seagullukuk Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 Hi, I have been asked if I want to buy a Turkey for Christmas. A farm fresh organic one!! Trouble is it is still alive and growing nicely. My question is what is the difference between live weight and oven ready weight Also whereever I look for advice on preparing culling turkey it talks about cutting it into joints now with a roast dinner planned for next Thursday I would love to know how easy or difficult it is to prepare a live turkey for the oven. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 A prepared turkey will weigh approximately two thirds of its live weight. If you're happy enough doing the deed then dealing with a live turkey isn't too bad - especially if you're only doing just the one. After despatch you will need to pluck it straight away and then hang it - either guts in or guts out......your decision. We did ours guts out - we gutted them straight after plucking and then hung them in a cool place for a week. We use an old (but working) fridge to 'hang' ours. The River Cottage forum may be the best place to look for advice on this - especially the despatch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seagullukuk Posted December 16, 2008 Author Share Posted December 16, 2008 Thanks ever o much Lesley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 How did you get on? I went "turkeying" this christmas and we killed ours, plucked straight away and then left them to hand for 2 weeks in refrigerated containers (guts in). Then we dressed them afterwards and boxed them up. I was told that they keep better if you leave the guts in, because there are no big cuts, so everything is sealed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seagullukuk Posted January 6, 2009 Author Share Posted January 6, 2009 Thanks for asking. Must admit we chickened out. partly because my parents were coming and could not srisk ruining the turkey partly because it sounded like too much work!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Thanks for asking. Must admit we chickened out. partly because my parents were coming and could not srisk ruining the turkey partly because it sounded like too much work!! There's always next year, or you could see if they have any going cheap now so it won't be so expensive and the parents won't suffer I don't think its too much work - you get what you put in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
