Final Product

Well, I took my stuffed and trussed turkey to George's house. I could not find the rack that is supposed to go into the pan so I place the turkey on four long stalks of celery. I put it in the pan breast side down, a trick Grandma Patty ( my mother-in-law Patty Hulihan) taught me. It makes for juicier, moister breast meat. I also zapped it in the oven at 475 degrees for 15-20 minutes minutes to flash cook it and seal in the juices, another trick she taught me. After 15 or 20 min. minutes, we put the temperature dial down to 325 degrees. The rule of thumb is 20 minutes per pound which would make it a little over 6 hours for this turkey. But we did flash cook it, so that reduced the total cooking time. We put it in the oven at 1pm, with foil over it so it wouldn't brown too fast.

George took the foil off at 4:30 and we took the turkey out of the oven at 5:45pm. That wasn't the 6 hours, but it was done.
It was done! You have to let a cooked turkey stand for 15-20 minutes (cover it again with foil to keep it hot)so the juices get reabsorbed into the flesh. Otherwise if you start cutting it immediately out of the oven, the juices will spill out and your meat won't be as tasty. After we took it out of the oven and let it rest, I flipped it over so it would be breast side up. I used foil for "mitts" since I did not want to get the potholders soiled. George then got out his big cleaver and literally cut the turkey in half down the middle.

He was so thrilled. He thought he was going to have a turkey-less Thanksgiving this year because he was out of money and the family he lives with went out of state for 2 months. I brought over some real mashed potatoes that I had quickly made up while the turkey was resting..and some cranberry sauce. I also brought over some celery, carrots, onion and a few Knorr chicken bullion cubes so he could make broth with them and with the bones and skin. I took the meat off the bones of my half of the turkey. I had 12 cups of chopped cooked turkey! This was after John and I had our supper of a plateful each of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy and dressing. We had a side tossed salad, too. I simmered my vegetables and turkey bones and skin for 2 hours..what a heavenly smell. MMMMmmmm.After it cooks for several hours like that, strain it and discard the veggies and bones, etc..there is no food value left in them. I double bag it, tie it in a knot, and just put it in the garbage. Refrigerate the broth. I usually use a plastic pitcher or a glass bowl. Next morning, you will see a thin surface of fat on top of the broth. I usually scrape that off with a big spoon and discard it...again, in a plastic bag, tie the not.
Now you can make soup or gravy with this broth. Be creative. I like to just sip hot broth in a mug. I also like to add fresh ground black pepper to the broth along thin sliced green onions and tiny bits of meat.