Odd Westinghouse roaster method.

[paulg]

I love my Westinghouse roaster and have just picked up a second unit (in YELLOW!)
Anyway, the unit came with the instruction manual. You know that classic roaster manual.
Well, on page 20 of the instruction manual, the (presumed late) Edna inked in her own method as to how to roast a turkey in the Westinghouse roaster.
Quote:
"Preheat to 325 degrees. When turkey begins to cook turn down to 225 degrees and cook all night. Turn off when done. Reheat for dinner."
OK, Westinghouse roaster experts - and there are a lot of you out there....
What do you think of Edna's method?

 

[launderess]

I wouldn't try it.

Unless poultry is kept at 325F to 350F to raise internal temp, there is a good chance of what seems to be ever present bacteria including some nasty strains from being killed off.

 

[whirlcool]

I would definitely use an instant read meat thermometer in the turkey before serving to make sure it really reaches the "done" temp internally.

 

[maytagbear]

I have used, but do not currently own a Westinghouse roaster

and I fully agree with Laundress. This is not a healthy method.

An average adult could probably eat turkey cooked by this method without major consequences, but the very young, the elderly, and those with compromised immunity might not get away so easily.

Food safety matters.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[mattl]

225 overnight?  That would be one overcooked bird, and odds are dry too.  I rarely eat meat any more but I do make a turkey for occasions and am totally sold on my oven's perfect turkey option.  Put it in a cold oven, I program the sensor for 160 degrees and let it go.  a few hours later it is a perfect turkey.

 

[frigilux]

I think Edna wants to give you food poisoning.

That is not a safe cooking method for turkey. DO NOT USE IT. The meat will remain in the danger zone (40-140 degrees) far too long. Instructions such as "when turkey begins to cook, turn down to 225" are far too vague.

There are more-and more resistant-strains of bacteria on/in poultry now than back in the day.

 

[NYCWriter]

Matt ... WHAAAA?

"Put it in a cold oven, I program the sensor for 160 degrees and let it go. a few hours later it is a perfect turkey."

So basically a few hours in the equivalent of a gym steam room is enough to COOK a turkey??

 

[frigilux]

NYCWriter/Matt-- I think he means there is a probe/sensor that is stuck into the turkey, and the control is set to cook the turkey to an internal temp of 160 degrees. The oven itself is probably set to 325 degrees (or higher) to do the job.

 

At least I hope that's what he means, LOL.

 

[tomturbomatic]

A yellow one, how nice!

Edna probably knew what she was doing and never killed or sickened anyone, but we don't know her method of determining "when the turkey got cooking." I would imagine, from using the roaster oven to cook a turkey, that it was a couple of hours into the process before the heat was turned down to 225. Over the decades, there have been many turkey roasting methods that have come and gone. I remember reading about slow overnight roasting in a range oven, which presumably freed up the oven for all of the things baked on the day of the feast, like the dressing and various casseroles. The pies could have been baked ahead of time and put into the turned off oven to warm during dinner. It is probably important to point out that this slow method did not apply to a stuffed bird. As for turning out a dry bird, I don't know how you would get a dry bird out of a Roaster Oven since they used moist, radiant heat in the roasting process. There was always lots of steam escaping the vents.

Frigidaire's Tendermatic roasting feature introduced in the mid 60s used low temperature roasting to supposedly tenderize cuts of meat that were usually not dry roasted, but CU said it did not live up to advertised expectations. Some cuts of meat are best braised.

Friends of ours with a large family used to prepare a turkey several times a year. They used the Reynolds Foil method of high temperature roasting. It used a lot of foil, but sure cooked the bird in a hurry.

 

[jetcone]

This always works for me

She knows what she's talking about

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=foA0MGUbYH0

 

[ken]

"I used to joke that I was like a turkey. Big breasts and short legs. But now I dont joke that way anymore."

 

[tomturbomatic]

From Zabar's: Overnight turkey roasting

One of many slow roasting recipes found on Google search for overnight turkey roasting

http://zabars.typepad.com/recipes/2...l.com&l=338284_HTML&u=297366706&mid=37672&jb=

 

[norgeway]

My Grandmother..

Had an equally odd method, Cover turkey with foil, put into preheated 500 degree oven 2 hours, turn off oven and leave 2 or more hours, She learned this in the 50s working in the school lunchroom.I wouldnt do it, but it made a wonderfully brown and jucy bird and none of us ever got sick.

 

[washerboy]

hate to admit

I often cook the bird that way. Overnight at 225..basted..wraped in several layers of foil and placed breast side down in the pan..the juice from the dark meat drips down on the white. My mother cooked the bird that way and I don't think either one of us ever made someone sick....now bear in mind..there's no pink or blood either..otherwise it wouldn't get served. The bird is allowed to rest before carving. Now turning the oven off and letting the guy hang out in a cold oven then reheated..umm..no. The bird is not over cooked nor dry. The problem is carving there's no presentation of "the bird" you have to carve it in the kitchen and serve on a platter.

 

[mikael3]

Food safety...

... is a tricky business.  The FDA and others always err on the most extreme end of possible outcomes.  They think they have to, but their information is often a disservice, because it gives people scientifically false information.  The average person thinks the FDA is presenting the results of scientific research.  They are not.  They are presenting their ideas of how the research should be implemented.  And they are often very extreme and even nonsensical when they do so, particularly when they do not acknowledge the ambiguous or inconclusive nature of many of the studies they rely on.  Guidelines on salt are a good example.  Dietary cholesterol is another.  Animal-produced, i.e. naturally occurring, trans-fats (which are not even the same as artificial trans-fats) are another.  The list is long. 

 

The only time I ever got food poisoning was a at a restaurant, and you can bet your last dollar that kitchen was filthy.  I have NEVER gotten sick from food prepared in my own clean kitchen or that of any of my clean relatives and friends.  And as someone pointed out, Edna never killed anybody. In fact, death from food-borne pathogens is almost exclusively a restaurant phenomenon.  Doesn't that make you wonder 1) what's going on in those restaurants, and 2) whether the "safety" advice that everyone repeats isn't a bit exaggerated.

 

This short article gives some helpful insight into salmonella.  You can see from their charts why Edna's turkey was fine.  There are many more articles out there that deal with the SCIENCE, not hearsay, rumor, and innuendo.

 

http://www.cookingsousvide.com/info/sous-vide-safety/more/sous-vide-safety-salmonella-and-bacteria
 

Food safety is critically important, no doubt about it.  But keeping our kitchens safe has to involve an understanding of what is truly dangerous, as opposed to personal squeamishness or even fear brought on by the "food panic" industry (women's magazines, the 'Weekender' insert in the neighborhood newspaper, local news broadcasters, the FDA, NIH, American Heart Society, and on and on).  Those people can make a lot of money by scaring people; but fear is the enemy of knowledge.

 

[mattl]

NYC...

Yes, I'm referring to using a probe. The ovens micro controller adjusts the heat and convection fan as needed. Got to say I'm totally impressed with the quality of the finished turkey. Actually turned a few other people on to the oven and they bought one too.

 

[perc-o-prince]

Without getting into the prep and seasoning, and a few other little things, basically I pre-heat to 450F, cook it there (tented) for the first 1/2 hour or so, then reduce to 325F for the rest of the time, testing about 1/2 and hour shy of 15 min/lb. cooking time (before 5 hrs for a 20# bird). I remove the tent about 3/4 or so of the way through. We have moist white meat and cooked dark meat, and I just use the store brand "sale" bird that gets you in the door to buy the rest of the meal. I think at Price Chopper it was "House of Raeford" last year.

Chuck

 

[paulg]

Thank you!

The responses have been really interesting and informative. And I learned a few new things!

 

[norgeway]

I know of people

Who actually take meat or poultry out of the package and cook it...I ALWAYS wash all meat and poultry before cooking!

 

[ken]

We no longer have a stuffed turkey at Thanksgiving or Christmas but when I was a boy we always did. My mother always stuffed the bird the night before and put it in the fridge till it got put in the oven the next morning. She did this for years and none of us ever experienced any ill effects as a result. After hearing this was a no-no she waited to stuff the bird in the morning.

P.S. Last Christmas we did the turkey breast down and it did seem to make a difference in the moistness of the white meat.