Comments on: Confessional Sunday: The Great Turkey Debacle of 2002 http://www.home-ec101.com/confessional-sunday-the-great-turkey-debacle-of-2002/ Real skills for real people with real lives. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:14:23 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Princess Leia http://www.home-ec101.com/confessional-sunday-the-great-turkey-debacle-of-2002/comment-page-1/#comment-27794 Princess Leia Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:26:03 +0000 http://www.home-ec101.com/?p=1617#comment-27794 It was the Thanksgiving before hubs and I got married and both sets of parents were in town for the holiday and for the wedding shower which was that weekend. I'd "done" thanksgiving dinner a couple of times before on my own (at least once overseas where substitutions had to abound), so I wasn't terribly concerned about it. I got a _fresh_ bird and cooked it according to package directions. It never "popped" its thermometer, so I just assumed that the thermometer was bad...but when we'd stick a real thermometer in, it never quite got up to temp. Everything else was ready, we were all starving, and we kept giving the turkey "just a few more minutes" but it never seemed to get completely done (and we ended up giving it at least an hour extra). Finally we sliced off a bunch of the meat and stuck it in the microwave until it was edible. All I can think of is that either the weight was _way_ off, or it had been frozen at some point and didn't completely thaw before they sold it to me as "fresh." Kind of an embarrassing way to "prove" your cooking abilities to the future in-laws. It was the Thanksgiving before hubs and I got married and both sets of parents were in town for the holiday and for the wedding shower which was that weekend. I’d “done” thanksgiving dinner a couple of times before on my own (at least once overseas where substitutions had to abound), so I wasn’t terribly concerned about it. I got a _fresh_ bird and cooked it according to package directions.

It never “popped” its thermometer, so I just assumed that the thermometer was bad…but when we’d stick a real thermometer in, it never quite got up to temp. Everything else was ready, we were all starving, and we kept giving the turkey “just a few more minutes” but it never seemed to get completely done (and we ended up giving it at least an hour extra). Finally we sliced off a bunch of the meat and stuck it in the microwave until it was edible.

All I can think of is that either the weight was _way_ off, or it had been frozen at some point and didn’t completely thaw before they sold it to me as “fresh.”

Kind of an embarrassing way to “prove” your cooking abilities to the future in-laws.

]]> By: Lisa http://www.home-ec101.com/confessional-sunday-the-great-turkey-debacle-of-2002/comment-page-1/#comment-27785 Lisa Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:27:38 +0000 http://www.home-ec101.com/?p=1617#comment-27785 A few years ago, I agreed to cook the turkey and bring it over to the inlaws, who were preparing the rest of the feast. Hours went by, but according to the thermometer, the dark meat was not cooking right at all. Finally, almost two hours past the approximate cooking time, I realized I had the oven on broil! With the family calling every 15 minutes to ask where we were, we cut our losses and brought over the half-cooked bird. At least the breast was edible. A few years ago, I agreed to cook the turkey and bring it over to the inlaws, who were preparing the rest of the feast. Hours went by, but according to the thermometer, the dark meat was not cooking right at all. Finally, almost two hours past the approximate cooking time, I realized I had the oven on broil! With the family calling every 15 minutes to ask where we were, we cut our losses and brought over the half-cooked bird. At least the breast was edible.

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