Ardred got a turkey from work. It is in no way marked as to how much it weighs. It’s more than 12 pounds through a rough comparison with one from the store.
What do I do, guess?
Got a bathroom scale? Weigh yourself, pick up the bird and weigh yourself again. That should give you an answer within a couple pounds.
Drop in a deep fryer and when it floats it’s done. And mighty tastey I might add . . .
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_8389,00.html
Trust Alton. His recipes are always good.
Use a meat thermometer.
I think it’s 1/2 hour per pound. You know it’s over 12 lbs, so mabye cook for 6 1/2 hours or so.
12 pound bird;
15 minutes per pound. 3 hours minimum. I would cook the bird for 4 hours at a lower temperature than required by the directions. I always do. I’ll let the thing simmer at 300 all afternoon and keep basting the whole time. The meat thermometer in the thickest part of the leg tells me when it’s done. The thermometer should read 180. IIRC.
Use an oval Granitewear (or similar) pot with a lid for best results.
After the bird is in the pot fill it about 1/3 the way with water and butter (2 sticks), and the contents of the gravy packet.
During baking, If the juice level gets close to the top, siphen off into seperate pot for making the gravy. You will do this at the end anyway to make the final gravy and juice for the stuffing.
Secret ingredients; Brown sugar, butter and honey continuously basted over the bird.
Meat falls off the bones and is extremely tender.
Want more details?
Shoot, you’d end up with an oven full of dust.