Cooling down a 15 pound Turkey

Jeff_in_KC · Nov 16, 2005

OK something I didn't think of at 6pm tonight. What's the best way to cool and store this big ol' bird before bed time? I doubt I can just leave it out all night! I'm thinking carve and let the cut meat cool maybe? Any suggestions? It's almost 10pm and I'd like to get to bed soon!

qman · Nov 16, 2005

Jeff_in_KC said:
OK something I didn't think of at 6pm tonight. What's the best way to cool and store this big ol' bird before bed time? I doubt I can just leave it out all night! I'm thinking carve and let the cut meat cool maybe? Any suggestions? It's almost 10pm and I'd like to get to bed soon!

Jeff, this may sound crazy, but if you have a plastic bag big enough to hold the turkey[whole], the best thing to do is seal it in the plastic, and then put it in your shower, and run cold water over it for a while. A half hour or so should bring the temp down to where you can put it in the fridge safely. It will be much better if you don't slice it hot. that will allow all the juices to run out.

Any food safe plastic bag will work

BrooklynQ · Nov 16, 2005

Why not just wrap it and put it directly in the fridge? Why the extra cool down step?

qman · Nov 16, 2005

BrooklynQ said:
Why not just wrap it and put it directly in the fridge? Why the extra cool down step?

Most home fridges cannot handle a sudden heat load like that, and the bird will actually heat up the fridge, and it will take so long to cool everything back down that every thing in the fridge will be in the danger zone for too long.
Therefore, cool the bird down first, get it into the room temp range fast, then into the fridge.

BBQchef33 · Nov 16, 2005

eat it now.

Jeff_in_KC · Nov 17, 2005

Oh crap, Phil! I HAVE been eating it! It's farking almost midnight and I'm STUFFED myself! :shock: I ended up slicing up all of it. Thinking of taking to work tomorrow for samples and see if I can get some orders for $40 birds I buy for $10! LOL! Maybe not on second thought! This has been an inordinate amount of work!

Anyway, it tastes awesome! I was a bit disappointed in that some pockets of the garlic butter injection failed to spread throughout the bird and where they pooled, it looks kinda mushy. Pretty garlic intense too. My wife wants me to go a different injection. :shock: No comments there! Here's a few pictures... The last one is my cook area I recently completed with paving bricks. It's got a north wind block from the storage shed wall and a south wind block from the 6 foot privacy fence. Gets it out away from the deck and kinda hidden from view.

CarbonToe · Nov 17, 2005

Jeff, I like your setup. Do you cover them or does the eves of the house offer enough shelter form the rain?

Neil · Nov 17, 2005

Turkey looks mighty tastey there Jeff.

qman · Nov 17, 2005

Jeff, the turkey does indeed look very good.

Your cooking area, however is way to neat and un-cluttered:grin:

Trout_man22 · Nov 17, 2005

Look great, when's dinner on?

Elkhound · Nov 17, 2005

Bird looks great. I just hope the two I have in the fridge waiting for after work turn out so good

VitaminQ · Nov 17, 2005

Nice-looking bird, Jeff. Send some down here!:biggrin:
I like your cooking area, too. I'm still moving mine around almost every time I cook anything. Unfortunately, I don't have a good space with a built-in North wind block.

ggeilman · Nov 17, 2005

Good? That turkey looks awesome! Yeah generally you don't want to put hot food in the refrigerator as it can lead to bacteria growing as it heats up the rest of the fridge. It probably was cool enough last night though to put in the garage. That was how we generally defrosted out turkeys as a kid in Deerfield.

qman · Nov 17, 2005

ggeilman said:
. It probably was cool enough last night though to put in the garage. That was how we generally defrosted out turkeys as a kid in Deerfield.

Just goes to show you what geography will do to your thinking--I'm sure is's geography, not senility. I have lived in Florida so long it never crossed my mind that some of you guys already have cold enough weather that you can use the outside or unheated spaces of your house to store/cooldown food.:redface: My shower suggestion is a hot climate sub. It works pretty good, but of course just putting the bird in a cold garage for a while would be much simpler.

ggeilman · Nov 17, 2005

qman said:
Just goes to show you what geography will do to your thinking--I'm sure is's geography, not senility. I have lived in Florida so long it never crossed my mind that some of you guys already have cold enough weather that you can use the outside or unheated spaces of your house to store/cooldown food.:redface: My shower suggestion is a hot climate sub. It works pretty good, but of course just putting the bird in a cold garage for a while would be much simpler.

It was cold enough here in SA last night to put in the garage! We had freeze warnings out last night

qman · Nov 17, 2005

Overnight low here was 63, we have a cold front coming and expect temps to plunge into the mid 50's over the weekend. Better check my furnace:twisted:

chad · Nov 17, 2005

http://www.hi-tm.com/Documents/Basic-cool.html
http://www.hi-tm.com/Documents2001/cool-6-hr.html
http://www.co.st-louis.mo.us/doh/FoodCenter/cooling_factsheet.html

Quick review of any of the above will give you the official version of food cooling. The first link discusses some issues with the studies that have been done and also factors pH into the works -- of course pH is not a factor in our que or roasted meats but does come into play with cured meats and the use of brines and marinades.

Confused yet? Base line - get the meat under 70 degrees in 2 hours and under 41 degrees within 4 hours. Or just invest in a $15K blast chill unit!!

brdbbq · Nov 17, 2005

chad said:
Or just invest in a $15K blast chill unit!!

I'm holding back. :roll:

Jeff_in_KC · Nov 17, 2005

CarbonToe said:
Jeff, I like your setup. Do you cover them or does the eves of the house offer enough shelter form the rain?

Thanks, CT! I have covers for all three of them... well, except now instead of a nice Brinkman fitted cover, the BSKD has a tarp bungeed on it! Had an "issue" with the cover and the wind returning from a contest! LOL! The Weber Kettle and the WSM both have Weber covers.

I'm also considering building a bracket supported "counter top" along one 8 foot section of the privacy fence right in front of the smokers for a work area but the wife says it would look tacky! What does SHE know? :roll:

Jeff_in_KC · Nov 17, 2005

Thanks for all the compliments, guys! My wife said it tasted a LOT better today than last night and has suggested maybe I do the bird the night before and re-heat it the next day. I poo poo'ed that idea... reheated turkey? Ummm yeah. There's something I don't get excited over!

Cooling down a 15 pound Turkey

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