The Saga of the 30 Pound Turkey

One of the highlights of last month's trip to the local food auction was the purchase of a 30# frozen turkey (for $15.00!). A few problems presented themselves right off:

1. No way would it fit into my freezer
2. No way would it fit into any roasting pan I own
3. No way would it fit into the oven

And hate to admit, I'm not THAT big a fan of turkey. But for that price, around 50 cents/lb...can't beat that with a stick!!

So Mr or Ms Turkey pretty much sat out on my enclosed, unheated front porch for a few weeks. Temperatures were in the single digits outside, so it stayed nice and frozen solid. Then we got a warming spell, and since the porch is south-facing, well...the turkey started to thaw. I was okay leaving it in a refrigerated state, and there were no real heat waves in the forecast, but it could't sit out there forever. The frequency of dog fights over Who Gets To Guard The Turkey was escalating, and T-Day had to arrive sooner than later!

Hauled that 30# of dead weight inside, accompanied by a parade of eager Corgis. It barely fit into the sink where I could remove the wrappings and rinse it off. Then, feeling uncomfortably like a serial killer, proceeded to dismember and hack apart the carcass!

Ended up cutting off the legs and wings, carving out the white meat, and the rest of the carcass I hacked up into hand-sized portions to feed to the dogs (I feed a raw diet, so they'd love that!). If I were a big fan of turkey I probably would have made broth and then soup from the carcass. IF.

This bird was HUGE! I'm sure each breast half weighed 5# alone, and the wings...just dang!

 Not having the time that day to deal with the legs and wings, I put them out on the deck into the freezing temperatures (no room in the refrigerator). Didn't check the weather forecast, but the snow didn't hurt them any. Just had to rinse them off, pat them dry, and eventually pan-roasted them up for quite a few meals and an ultimate turkey pot pie!

The white meat ended up as turkey jerky! Half I made for me, using a basic beef jerky marinade and letting it spend many hours in the dehydrator at 135 degrees. Came out GREAT! The other half I didn't marinate, just dried it, and ended up with a pound or so of dog treats. Cheaper than store bought dog turkey jerky, and I know this didn't come from China!

The dogs enjoyed the carcass for their raw meals for three days in a row, which included the skin and giblets. And all that was left was the un-used pop-up timer, and the little plastic leg binders.

Pretty much used everything but the gobble!