Hello and help! I have offered my home to host an office Christmas luncheon. My boss is a helpful fellow and has helpfully purchased a what appears to be a 30 lb turkey. It has no tag because he did not want the price known but when I guessed 25 lbs he said "more than that." Assuming somewhere betweeen 28 and 30 lbs am I really looking at 9 to 10 hours cooking time? That'd mean starting it at 2:00am for lunch the next day. Also it is frozen. I figure it'll take a week to thaw at the least. Any suggestions on how to handle this behemoth?
In our December 2004 issue we dealt with the big bird - ours being about 25 lbs. If you have a bathroom scale, weigh the turkey for a precise weight. If you don't have one, follow our instructions for the 25 lb leaving yourself a little more time in case it is bigger. To thaw, leave the turkey in the original package. Do no thaw at room temperature. Allow 5 hours per pound in the refrigerator. So a 25 lb bird will take 5 days. You can also place the turkey in a sink of cold water, changing the water every hour. This will take about 1 hour per pound. We recommend roasting the turkey unstuffed as it will not take as long. You can make the stuffing in baking dishes and heat while the turkey is resting. You can find roasting time guidelines at the National Turkey Board web site. Good luck with the mammoth bird! Heather Howe Test Kitchen Manager Canadian Living Magazine
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