How long do you cook turkey for? For those of you who think that it takes 20 minutes per pound I would like to offer the following opinion. If I'd cooked my turkey for the 11 hours recommended by this approach, it would have been nothing but a burnt shell. It took 5.5 hours in a regular oven at 325 degrees. A larger turkey does cook more quickly per pound than a little one. Butterball has a handy calculator that you can input how many people are eating and it'll calculate how big of a turkey you need, how much stuffing to make and how long to cook it for. It's found at :
www.butterball.com/tips-how-tos/tips/thanksgiving-guide
Of course if you poke a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh you can quite accurately tell too.
Back to chickens...they're all fine and not traumatized from watching us cut up their buddy. I found a very handy chart called the
The ICYouSee
Handy-Dandy Chicken Chart
An Alphabetical List of More than 60 Chicken Breeds
With Comparative Information
Here's the address: www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html
Not every breed is listed and of course there are regional differences, but it's a very good chart for comparing hardiness, friendliness, egg production and suitability of different breeds for confinement. Go have a look if you're interested.
Eggs yesterday were 3, 4 the day before, and the silkies are still hiding theirs or have stopped laying. Hmm. The first eggs in the incubator are due to hatch early next week. The current conditions in the incubator are 99.9 degrees and 65% humidity. This little home made for $20 incubator is working great. It's just one of those cheap Styrofoam coolers fitted out with a thermostat (the kind found on your wall at home) linked to a light bulb socket with a 25watt bulb as the heat source. Oh, we did adjust the thermostat using the screw inside so that it reads higher since 99-101 degrees are higher than normal room temperatures. Now it's marked out in pencil as to the real temperature but we check it every time we turn the eggs anyway. It cycles more often once you add eggs but as soon as everything's good and warm the thermal mass means it cycles only once the thermostat says it's too cool. Ours is only on for a few minutes to warm it all up again. If you build one, be sure to have ventilation holes because the eggs need oxygen. You'll also need a shelf to keep your eggs on that has a lip so hatching chicks are kept safe and an accurate thermometer that records the temperature at the height of the eggs. Why? Because the air inside your incubator will stratify, that is, divide into hotter layers at the top and cooler ones near the bottom. It's the temperature at egg height that needs to be about 100-101 degrees and 50 % humidity, increasing to 65% 3 days before hatching time. We have a thermometer and hygrometer in there all the time but I double check the temperature by having a little contain of water in with the eggs and I just pop off the lid and take the temperature using a fever thermometer as it's very accurate. Mark your eggs with an X or the date on one side and turn them daily. Some people recommend 5 times per day, some people say once is enough, I turn at least twice and usually 3 times. This stops the yolk from sticking to the shell and causing a malformed chick. Turning an odd number of times means the longest period with no turn (usually at night) isn't always the same side of the egg up.
If you'd like more info on hatching a small number of chicks please look here:
www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/livestocksystems/DI0631.html
In the Coop
All are warm and dry. Now without a big turkey eating their food they'll go through a lot less, about a third less we figure. We will start keeping eggs for hatching again today, store them, and then see if we can get a hatch off before the next swap.
In the Kitchen
I need to bake bread again today so grinding wheat is in order. I should also pick up some white flour as I'm out except for my storage supply. I'm going to bake 75% whole wheat so I can share some with friends. It's also time to clean out the fridge in preparation for shopping as soon as we get paid.
Today's big task however will be portioning out the cooked turkey and making some meals with it. I'll let you know what we make but you can guarantee it'll include stew and pot pie as well as cacciatore. Hmmm...maybe curry as well. I'll make up some meals, mark them and freeze them. I noticed that turkey in the store is a little over $1 per lb. That's a good price and you can really stretch turkey so if it's cheap where you are, you might want to consider it.
I know we talk about buying fruits in season but did you ever consider that meat has a season too? Here on the coast it's most noticeable with things like salmon and shellfish, but the self supporter tends to butcher cows, pigs etc in the late fall, lamb and chicken in the late spring or summer and turkeys around the holidays. So look for your meat in season and freeze it. Meats keep well for varying amounts of time so do check the recommendations and use it before it dries out. It'll also keep better in a chest freezer than the littleone above you fridge. This is due to the drying effect of the automatic defrost feature, and the lower temperature of a chest freezer. Meat also keeps better if wrapped in freezer paper or thick freezer bags. Don't cheap out. I know the good bags cost more but you can wash and re-use them you know. I often portion out large purchases into smaller bags, remove as much air as possible, then label and place several into one large freezer bag. It works well with things like ground beef which I freeze in 1 lb packs or pork chops I freeze in groups of 8 (2 for each adult and 1 for each child). You know how much you use, just do what works best for you. And consider some smaller portion packs for use when you're having company and just need an extra few chops.
Speaking of things in season, strawberries are in season in California right now and they are the same price that local ones are at the height of their season so if you're not worried about buying from far away, enjoy some! If you're waiting for the local ones that's good too. Nothing compares to a fully ripe strawberry that was picked this morning. I'm out of berries in my freezer now except for the few blue berries and blackberries I picked last year. Must remember to pick more, weather willing. I guess that's also kids willing. :)
In the Garden
I'm still trimming grapes and shortened my front garden vine by about 30 feet while Steve was out doing the turkey. I got the roses cut back too as they were straggly and over 10 feet tall. They've just been left to grow so I'm hoping cutting them back severely won't harm them. I collect the hips from my roses for making tea but you can make syrup from them also which stores well and is a natural source of vitamin C. It was cold last night so with any luck I can get some kiwi trimming done to and not have too much sap flowing. The male kiwi vine that we thought was dead has one living branch on it.Yay! Still, if I'm going to take cuttings it's worth having another male kiwi, I can take it with me when I move. I think the one I ordered is due in at the Nursery in a few weeks.
It's almost time to think about planting my soft fruit bushes. Strawberries will wait another month at least but I'd like to get my berries settled as early as possible before they start to break dormancy and put on their spring growth.
Peas and sweetpeas are going in the garden next weekend unless the weather stays unseasonably cold, then I'll wait. Lettuce
Well, it's time to get to work fixing appliances and making bread and turkey dinners. The district science fair judging is today at noon so I'll be gone for that. Wish us luck! Christopher at least.
Have a wonderful day. And remember...KISS.
Keep It Simple Silly or Keep It Self Sufficient!
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