Xmas? I've never had smoked turkey but in general am not a fan of smoked meat. Perhaps I would change my mind trying yours!
ReplyDeleteI've seen a large turkey completely fill that pan where those two were sitting so they aren't very big. But I didn't look at the weight to know for sure. My guess is that they were probably 5 to 7 pounds each.
DeleteAlthough I would gladly share with you, I probably wouldn't badger someone to try smoked turkey, especially if they don't like other smoked meat products. Smoke flavor is very distinctive.
It sounds delicious!
ReplyDeleteIt always is. I'll verify it tomorrow.
DeleteWe like the plain old roasted turkey probably because we like the gravy! Happy Thanksgiving Ed!
ReplyDeleteYeah, we lose the fats smoking them. But we boil the carcasses and skim some fat off that and use some of the broth too for our gravy. It isn't quite as rich though.
DeleteAnd Happy Thanksgiving to your family as well!
DeleteSounds like your managing of the two turkeys worked out quite well! Every year Dan says he wants to smoke our Thanksgiving turkey, but we don't have a cold smoker. I'm surprised he hasn't tried to build one yet because smoked meats are really delicious.
ReplyDeleteI have never done any cold smoking but it would certainly fit into your homestead and preservation principles!
DeleteYou always amaze me with your cooking, canning and now smoking. I've never had a smoked turkey but they look really great. They look big. That was generous to give you guys two turkeys. We had to buy one (21 pounds) for $42.00 for our family get-together. I remember one year, inviting some sailors from the Naval Base in Illinois to Thanksgiving. That was fun and interesting. Other than that we always celebrated our Thanksgiving with close neighborhood friends because the rest of our family was in Hawaii or California. Now we live in Hawaii, but our kids and their families are in Illinois and South Asia. Sigh...
ReplyDeleteThe picture is deceiving. Both turkeys together probably weighed around 20 pounds.
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