Hi every one,
As some of you may recall several weeks ago I posted seeking info on whether you get more meat from one big turkey or two smaller ones. Well no one could give a definite answer to this question, not even my local butchers. It seemed everyone that answered was split like my family was.
I went to buy Turkeys last night and could find nothing bigger then just over 16#. I talked to meat manager at wally world and he told me he had some coming in today and would call me. He called me mid morning and told me the biggest he got in was 23# and there was only one that big. I told him I'd take it. I asked if they had any small ones around 12#. He told me they were ranging in size from almost 14# to 18# mostly hens very few toms, and there were plenty to choose from. I went to wally world and after sorting thew them I settled on 2 14# birds and the 23# bird. I wanted 2 small birds, who's combined weight was close to the large Bird, ounces difference not pounds. No such luck, these will have to do.
I am going to weigh them; before brine, after brine, after injecting, after the smoke, and again after they are cut up. By doing this I will be able too tell weight gain, weight loss, and which way gives the most meat . This should prove to be an interesting experiment. I will update this post as things progress. Some of the data will be irrelevant at this time, but as long as I'm doing this why not gather as much data as possible, never know when you may need it. We all may learn something from this.
The turkeys I bought are Riverside, which is a house brand, I'm told. Did some research and found out that Cargill is the owner of Riverside, as well as Honeysuckle White. Same turkey different wrapper, cheaper price.
Asked the meat manager On this 12-15-11 date. He told me it was a typo the date should be 1-23-13 same as best used by date. These are all flash frozen turkeys from this year, someone put today's date on the sticker. Sure hope he's right!
In the cooler to thaw. I will add ice to the cooler when the temp gets close to 40 degrees.
Digital probe with remote beeper monitoring the cooler temp, alarm set for 39 degrees. The remote beeper is useless for this application, as it beeps every once in awhile when the temp is with in 20 degrees. No biggie I just check it every so often. This is 15 minutes after turkeys were put in cooler.
I will update this as things progress. Most likely I will update when I start to brine.
As some of you may recall several weeks ago I posted seeking info on whether you get more meat from one big turkey or two smaller ones. Well no one could give a definite answer to this question, not even my local butchers. It seemed everyone that answered was split like my family was.
I went to buy Turkeys last night and could find nothing bigger then just over 16#. I talked to meat manager at wally world and he told me he had some coming in today and would call me. He called me mid morning and told me the biggest he got in was 23# and there was only one that big. I told him I'd take it. I asked if they had any small ones around 12#. He told me they were ranging in size from almost 14# to 18# mostly hens very few toms, and there were plenty to choose from. I went to wally world and after sorting thew them I settled on 2 14# birds and the 23# bird. I wanted 2 small birds, who's combined weight was close to the large Bird, ounces difference not pounds. No such luck, these will have to do.
I am going to weigh them; before brine, after brine, after injecting, after the smoke, and again after they are cut up. By doing this I will be able too tell weight gain, weight loss, and which way gives the most meat . This should prove to be an interesting experiment. I will update this post as things progress. Some of the data will be irrelevant at this time, but as long as I'm doing this why not gather as much data as possible, never know when you may need it. We all may learn something from this.
The turkeys I bought are Riverside, which is a house brand, I'm told. Did some research and found out that Cargill is the owner of Riverside, as well as Honeysuckle White. Same turkey different wrapper, cheaper price.
Asked the meat manager On this 12-15-11 date. He told me it was a typo the date should be 1-23-13 same as best used by date. These are all flash frozen turkeys from this year, someone put today's date on the sticker. Sure hope he's right!
In the cooler to thaw. I will add ice to the cooler when the temp gets close to 40 degrees.
Digital probe with remote beeper monitoring the cooler temp, alarm set for 39 degrees. The remote beeper is useless for this application, as it beeps every once in awhile when the temp is with in 20 degrees. No biggie I just check it every so often. This is 15 minutes after turkeys were put in cooler.
I will update this as things progress. Most likely I will update when I start to brine.
Last edited: