Turducken, anyone cook one before?

[Tik-Tok]

I've ordered one for xmas, though I might save it for New Years, as we already bought a turkey. Has anyone cooked one before? How long does it take with a normal oven (read: NOT convection)?

[Artega]

No idea
but make sure you give a review of it after your feast.

[CausalInfluence]

food network ---> Paula's best dishs. she did a turducken a little while ago

[4lti7ude]

Lol dam.
I made one I think 1 oe 2 Years again.
I can show you some pictures if you want.

About 1-2 Hours of Prep as I remember. Which included all the stuffings being made all the deboning and stitching up of the turkey.
Then im pretty sure we cooked it for at least 10 hours on a normal oven.

Its been a while but im pretty sure it was 10hours plus.

Woke up at 6Am in the morning to finish for a banquet at around 7.

[BigDannyCool]

doesn't it have instructions on the package? i would think it would take at least an hour more then a regular turkey being as it would be really thick. The only way of knowing is sticking a thermometer in it .

[BigDannyCool]

Originally posted by 4lti7ude
Lol dam.
I made one I think 1 oe 2 Years again.
I can show you some pictures if you want.

About 1-2 Hours of Prep as I remember. Which included all the stuffings being made all the deboning and stitching up of the turkey.
Then im pretty sure we cooked it for at least 10 hours on a normal oven.

Its been a while but im pretty sure it was 10hours plus.

Woke up at 6Am in the morning to finish for a banquet at around 7.

there's no way you need 10 hours to cook that thing. Your oven must suck

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by BigDannyCool


there's no way you need 10 hours to cook that thing.

That's what I'm reading on the net, but it seemed too long, that's why I'm asking here, lol. Guess it's true.

[CausalInfluence]

^ no dude, some recipies call for the oven to be set for only 250 degrees (keep in mind cooked = 170) and slow cook the bird for 6-18 hours.

[BigDannyCool]

Originally posted by CausalInfluence
^ no dude, some recipies call for the oven to be set for only 250 degrees (keep in mind cooked = 170) and slow cook the bird for 6-18 hours.

i guess it depends on whose recipe you use. Some say 10 hours same say 5

[4lti7ude]

Lol seriously it took a dam long time.
It has been a year or two so I dont remember the exact time it took, but it was a long time to do.
We did use a thermometer, and also turkey popper.
Popper was messed but it was just taking a long time to do.

Practiced on a chicken before on one oven which wasnt to well but for the turduckin we used a newly bought oven.

Here are some pictures.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a157/rice_ghost/ChristmasBanquet0002.jpghttp://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a157/rice_ghost/ChristmasBanquet0003.jpg

And ya it was 2006. Basted with honey from a bee farm. All homemade seasonings and stuffings.
2 Kinds of stuffing, one a more traditional turkey and the other was a kind of different meatier swing on stuffing.

Stuffing was under turduckin to absorb the honey and drippings witha 2 level pan, and some of the traditional style stuffing was inside the turduckin on all the layers.

[phunx]

Be a man.:thumbsup:
Turbaconducken (http://bacontoday.com/turbaconducken-turducken-wrapped-in-bacon/)

[kaput]

.

[CausalInfluence]

Now that is being a man.

http://www.snopes.com/food/prepare/camel.asp

[flipstah]

Never tried, nor heard of a turducken till today.

Very interesting dish indeed! Hope it turns out well and tell us how it went! :thumbsup:

[max_boost]

I'm disturbed by the whole idea of a Turducken. :nut: :nut: :nut:

[CausalInfluence]

woops

[Spoons]

Originally posted by max_boost
I'm disturbed by the whole idea of a Turducken. :nut: :nut: :nut:

It's just a chicken, stuffed into a duck, which is then stuffed into a turkey? What's so bad about that?

It's actually really really good. Just a bitch to prepare.

[Tik-Tok]

If there's any room left... I'm going to shove some bacon in there too :D

[Kritafo]

Where did you order? Valbella Meats, or maybe Second to None? They will tell you exactly what to do. We did one a few years back, but I wasn't the cook that night. But I know my Aunt got the instructions from the butcher. We always use bacon on top of our turkey whether it's turducken or not. I mean like 2 packages covering the entire turkey.

[nonlinear]

i've wanted to try making one of these since first hearing about it a few years ago, however we are just two people and would need a family or big group of friends to consume all that meat... i mean it's 3 birds!

you can order them from railway deli in canmore (AWESOME market/deli, stop in if you've never been. even dope ass gourmet sandwiches for like $7). Near thanksgiving, the railway deli serves turduken meals in their deli. i wanted to stop in last time, but didn't get around to it. would be a good time to try it though if you don't have enough people to commit to roasting 3 different birds at one time LOLOL

[nonlinear]

for those who haven't heard about them before:

outside view (notice the chinese dood in the background, this is a perfect meal for beyond LOLOL):http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Turducken_easter06.jpg/300px-Turducken_easter06.jpg


sausage-stuffed turducken, sliced into quarters to show inside:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Turducken_quartered_cross-section.jpg/800px-Turducken_quartered_cross-section.jpg

[ianmcc]

Originally posted by nonlinear

you can order them from railway deli in canmore (AWESOME market/deli, stop in if you've never been. even dope ass gourmet sandwiches for like $7). Near thanksgiving, the railway deli serves turduken meals in their deli.

We ordered one from them last year.
http://www.griesserspoon.com/home.html
1. Low Temperature Cooking
Heat oven to 190* F
Place the bird on a rack and put it in an oven pan and set it in the center of the oven and bake until internal temperature exceeds 170° F, up to 15 hours (depending on size).

2. High Temperature Cooking instructions!
Heat oven to 375* F
The 15 – 22 pound (7-10kg) cooks at 375?F for 4.5 – 5 hours covered and 1 hour uncovered, breast down or until internal temperature exceeds 170*F. We recommend basting the Turducken during its roasting time every ½ hour to keep it nice and moist. Use its own drippings mixed with water and white wine.

Cost: figure around $22/kg.
Is it worth the extra cost? If you have guests that will appreciate the quality and the effort you went through, yes.
If you have ungrateful family over, they could care less as long as someone else is feeding them.

[flipstah]

Originally posted by nonlinear
for those who haven't heard about them before:

outside view (notice the chinese dood in the background, this is a perfect meal for beyond LOLOL):http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Turducken_easter06.jpg/300px-Turducken_easter06.jpg


sausage-stuffed turducken, sliced into quarters to show inside:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Turducken_quartered_cross-section.jpg/800px-Turducken_quartered_cross-section.jpg

As I see more pictures, I question about its taste. Duck is quite fatty while the sausage there has a different fatty taste.

Not sure how to explain my worry but I guess I gotta try it out before I start hatin.'

Is there a place in Calgary that may have this delectable dish? Canmore is a tad far, especially with the conditions outside.

[Kritafo]

Cool thanks for the info nonlinear never heard of the place, we will have to make a trip out there.

[nonlinear]

^^yea, stop by when you get a chance. it's right by the train tracks at the intersection of bow valley trail and railway ave (near avalanche video). on one side of the store is a fairly upscale and well-stocked market/deli, and on the other side is a cafeteria/lunch counter type thing, with a dining room and also a dining patio. their food is just awesome, and it's a great deal too. when i'm messing around in the mountains, i'll often swing by there and grab a sandwich to take out to the field. they are HUGE and have awesome high quality meats and bread and cheese and toppings. it's far superior to subway and it's cheaper - only like $7 or so

http://www.railwaydeli.com/

[Tik-Tok]

Due to other family commitments on actual Christmas, we used the turducken last night, as the first of two xmas's we're having.

Turducken turned out awesome... awesome to the max.

Cooked at 250*F, it took 8 hours with the lid on to get to fully internally cooked, then I took the lid off, and broiled it for another hour to get in nice and cripsy brown. After that, we let it sit (lid back on) for another hour outside of the oven so that it could solidify enough to carve. The nicest part was, I didn't have to keep opening the oven to baste.

Turducken in the raw

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u64/TykTauk/Christmas2008015.jpg


Fully cooked, but lacking that crispy texture everyone loves

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u64/TykTauk/Christmas2008016.jpg


An hour probably wasn't long enough to brown it, but I didn't want to overcook the insides, and have a dry turk....er....chick...er duck.

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u64/TykTauk/Christmas2008022.jpg


Now here's where I made my mistake for carving. For dinner (of 5) I started at the front and made my way back. Wasn't really thinking at the time, as making dinner was hectic, but MOST of the duck/chicken is in the back half. So my guests didn't get very much benefit of the other meats. However, it was still a VERY juicy turkey, very tasty, and easy to carve, as there are no bones. Here's what's left after 5 people had two helpings each :nut:

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u64/TykTauk/Christmas2008027.jpg

Today for lunch, I decided to enjoy a delicious turducken sandwich. I decided to dig in for the tasty half, and man it's a good turkey, but with the other two birds in there, it's delectable. The absolute BEST leftover sandwich I've ever had in my life!

Here's a better shot of the middle of the fowl, where there's more meat to be had.

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u64/TykTauk/Christmas2008078.jpg


I would definitely recommend a turducken to anyone and everyone. If your guests aren't connoisseur's, feed them the head end, so you don't waste the savory parts on them, and enjoy the rest yourself!

(one draw back though... no room for stuffing! I love pork sausage stuffing, and it just isn't the same making it as dressing... oh well, I still have one more xmas meal to enjoy!)

[n1zm0]

lol that is so clean^ looks like there was barely any juices in the pot, i'm assuming its all in the meat?

my brother and I did a quail and chicken one and put bacon between the quail and the chicken and inside the chicken skin, soo juicy.. but we made an absolute mess, it wasn't the prettiest ..Chiquail?

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by n1zm0
lol that is so clean^ looks like there was barely any juices in the pot, i'm assuming its all in the meat?


Oh god no, that thing bled fat like a a mutherf$%^er!, I had to drain it twice over the 8 hours... here's a pic of 80% of it, used for making the gravy!

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u64/TykTauk/Christmas2008017.jpg



Once you let it sit for an hour after it's cooked though, it firms up really nice, and most of the grease it gone by then anyways, making it easy to carve, and nice and tender.

[lint]

So where did you order it from and how big was it?

[sputnik]

Originally posted by max_boost
I'm disturbed by the whole idea of a Turducken. :nut: :nut: :nut:

:werd:

I think the first four letters says it all...

TURDucken

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by lint
So where did you order it from and how big was it?

Weighed in at 18 lbs, the only two bones in the whole thing are the legs. I ordered it from "The Better Butcher" on the corner of Heritage and Fairmount Drive, only because they are close to me. I'd never been there prior to this, but they are very friendly, and helpful.




Originally posted by max_boost
I'm disturbed by the whole idea of a Turducken.

Originally posted by sputnik

I think the first four letters says it all...
turducken

So you're not ones to enjoy Chicken Cordon Bleu? Or any other stuffed chicken recipe?

[sputnik]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
So you're not ones to enjoy Chicken Cordon Bleu? Or any other stuffed chicken recipe?

That's completely different.

Stuffing is meant to go inside a turkey. Not another bird or two.

It comes down to cooking times and keeping the meat from drying out. It is physically impossible to have moist turkey while ensuring the chicken and duck are cooked fully.

With chicken cordon bleu you only have to cook the chicken fully as the ham only needs to be heated and the cheese melted.

[tjtd00]

thanks for the insight Tik-tok, i have just ordered mine and am going to cook this up on weds for our traditional christmas eve dinner. Any tips that you wish you had done but didn't do this time around? Thanks

[lint]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
Weighed in at 18 lbs, the only two bones in the whole thing are the legs. I ordered it from "The Better Butcher" on the corner of Heritage and Fairmount Drive, only because they are close to me. I'd never been there prior to this, but they are very friendly, and helpful.


I've got one on the way from bon ton meat market, about the same size, so thanks for the cooking time.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by tjtd00
Any tips that you wish you had done but didn't do this time around? Thanks

1) Use more time browning, it took 8 hours to get to 165*F, then I browned for an hour. I didn't think it was enough for my tastes. If you like a crispier outside, maybe do 7 hours? Then take the lid off to brown (or take it completely out of the roaster, if that's your style)

2) Cut it in half, then carve from the middle, to the back so all your guests will enjoy as much duck/chicken as possible (or cut it from the front if you want to keep it all to yourself, lol)

Also keep an eye on the fat at the bottom of the roaster. After 4 hours I took it out to have a peak, and the level was above my drip stand, so the bottom of my turducken was sitting in grease! I drained it at 4 hours, then again at 8, when it was time to take the lid off.

edit: Oh, also I used 250*F because I have a crappy old oven. I was told 225, but 250 worked well for me.



Originally posted by sputnik


It comes down to cooking times and keeping the meat from drying out. It is physically impossible to have moist turkey while ensuring the chicken and duck are cooked fully.


No it isn't :dunno: . Even the white meat was deliciously moist, and the duck was fully cooked at 165*F. Maybe if you're trying to cook it at normal turkey temp (350*), instead of slow-cooking at 225-250 you would have problems.

To each their own I suppose though. If you're not into it, you're not into it.