Hi,

Butterball was selling stuffed frozen turkeys in the USA until two years ago.

Regards,
Cathy2

I thought you all might find this thread on the Rick Steves website an amusing read.

I am going to Venice for Thanksgiving to visit my daughter who is in her final year of university there. My hope is to bring a frozen turkey in my checked bag and make a traditional Thanksgiving meal for her and her friends.

What a dedicated mom!

HI,

I read in the link, this daughter could not find a turkey in Italy.

In the USSR, the only turkeys I ever found were from Hungary. They cut away all the extra skin we normally use to encase the stuffing.

Some years ago, I visited friends from Moscow in Hamburg, Germany. They prepared what seemed to be a large chicken. After the meal was over, they wanted to know what we thought about their turkey. My Dad and I used to larger turkeys, we both said, "That's a turkey?" It was quite fine, though we were startled by the size.

When I visited Prague last time, a friend bought a turkey in advance of my arrival. He remembered a turkey I served in Moscow and wanted the same. I gladly did it, though what I did countered what his Czech cookbook recommended: braising in a liquid. He did not know it could be roasted.

I hope customs in Italy will let this family have their turkey.

Regards,
CAthy2

Hi,

Stopped by Woodman's in Buffalo Grove this evening. They had "ready for the oven" frozen turkeys in heavy oven-proof plastic bags. For a mere $24. plus change, you could take this turkey home, then place it in a 375-degree oven after cutting slits in the bag.

There were two producers of the oven-ready turkeys: Jennie-O's certainly and perhaps Perdue was the second.

I have not yet bought my turkey. It's a gamble I am not particularly worried about.

Regards,
CAthy2

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

Stopped by Woodman's in Buffalo Grove this evening. They had "ready for the oven" frozen turkeys in heavy oven-proof plastic bags.

My cousins who host Thanksgiving for my side of the family (but not this year) use the bagged turkey, I never thought to ask if it was an undefrosted one. I just dislike the lack of crisp skin.

I don't remember seeing Perdue ones, but those Jennie-O frozen cook-in-the-bag turkeys are in the stores year round. As Joel said, you don't get the good crispy skin, but they breast meat doesn't dry out as much either. They're a convenient way to cook up a bunch of turkey any time.

HI,

My Dad loves the crispy skin more than anything. The freezer to oven method provided crispy chicken.

I have family who remove the crispy skin to give to their dogs. Every time they are hosting, my Dad harps about the skin.

Regards,
Cathy2

Katie wrote:I'm hoping to visit northern Vermont later this year; maybe I'll get a chance to do some shopping across the border near Montreal and find one. If I do, though, I think I'd rather cook it with the family in Vermont than carry it back on the plane to Chicago

I missed this when it was first posted but double check to make sure you're allowed to bring a turkey over the border.

Brendan--

No, Katie's ok. Here's an excerpt from the CBP page:

Food products from Canada, including pet food and fresh (frozen or chilled), cooked, canned or otherwise processed products containing beef, veal, bison, and cervid (e.g. deer, elk, moose, caribou etc.) are now permitted from Canada in passenger baggage. Products containing sheep, lamb, or goat will not be allowed entry. Food products should be commercially packaged and sealed with ingredients listed in English.

The passenger must provide proof of the origin of beef, pork, poultry, cervid meat, and pet food in order to bring them into the United States. Examples of proof of origin include the grocery store receipt where the product was purchased or the label on the product indicating the province in which it was packaged.

As the second paragraph states, poultry is explicitly allowed.

Geo

Hello from the Northeast Kingdom! Thanks for the heads-up, Brendan, and detailed customs information, Geo. If I do find a Butterball frozen stuffed turkey up over the border, I'll be sure to keep my receipt in hand.

(Not turkey related, but: My brother asked me to bring 3 lbs of brick cheese with me. He wants it for the Serious Eats Detroit pizza recipe. The night before I left, I went out to Sunset and bought six half-pounds. Taking cheese to Vermont seems like taking coals to Newcastle, but you can't get brick cheese in Vermont.)

Geo wrote:Brendan--

No, Katie's ok. Here's an excerpt from the CBP page:
...
As the second paragraph states, poultry is explicitly allowed.

The USDA has the authority to very quickly suspend this sort of rule in response to threats, usually disease outbreaks. Here's one description from 2015. I would check the day of importation to make sure it's all ok.

Katie wrote:(Not turkey related, but: My brother asked me to bring 3 lbs of brick cheese with me. He wants it for the Serious Eats Detroit pizza recipe. The night before I left, I went out to Sunset and bought six half-pounds. Taking cheese to Vermont seems like taking coals to Newcastle, but you can't get brick cheese in Vermont.)

It is an excellent recipe. It reminds me of Burt's pizza.

I may have told this before but what the hell...

Years ago I working in the local grocery store.

At this time it was not common to get a fresh turkey for Thanksgiving. Unless you ordered one from your butcher a few weeks in advance you had to do what everyone else did and use a frozen one.

Thawing a turkey in cold water (the quickest recommended method) takes about 30 min per pound. Cooking then takes an additional 20 min a pound. So for a large group let’s say you have a 20 lb. bird. Your gonna need about 10 hours to thaw it out and an additional 6 or so to cook it, that’s 16 hours.

So I’m happily stocking the shelves one thanksgiving about noon, whiling the time away till I the store closes and I get off at 2:00, looking forward to the feast my mom had prepared...

When up walks a woman I’ll refer to as “Hysterical Nut Job” or HNJ©

HNJ asks me where we keep the turkeys. As I’m walking her over to the freezer I already know this is not going to go well. She asks where the fresh turkeys are and I explain the reality of the situation to her. We don’t carry them, no one in the area stocks them, you have to order one specially.

So back to the freezer we go. We pick out a bird, read the instructions, do the math and there you go. If you want turkey you’re going to be eating it at 4:00 in the morning.

This is when the hysterical part kicks in, she starts SCREAMING at me about the 25 people she has coming over at 3:00 and how they expect a full turkey dinner with all the trimmings and how she can NOT disappoint her new husband and all of her in-laws etc. etc. etc...

I tried to suggest turkey breasts, we have plenty of those & they don’t take long to make. This is completely unacceptable to HNJ and only serves to bring her wrath down upon me with greater vengeance. It MUST be a whole bird and it MUST be ready in 3 hours and she DEMANDS to know what I am going to do about it.

It is at this point that I relate to her in no uncertain terms just how seriously 16 year old boys take their part time jobs. As she prepares to unleash the full weight of her righteous fury, it sinks in. She realizes that she is quite screwed. In fact she could give Ron Jeremy a few pointers right now. Her only option left…fall on the floor in a quivering sobbing mess.

My only option left…clock out 2 hours early and go home to watch the game.
After all, I’m 16, I don’t need this shit.

Turkey Trouble? At Butterball, Operators Are Still Standing By
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/26/dini ... -ios-share

zoid wrote:It MUST be a whole bird and it MUST be ready in 3 hours and she DEMANDS to know what I am going to do about it.

It is at this point that I relate to her in no uncertain terms just how seriously 16 year old boys take their part time jobs. As she prepares to unleash the full weight of her righteous fury, it sinks in. She realizes that she is quite screwed.

Thanks for the great lunchtime read Zoid. I hadn't heard this before and I appreciate your excellent storytelling. I just returned from a vacation and hadn't ordered my Hoka from Casey's in time. I called when I returned Monday evening and was told they had plenty of turkey breasts left (though not Hoka) and that I should be fine if I came in the next morning (yesterday). I arrived at 10 and there were none to be found. I was told they were cleaned out first thing in the a.m.

They had some stuffed boneless breasts left which I grabbed. So, our family will still get to enjoy turkey as well as ham and lots of delicious sides and desserts, no one will go hungry!

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Hope all had a good T-Day 2019


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