It’s Thanksgiving weekend – do you have your turkey? Whether it’s your first time hosting relatives for a big Thanksgiving feast, or you’re tired of bringing yet another undercooked or too dry bird to the supper table, there’s plenty of advice for the poultry-perplexed on how best to prepare the gobbler.
Kyle Iseke, owner of D’Arcy’s Meat Market in Campbell Park, said many customers ask how to prepare the turkey they’re buying for Thanksgiving dinner – should the stuffing be cooked in the bird, or alongside it? “Either way is fine,” he says. Roast, deep-fry, or barbecue on the rotisserie? “Traditionalists here – roasting is the safest way to cook.” And how do you know when the meat is cooked? “Meat thermometer at 180 degrees in the drumstick, or when juices run clear and leg pulls away easily.”
As Iseke and staff answer these and other questions, they’re busy packing up the just-delivered fresh turkeys for pick-up, or doing special order work – de-boning, pre-cooking and slicing, etc. – some 400 turkeys, in fact, ranging from 14 to 30 pounds – at $3.99 a pound – that are just arriving from several small farms north of St. Albert.
While groceries have bins full of frozen birds, often at below-cost prices and definitely from afar, D’Arcy’s works with a number of local farmers and suppliers to bring fresh meat and poultry to buyers.
“We sell the same turkey you’d get 100 years ago – raised outdoors and without hormones,” Iseke said. “It’s a natural product, and the fact that we get almost 400 turkey orders a year speaks to people’s desire for quality, locally-sourced foods. Not everyone realizes how lucky we are in St. Albert to have access to such top-notch meats and poultry grown in our northern farming communities.”
In recent years, Iseke said customers have preferred smaller turkeys – he sells about 200 birds that are less than 20 pounds – and more of smoked hams or unusual offerings such as the turducken, a boneless chicken in a boneless duck inside of a semi-boneless turkey.
“It takes all day to cook, but it’s a lot of meat – even a small one can feed about 20,” Iseke said. “But if you can dream it and it has to do with meat, we can do it.”
D’Arcy’s charcutier manager Paul Cousineau said he favours his turkey done in a 350-degree oven using a V-shaped rack in a roaster, with plenty of basting in the latter half of cooking time. He’s also a fan of brining during preparation, for a guaranteed juicy turkey – it’s a process of submerging the bird in a mix of water, salt and sugar for about an hour per pound of turkey.
“If you brine, rinse well before cooking, and leave salt out of your stuffing if it’s going in the bird,” Cousineau said. “And use the baste and shield method while cooking, covering the breast and top of drumstick loosely with foil part way through cooking. That helps the breast meat from drying out before the dark meat is cooked.”
Most fresh turkeys have been spoken for at D’Arcy’s, but last-minute customers can call or stop in to see what’s still available on Saturday.
And when the question arises mid-cooking, try the turkey hotlines set up all Thanksgiving weekend. Butterball Canada, for example, answers thousands of calls each Thanksgiving and Christmas – you’re not alone! And remember, there are no silly questions.
How many ways can you cook a turkey?
According to the website everythingzoomer.com, you can get better roasting results by partially de-boning the turkey (ask your butcher, or do it yourself) and serving (buffet style). People won’t know you cooked it off the bone, and it cuts down a lot of the cooking time.<br /><br />If you’re determined to grill the bird, use a smaller one (under 14 pounds) on a rotisserie, or on a roasting pan on the grill for two to three hours. And while deep frying is a quick method only needing about three minutes per pound to cook, it requires special equipment, lots of space and safety precautions. You don’t want to spend Thanksgiving in the hospital emergency room with a bad burn.
