Cooking a Turkey for the Freezer

1. Turkey meat is not LEFTOVERS, its good food for many meals. Use turkey meat for casseroles, enchiladas, soup, salads, stir fry, just about anything that calls for chicken meat.

2. Buy your turkeys the 2 weeks before thanksgiving… .28 cents a pound. Buy the BIGGEST turkey you can find. Most turkeys have the same size bones, so the additional pounds are ALL MEAT.

3. Cooking turkey is NOT HARD. DON’T STUFF IT. Total work time for this project is 33 minutes.

4. I use frozen turkey meat to make many FAST MEALS… most take only 30 minutes to prepare. A large turkey gives meat for 8-10 dinners or more depending on family size.
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Step 1…. Heat oven to 425 degrees, unwrap turkey (already defrosted), rinse, place in baking pan and pop in the oven. (5 minutes) I don’t even take out the neck or the pack of giblets. Note: 325 is the best temp for cooking a juicy turkey, but it is NOT hot enough to kill the nasty germs on the skin of the turkey. That is why you MUST brown it at the 425 degree temp first.

Step 2… After about an hour, when the turkey is browned, lower heat to 325 degrees and cook about another 4 hours (until its done, wiggle the leg to see if it comes loose.)

Step 3… After the turkey has cooled, remove all the big chunks of meat that easily come off and freeze in meal-sized bags. (10 minutes)Step 4…. Put ALL the rest (skin, neck, pan juice, bones) in a big boiling pot, cover with water and simmer for 3-4 hours. (3 minutes)Step 5… Cool, pour turkey broth into freezer bags or freezer containers. Then pick out the rest of the good meat and freeze in bags (15 minutes) and discard the rest. Note: when filling the containers for the freezer, leave enough empty space at the top for freezer expansion or they will break. I think quart size Ziploc zipper bags work best, easy to pour in/ easy to defrost.

Step 6… After fat has risen to the tops of the broth containers, (several hours in the refrigerator) freeze. To use the broth for a meal, defrost, scrape off and discard the fat at the top of the container and make soup, gravy or use the broth to cook rice. Note: When using the turkey juice, such as for soup, add an equal amount of water. The juice is very concentrated. I usually get about 8 quarts of juice.

Use all this within 4-6 months.