Cooling down a 15 pound Turkey

Jeff_in_KC · 11-16-2005, 09:39 PM

OK something I didn't think of at 6pm tonight. What's the best way to cool and store this big ol' bird before bed time? I doubt I can just leave it out all night! I'm thinking carve and let the cut meat cool maybe? Any suggestions? It's almost 10pm and I'd like to get to bed soon!

qman · 11-16-2005, 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff_in_KC

OK something I didn't think of at 6pm tonight. What's the best way to cool and store this big ol' bird before bed time? I doubt I can just leave it out all night! I'm thinking carve and let the cut meat cool maybe? Any suggestions? It's almost 10pm and I'd like to get to bed soon!

Jeff, this may sound crazy, but if you have a plastic bag big enough to hold the turkey[whole], the best thing to do is seal it in the plastic, and then put it in your shower, and run cold water over it for a while. A half hour or so should bring the temp down to where you can put it in the fridge safely. It will be much better if you don't slice it hot. that will allow all the juices to run out.

Any food safe plastic bag will work

BrooklynQ · 11-16-2005, 09:52 PM

Why not just wrap it and put it directly in the fridge? Why the extra cool down step?

qman · 11-16-2005, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrooklynQ

Why not just wrap it and put it directly in the fridge? Why the extra cool down step?

Most home fridges cannot handle a sudden heat load like that, and the bird will actually heat up the fridge, and it will take so long to cool everything back down that every thing in the fridge will be in the danger zone for too long.
Therefore, cool the bird down first, get it into the room temp range fast, then into the fridge.

BBQchef33 · 11-16-2005, 10:05 PM

eat it now.

Jeff_in_KC · 11-16-2005, 11:33 PM

Oh crap, Phil! I HAVE been eating it! It's farking almost midnight and I'm STUFFED myself!

I ended up slicing up all of it. Thinking of taking to work tomorrow for samples and see if I can get some orders for $40 birds I buy for $10! LOL! Maybe not on second thought! This has been an inordinate amount of work!

Anyway, it tastes awesome! I was a bit disappointed in that some pockets of the garlic butter injection failed to spread throughout the bird and where they pooled, it looks kinda mushy. Pretty garlic intense too. My wife wants me to go a different injection.

No comments there! Here's a few pictures... The last one is my cook area I recently completed with paving bricks. It's got a north wind block from the storage shed wall and a south wind block from the 6 foot privacy fence. Gets it out away from the deck and kinda hidden from view.

CarbonToe · 11-17-2005, 02:51 AM

Jeff, I like your setup. Do you cover them or does the eves of the house offer enough shelter form the rain?

Neil · 11-17-2005, 03:50 AM

Turkey looks mighty tastey there Jeff.

qman · 11-17-2005, 05:31 AM

Jeff, the turkey does indeed look very good.

Your cooking area, however is way to neat and un-cluttered

Trout_man22 · 11-17-2005, 06:32 AM

Look great, when's dinner on?

Elkhound · 11-17-2005, 07:33 AM

Bird looks great. I just hope the two I have in the fridge waiting for after work turn out so good

VitaminQ · 11-17-2005, 08:08 AM

Nice-looking bird, Jeff. Send some down here!

I like your cooking area, too. I'm still moving mine around almost every time I cook anything. Unfortunately, I don't have a good space with a built-in North wind block.

ggeilman · 11-17-2005, 08:11 AM

Good? That turkey looks awesome! Yeah generally you don't want to put hot food in the refrigerator as it can lead to bacteria growing as it heats up the rest of the fridge. It probably was cool enough last night though to put in the garage. That was how we generally defrosted out turkeys as a kid in Deerfield.

qman · 11-17-2005, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ggeilman

. It probably was cool enough last night though to put in the garage. That was how we generally defrosted out turkeys as a kid in Deerfield.

Just goes to show you what geography will do to your thinking--I'm sure is's geography, not senility. I have lived in Florida so long it never crossed my mind that some of you guys already have cold enough weather that you can use the outside or unheated spaces of your house to store/cooldown food.

My shower suggestion is a hot climate sub. It works pretty good, but of course just putting the bird in a cold garage for a while would be much simpler.

ggeilman · 11-17-2005, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by qman

Just goes to show you what geography will do to your thinking--I'm sure is's geography, not senility. I have lived in Florida so long it never crossed my mind that some of you guys already have cold enough weather that you can use the outside or unheated spaces of your house to store/cooldown food.

My shower suggestion is a hot climate sub. It works pretty good, but of course just putting the bird in a cold garage for a while would be much simpler.

It was cold enough here in SA last night to put in the garage! We had freeze warnings out last night

11-16-2005, 09:39 PM	#1
Jeff_in_KC somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 01-04-05 Location: Pleasant Hill, MO	Cooling down a 15 pound Turkey OK something I didn't think of at 6pm tonight. What's the best way to cool and store this big ol' bird before bed time? I doubt I can just leave it out all night! I'm thinking carve and let the cut meat cool maybe? Any suggestions? It's almost 10pm and I'd like to get to bed soon! __________________ KCBS Member #14287

11-16-2005, 10:05 PM	#5
BBQchef33 Grand Poobah and Site Admin Join Date: 08-11-03 Location: Long Island, NY Name/Nickname : Phil	eat it now. __________________ Site Administrator and Grand PooBah CBJ with a Fuzzy Blue Hat, 18 Foot Competition Trailer, Customized Klose BYC, Custom Built Shirley built to feed our Veterans(A.K.A "Abrams"), 1 Double Barreled Lang 84, 1 Heavily Modified Bionic Bandera, 1 Custom Super Medium Stickburning Spicewine w/stoker, 2 XL BGE, 1 Mini BGE, 2 Pit Barrel Cookers, 3 WSMs, 3 Weber Kettles, an NB Hondo, A Modified Brinkman Horizontal, DCS 48" Grill, a Broilmaster P3, a Blackstone 36 and 17, a covered, pellet pooping FEC100, and our duck died. :( News Flash: "A mans worth is judged by the weight of his integrity " You know your getting older when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy Smoke on KC. WWW.BBQ-BRETHREN.COM

11-16-2005, 11:33 PM	#6
Jeff_in_KC somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 01-04-05 Location: Pleasant Hill, MO	Oh crap, Phil! I HAVE been eating it! It's farking almost midnight and I'm STUFFED myself! I ended up slicing up all of it. Thinking of taking to work tomorrow for samples and see if I can get some orders for $40 birds I buy for $10! LOL! Maybe not on second thought! This has been an inordinate amount of work! Anyway, it tastes awesome! I was a bit disappointed in that some pockets of the garlic butter injection failed to spread throughout the bird and where they pooled, it looks kinda mushy. Pretty garlic intense too. My wife wants me to go a different injection. No comments there! Here's a few pictures... The last one is my cook area I recently completed with paving bricks. It's got a north wind block from the storage shed wall and a south wind block from the 6 foot privacy fence. Gets it out away from the deck and kinda hidden from view. __________________ KCBS Member #14287 Last edited by Jeff_in_KC; 01-26-2006 at 10:26 AM..

11-17-2005, 02:51 AM	#7
CarbonToe is One Chatty Farker Join Date: 09-07-05 Location: Shoreham-by-Sea, UK	Jeff, I like your setup. Do you cover them or does the eves of the house offer enough shelter form the rain? __________________ Surf'n'Smoke BBQ Team

11-17-2005, 03:50 AM	#8
Neil Quintessential Chatty Farker Join Date: 06-04-04 Location: St. Joseph, MI	Turkey looks mighty tastey there Jeff. __________________ "You can't always get what you want but if you try sometime you just might find you get what you need" Mange Bene Viva Bene! Old Country Over/Under, Weber: 18.5" WSM, 22.5" WSM, Weber Performer(Col. Steve Austin Mod), Two 22.5" Kettles, & a Smokey Joe; Old Country 36" griddle, Luhr-Jensen Big Chief, Turkey Fryer, Rocky Mountain Camp Stove and a UDS.

11-16-2005, 09:52 PM	#3
BrooklynQ Banned Join Date: 07-18-04	Why not just wrap it and put it directly in the fridge? Why the extra cool down step?

11-17-2005, 05:31 AM	#9
qman Babbling Farker Join Date: 07-08-05 Location: Ocoee, Fl	Jeff, the turkey does indeed look very good. Your cooking area, however is way to neat and un-cluttered __________________ qman Para Bellum

11-17-2005, 06:32 AM	#10
Trout_man22 is One Chatty Farker Join Date: 05-16-04 Location: Colonial Heights, Virginia	Look great, when's dinner on? __________________ Go Green use mercury laced low watt fluorescent bulbs and kill the earth slowly ! "God either exists or He doesn't.... I believe in God." Blaise Pascal I'm a sinner, I regret my sin and will try to never do it again.

11-17-2005, 07:33 AM	#11
Elkhound On the road to being a farker Join Date: 04-29-05 Location: Houston, TX	Bird looks great. I just hope the two I have in the fridge waiting for after work turn out so good __________________ Rick Houston, TX Modified Bandera

11-17-2005, 08:08 AM	#12
VitaminQ is One Chatty Farker Join Date: 06-29-05 Location: Dallas, TX	Nice-looking bird, Jeff. Send some down here! I like your cooking area, too. I'm still moving mine around almost every time I cook anything. Unfortunately, I don't have a good space with a built-in North wind block. __________________ Shohn ECB w/mods Weber Smokey Joe 18" Weber Kettle 22" Weber clone kettle Curb-foundling char-broil gasser WSM: Assembled! First cook: 8/25/06 Fanatical devotion to the Q

11-17-2005, 08:11 AM	#13
ggeilman is One Chatty Farker Join Date: 08-14-05 Location: San Antonio, TX	Good? That turkey looks awesome! Yeah generally you don't want to put hot food in the refrigerator as it can lead to bacteria growing as it heats up the rest of the fridge. It probably was cool enough last night though to put in the garage. That was how we generally defrosted out turkeys as a kid in Deerfield. __________________ NB Bandera with mods, Weber Kettle, Texas Trailblazer

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