Well, our dead turkey’s…
Wife just finished prepping the bird, and inside there was a neck, but no little bag o’ giblets. No, we never do anything with them other than throw them away. Always SAY we intend to use them, but basically just want to make sure we don’t leave them in there!
Nothing on the wrapping (Butterball frozen) saying giblets or sans.
So what’s the deal? Is this some new (fill in the blank) conspiracy aimed at our Thanksgiving tradition of throwing away a bag of offal?
My Butterball frozen had them in the neck end. I had to trim away a bit of skin to expose the bag, and then I could pull it out. Of course the neck is in the butt end.
I have gotten turkeys with no giblet bag, ones where I didn’t find the bag until after cooking, and ones with a kidney or something still in the bird. Almost enough to turn one vegetarian.
Yeah, root around where the turkey’s head used to be. That one got me, too.
Man - my wife even called me into the kitchen to see if she was going crazy. Reached one hand in the butt end and touched up w/ the other one going thru the neck. No guts (no glory?)
For a moment I thought she was gonna pull a Mr. Bean!
So, gibless?
What sort of Communist doesn’t use giblets in making the gravy?
Amen, brother.
OK, I’m no commie and I’m no chef. The rare occasions where I make turkey gravy I just use some fat drippings from the turkey roasting pan, flour, water and salt and pepper.
What’s with the giblets? I assume they must be cooked prior to being used as a gravy making substance?
(My turkey roasting routine involves digging both bags of goodies from the bird, and throwing them in the garbage.)
The giblets add some serious umami. I toss the giblets and the neck into my stock pot (I make turkey stock ahead of time with a couple of turkey legs and some veg. If you’re just using water for gravy, you’re missing out on big flavor). When they’re cooked, I pull them out and dice up the heart, liver and neck meat. I throw out the gizzard. When I get ready to make gravy, I get the drippings hot and throw in the diced giblets, then add the flour, then add my turkey stock.
OK, well I make turkey stock, too, but I do it after the bird’s been picked clean, and that’s what I use the carcass for. I do that to have soup for a few weeks after Thanksgiving. I think of the stock cooking as an after Thanksgiving thing. Thanks for the advice!
giblets and other parts get exported to China. Especially chicken feet.
I don’t like liver in giblet gravy, it has a bitter flavor when it cooks a long time. Liver gets simmered quickly for the cats to enjoy and the neck, heart and gizzard go into the stock pot. I think the gravy is the only part I miss about doing traditional Thanksgiving dinners, something I flatly refuse to do these days. That’s the best gravy though, aside from cream gravy made after chicken fried steak fried in bacon grease.
My method is much like @Chefguy’s. The neck and everything except the liver is simmered with the stock ahead, then chopped fine.
When I’m making the gravy, I first saute the liver very briefly in butter in the drippings pan. I remove that, practically still bloody, and chop it fine. Then I add flour to the drippings pan to make the roux. Once the roux is golden, I add the simmered stock and thicken.
At this point, I remove a portion of the gravy and stir in only neck meat. To the remaining portion, I add the rest of the neck meat and all the giblets. So… regular gravy for some, giblet gravy for those who prefer it.
Get the cat to help you look for your giblets. He or she will be happy to help.
I’m here to also report a gibless Butterball. I didn’t even realize the omission until I saw this thread.
I also had to pluck several feather remnants from the boid, something I’ve never encountered before.
mmm
Ditto. I love liver, and I ate the (small piece of – what’s with that) liver that was inside the turkey, but I don’t like it in gravy.
I make broth from the neck, heart, and crop, with just water and salt, and let it simmer while the turkey is cooking, and I guess up until I make the gravy. I pick the meat off the neck, chop up the heart, and trim the remaining gristle off the crop, but chop up the meaty part. And add all of those to the gravy after I’ve made it.
My gravy was almost a disappointment this year. I roasted the turkey, poured off the drippings, added some flour and browned it a bit while scraping the bits and pieces off the pan, then added back some of the fat to make a rou. Then I carefully poured in the broth and whisked well. Put it all in a pot and added the giblets. Salted to taste. And it was…kinda bland.
Right before we packed it up to take to my mom’s, I realized that I’d never added the rest of the pan drippings! So I skimmed off the rest of the fat and stirred them in. Gravy saved! It’s actually an excellent gravy this year.
One solitary feather here. Struck my wife as odd.
For the past few years, we had gone w/ a pricey fresh bird. Then a fried told us they were practically giving Butterballs away at Aldi’s. Was a very tasty bird. Well worth saving $50.
This is weird. My whole life I never saw a feather left on a turkey. I was so surprised when I found one this year that I pointed it out to my wife. Now you two say the same thing. I sense a conspiracy of some sort here. But is it right wing or left wing?
My sister said her butterball had a neck and… The liver, i think, but not the heart or the crop.
She also said she found it very salty. She said she usually salts turkey, but didn’t salt this one and still found it saltier than she preferred.
I’ve been buying local hoity toity birds for a few years, now, and i always find some pieces of feathers. Whole feathers are rarer.