A Christmas Turkey Horror Story

[CookingConundrum]

I'm a novice cook. I cook for myself but like to try making things during the holidays, like my parents did when I was younger. At thanksgiving I bought a .69$/lb kroger(where I work) frozen turkey. Even though I only thawed it for roughly 12 hours and, I had a problem with the new pan I bought because it was too big for the oven, it turned out pretty well. It looked like a turkey when it was cooked and tasted good.

At Christmas, I bought a fresh turkey, didn't even look at the brand and threw it into the oven. It was big, about 20lbs. When I took it out of the oven and began to cut threw the skin, looking for familiar parts, I was aghast. The place where I expected the breast to be, was more bone than anything. Most of the meat I found was dark, almost reddish meat and couldn't find much white meat on the whole bird. I ended up throwing the whole thing away. I guess I'm trying to make sense of the it all and what can I do to find the best possible turkey in the future. One of the worst things to note, is that when I went back to find out what brand it is, it ended up being a Honeysuckle, supposedly one of the best rated brands for turkeys. A few questions come to mind:

Are there different species of turkey? The only thing I took note of on the honeysuckle packaging was it said "young turkey". Is this different from other types? Is there such a things as a bad bird, like bad fruit or that gets past quality control or something.

What brands of turkey should I look for? Kroger sells Butterball and I recall my family buying those years ago. I saw a Free Range Turkey from a local company that was vacuum packed in plastic, so I could see what I was getting. Is Free Range considered better quality?

Any thoughts or opinions on this is welcome.

 

[Caslon]

After only 12 hours of thawing, your earlier successful turkey was probably less than the 20 lbs. As to what freakish thing you bought and cooked and carved into...you got me. Nothing familiar? hehe. A freak turkey?

 

[jennyema]

If you cut into bone where you thought the breast would be you probably cooked it upside down

 

[buckytom]

I think Jenny has it. Bones and mostly dark meat is on the back.

 

[Roll_Bones]

Buying a turkey and throwing it into the oven is hardly the way to prepare a turkey IMO.
Maybe a little research before attempting to cook something may be in your best interest.
Like coming here and asking.
I have never in my life heard of a turkey without breast meat. I agree with the others you most likely had it upside down.
Then you threw away the whole thing? The breast meat, most likely, was just perfect.
Didn't you see the legs and wings? Why toss them out?

 

[roadfix]

Are you sure you bought a turkey?

 

[Dawgluver]

Wondering the same thing. And I agree with it being upside down. Though after rooting through the entire carcass, he would probably have found the breast eventually.

 

[Kayelle]

Hmmm CC, me thinks we have some leg pulling going on here.

 

[CookingConundrum]

As embarrassing as it sounds, that must be what happened, I put it in upside down. Thanks for the feedback . That's what I get for being hasty I guess.

So here's a practical question. What can be done to enhance the flavor of a turkey before and during cooking process? I read one thread about brining or soaking meat in milk, another that says not a lot helps, just don't overcook, and it won't be dry.

 

[Zagut]

Are you sure you bought a turkey?

That was kinda/sorta my first thought.

Are there different species of turkey? The only thing I took note of on the honeysuckle packaging was it said "young turkey". Is this different from other types? Is there such a things as a bad bird, like bad fruit or that gets past quality control or something.

What brands of turkey should I look for? Kroger sells Butterball and I recall my family buying those years ago. I saw a Free Range Turkey from a local company that was vacuum packed in plastic, so I could see what I was getting. Is Free Range considered better quality?

Any thoughts or opinions on this is welcome.

I don't know about different species but a wild turkey is a different beast then a domestic turkey.

In either case you don't want to overcook.

Fresh or frozen is less of an issue to me then brined or un-brined.
You're more likely to get an un-brined turkey from fresh rather then frozen.

Now how a turkey can be upside down is a mystery to me.
Yet I have to admit that most of the time I don't know if I'm coming or going.

 

[Dawgluver]

Thought about it being a wild turkey too, Zagut. My hunter friends only eat the breast, they say the dark meat is too gamey. Don't know if they sell wild turkeys at the grocery stores, have never seen any, though that doesn't mean anything.

 

[RPCookin]

Maybe it was a goose? That's more what it sounds like.

 

[jennyema]

They don't sell wild turkeys in supermarkets ever to my knowledge and geese are next to impossible to find at regular stores.

Plus the OP said it was a regular old Honeysuckle brand turkey.

No type of poultry has actual bones in the breast. The breast is the least bony part of any bird.

If you cut into the top of a roasted bird and it's all bones, then you probably cooked it upside down and are cutting into the back

 

[Kayelle]

Do we dare ask if the bag of giblets was removed?

 

[rodentraiser]

My friend told me she once roasted a chicken upside down. Her and her sister kept wondering where all the meat was. It happens.

 

[taxlady]

Maybe it was a goose? That's more what it sounds like.

I was wondering the same thing. But, a goose would be a fair bit more expensive than a turkey and not likely to be 20 lbs.

Yes, I have bought goose at the supermarket a number of times, but I do live in Canada.

 

[Mad Cook]

I'm a novice cook. I cook for myself but like to try making things during the holidays, like my parents did when I was younger. At thanksgiving I bought a .69$/lb kroger(where I work) frozen turkey. Even though I only thawed it for roughly 12 hours and, I had a problem with the new pan I bought because it was too big for the oven, it turned out pretty well. It looked like a turkey when it was cooked and tasted good.

At Christmas, I bought a fresh turkey, didn't even look at the brand and threw it into the oven. It was big, about 20lbs. When I took it out of the oven and began to cut threw the skin, looking for familiar parts, I was aghast. The place where I expected the breast to be, was more bone than anything. Most of the meat I found was dark, almost reddish meat and couldn't find much white meat on the whole bird. I ended up throwing the whole thing away. I guess I'm trying to make sense of the it all and what can I do to find the best possible turkey in the future. One of the worst things to note, is that when I went back to find out what brand it is, it ended up being a Honeysuckle, supposedly one of the best rated brands for turkeys. A few questions come to mind:

Are there different species of turkey? The only thing I took note of on the honeysuckle packaging was it said "young turkey". Is this different from other types? Is there such a things as a bad bird, like bad fruit or that gets past quality control or something.

What brands of turkey should I look for? Kroger sells Butterball and I recall my family buying those years ago. I saw a Free Range Turkey from a local company that was vacuum packed in plastic, so I could see what I was getting. Is Free Range considered better quality?

Any thoughts or opinions on this is welcome.

Free range (if genuine) tastes better and you can be proud of yourself that you have bought a bird which had a good life in the outdoors rather than one that lived in a "turkey prison", as the girl in the Lidl advert says.

Personally I would have thought that 12 hours thawing wsn't long enough for even a small frozen turkey.

Can't suggest brands as I'm in the UK.

 

[GotGarlic]

I'm just blown away that someone threw away 20 pounds of poultry because they didn't know how to butcher it. Is there really no one you could ask first? Send a picture to a friend or family member, or take a picture of it to the Kroger grocery store where you work and ask in the butcher department?

 

[rodentraiser]

If you don't know, you don't know. And for all we know, maybe it was cooked correctly and was just a bad bird.

My mom opened a bacon package she had just gotten from the store the day before and it reeked to high heaven. She wouldn't cook it and got her money back from the store. She tossed the whole pound. I baked some frozen fries out of a bag once and 4" from my nose, one of the french fries smelled like an outhouse. I tossed the whole bag (and haven't bought another one since). Bad stuff gets into packaging sometimes.

 

[medtran49]

Hmmm CC, me thinks we have some leg pulling going on here.

Me too. It's really hard to believe somebody wouldn't flip it over while they were trying to figure out what was wrong.