Reply to S/O: 'Civilized' Holiday How-To

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I've never heard of cooking a turkey the day before. I just don't believe it wouldn't be dry, sorry...

One thing I do is make sure that my guests who want to contribute let me know specifically they plan to bring a week out. If people say "I'll bring dessert" you can end up with four pumpkin pies![/quote]

My mom does this. SHe cooks one turkey the day before, and slices it and wraps it well and makes the gravy.   Then she cooks another turkey the morning of, and heats up the day before's turkey.   She brines the turkey so it isn't dry at all.   So there's pre sliced turkey ready for dinner, plus the second turkey for presentation.. .and leftovers![/quote]

That's kind of weird.[/quote]

Doesn't seem weird to me, but it's how it's always been.   She hosts about 20 to 25 people each Thanksgiving, so she says she'd prefer 2 smaller turkeys (12 pounders) to one giant turkey (24 pounder).  She says that the larger turkeys are harder to cook and keep from drying out.   And with 2 smaller turkeys, you get twice as many drumsticks and they are a more reasonable size, too.

Also, she says cooking the gravy last minute (last half hour or so when you have taken the turkey out of the oven and are letting it sit a bit before carving) is always kind of disruptive in her small kitchen as it takes up 2 burners, just when she is trying to reheat so much else.  The gravy tastes just as good, if not better, the next day.

Now, maybe if she had a bigger kitchen with 2 stoves and ovens and such, cooking 2 turkeys and attending to last minute gravy wouldn't be a problem -- but she just has a regular sized kitchen.

The smaller turkeys are a lot easier to brine and move around.  Everyone likes the presentation of the whole turkey so we still have that -- but we can start passing around the turkey slices quickly and get started eating on dinner so everything isn't cold while we are sitting around waiting for Dad to carve the second turkey.

Anyway, everyone loves her turkey -- it is very flavorful and moist, so I don't think it is weird at all.  But, she's my mom![/quote]

Sounds smart to me! :)[/quote]

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