I have a 12# frozen smoked turkey. The package says "fully cooked". As I
live alone, I will cut it up and freeze most of it.

Question: Should I prepare it as described on the package - thaw for two
days, heating at 350 for two hours? Then eat what I want, put aside some
for leftovers, and freeze the rest, or just thaw, cut up, heat up what I
want to eat and for leftovers and freeze the rest? I suppose I have to do
the two hour heating to kill the bacteria. Opinions?

TIA


--
Untie the two knots to email me

A politician thinks of the next election;
a statesman, the next generation.

James Freeman Clarke

Ken Knecht wrote:
> I have a 12# frozen smoked turkey. The package says "fully cooked". As I
> live alone, I will cut it up and freeze most of it.
>
> Question: Should I prepare it as described on the package - thaw for two
> days, heating at 350 for two hours? Then eat what I want, put aside some
> for leftovers, and freeze the rest, or just thaw, cut up, heat up what I
> want to eat and for leftovers and freeze the rest? I suppose I have to do
> the two hour heating to kill the bacteria. Opinions?

You are probably better off to cook it completely. However if you cut
up the turkey and get it back in the freezer without letting the
temperature over say 3 C you should be okay but with something the size
of a turkey this sounds dicey.
John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

Ken Knecht wrote:
> I have a 12# frozen smoked turkey. The package says "fully cooked". As I
> live alone, I will cut it up and freeze most of it.
>
> Question: Should I prepare it as described on the package - thaw for two
> days, heating at 350 for two hours? Then eat what I want, put aside some
> for leftovers, and freeze the rest, or just thaw, cut up, heat up what I
> want to eat and for leftovers and freeze the rest? I suppose I have to do
> the two hour heating to kill the bacteria. Opinions?
>
> TIA
>
>

I don't think the texture will be very good after the second
freeze/thaw. You might want to take it to the market and have them cut
the frozen bird in half on their bandsaw, wrap and put half back in the
freezer and cook the other half.

"George" > wrote in message
...
> Ken Knecht wrote:
> > I have a 12# frozen smoked turkey. The package says "fully cooked". As I
> > live alone, I will cut it up and freeze most of it.
> >
> > Question: Should I prepare it as described on the package - thaw for two
> > days, heating at 350 for two hours? Then eat what I want, put aside some
> > for leftovers, and freeze the rest, or just thaw, cut up, heat up what I
> > want to eat and for leftovers and freeze the rest? I suppose I have to
do
> > the two hour heating to kill the bacteria. Opinions?
> >
> > TIA
> >
> >
>
> I don't think the texture will be very good after the second
> freeze/thaw. You might want to take it to the market and have them cut
> the frozen bird in half on their bandsaw, wrap and put half back in the
> freezer and cook the other half.

I agree with what you said about texture being altered, but if you want to
use the turkey in enchiladas or tacos or soups/stews, texture won't matter.
It all depends upon how creative you can be.

kili

In article >,
says...
> I agree with what you said about texture being altered, but if you want to
> use the turkey in enchiladas or tacos or soups/stews, texture won't matter.
> It all depends upon how creative you can be.
>
>
>

Texture doesn't matter in tacos and soups? I beg to differ. A rubbery or
mushy piece of turkey is no more pleasant in a taco or soup than
anywhere else.

--
Peter Aitken
Visit my recipe and kitchen myths pages at www.pgacon.com/cooking.htm

In article >,
Ken Knecht > wrote:

> I have a 12# frozen smoked turkey. The package says "fully cooked". As I
> live alone, I will cut it up and freeze most of it.
>
> Question: Should I prepare it as described on the package - thaw for two
> days, heating at 350 for two hours? Then eat what I want, put aside some
> for leftovers, and freeze the rest, or just thaw, cut up, heat up what I
> want to eat and for leftovers and freeze the rest? I suppose I have to do
> the two hour heating to kill the bacteria. Opinions?
>
> TIA

If you are going to cut it up and not serve it as a big family meal,
just thaw out what you want to eat and nuke it until warm enough for
you. :-)

We've taken smoked turkeys on camping trips and cut them up for
sandwiches and snacking as is.

They are, as you say, "fully cooked".

Treat it like you would cooked ham.

It's delish'!
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson

OmManiPadmeOmelet > wrote in
:

> In article >,
> Ken Knecht > wrote:
>
>> I have a 12# frozen smoked turkey. The package says "fully cooked".
>> As I live alone, I will cut it up and freeze most of it.
>>
>> Question: Should I prepare it as described on the package - thaw for
>> two days, heating at 350 for two hours? Then eat what I want, put
>> aside some for leftovers, and freeze the rest, or just thaw, cut up,
>> heat up what I want to eat and for leftovers and freeze the rest? I
>> suppose I have to do the two hour heating to kill the bacteria.
>> Opinions?
>>
>> TIA
>
> If you are going to cut it up and not serve it as a big family meal,
> just thaw out what you want to eat and nuke it until warm enough for
> you. :-)
>
> We've taken smoked turkeys on camping trips and cut them up for
> sandwiches and snacking as is.
>
> They are, as you say, "fully cooked".
>
> Treat it like you would cooked ham.
>
> It's delish'!

The bird in question is about half-thawed now so the info's not useful
for this turkey, but for the future, how do I cut pieces (leg, half
breast, whatever) off of a frozen wrapped turkey? If I can manage it, I
might be eating smoked turkey more often. I only rarely see whole birds,
and very rarely smoked turkey parts, in my grocery stores.



--
Untie the two knots to email me

A politician thinks of the next election;
a statesman, the next generation.

James Freeman Clarke

"Ken Knecht" > wrote in message
...
> OmManiPadmeOmelet > wrote in
> :
>
> > In article >,
> > Ken Knecht > wrote:
> >
> >> I have a 12# frozen smoked turkey. The package says "fully cooked".
> >> As I live alone, I will cut it up and freeze most of it.
> >>
> >> Question: Should I prepare it as described on the package - thaw for
> >> two days, heating at 350 for two hours? Then eat what I want, put
> >> aside some for leftovers, and freeze the rest, or just thaw, cut up,
> >> heat up what I want to eat and for leftovers and freeze the rest? I
> >> suppose I have to do the two hour heating to kill the bacteria.
> >> Opinions?
> >>
> >> TIA
> >
> > If you are going to cut it up and not serve it as a big family meal,
> > just thaw out what you want to eat and nuke it until warm enough for
> > you. :-)
> >
> > We've taken smoked turkeys on camping trips and cut them up for
> > sandwiches and snacking as is.
> >
> > They are, as you say, "fully cooked".
> >
> > Treat it like you would cooked ham.
> >
> > It's delish'!
>
> The bird in question is about half-thawed now so the info's not useful
> for this turkey, but for the future, how do I cut pieces (leg, half
> breast, whatever) off of a frozen wrapped turkey? If I can manage it, I
> might be eating smoked turkey more often. I only rarely see whole birds,
> and very rarely smoked turkey parts, in my grocery stores.
>
>

Just cut it apart and put the pieces in a zip-lock. You will love smoked
turkey. You will. It's awesome.

kili

"kilikini" > wrote in news:C4eng.30888
:

> Just cut it apart and put the pieces in a zip-lock. You will love
smoked
> turkey. You will. It's awesome.
>

But a frozen turkey is too hard to cut with a knife, isn't it? I've tried
unsuccessfully to cut other frozen food in the past, though not, as I
recall, a turkey. Or maybe I just need a sharper knife?

Ken



--
Untie the two knots to email me

A politician thinks of the next election;
a statesman, the next generation.

James Freeman Clarke

Ken Knecht wrote:
> "kilikini" > wrote in news:C4eng.30888
> :
>
>
>>Just cut it apart and put the pieces in a zip-lock. You will love
>
> smoked
>
>>turkey. You will. It's awesome.
>>
>
>
> But a frozen turkey is too hard to cut with a knife, isn't it? I've tried
> unsuccessfully to cut other frozen food in the past, though not, as I
> recall, a turkey. Or maybe I just need a sharper knife?
>
> Ken
>


The simplest approach if you are buying a whole frozen turkey is to have
them cut it in half for you on the bandsaw while it is still frozen and
put paper in between so it doesn't freeze together. When you get home
wrap one half well and put it in the freezer for future use and process
the other half.

Every once in awhile Sam's Club, at least the one near me, will have a
similar size frozen smoked turkey. I defrost it, bake it according to
their time and temp, and then (re)freeze the leftovers. They're always
just fine, taste and texture isn't adversely affected.

(Sharon Chilson) wrote in news:14454-449D7780-152
@storefull-3334.bay.webtv.net:

> Every once in awhile Sam's Club, at least the one near me, will have a
> similar size frozen smoked turkey. I defrost it, bake it according to
> their time and temp, and then (re)freeze the leftovers. They're always
> just fine, taste and texture isn't adversely affected.
>
>

Thank you. That's good news. I was afraid I had wasted much of the money
on the one I bought.



--
Untie the two knots to email me

A politician thinks of the next election;
a statesman, the next generation.

James Freeman Clarke

In article >,
Ken Knecht > wrote:

> OmManiPadmeOmelet > wrote in
> :
>
> > In article >,
> > Ken Knecht > wrote:
> >
> >> I have a 12# frozen smoked turkey. The package says "fully cooked".
> >> As I live alone, I will cut it up and freeze most of it.
> >>
> >> Question: Should I prepare it as described on the package - thaw for
> >> two days, heating at 350 for two hours? Then eat what I want, put
> >> aside some for leftovers, and freeze the rest, or just thaw, cut up,
> >> heat up what I want to eat and for leftovers and freeze the rest? I
> >> suppose I have to do the two hour heating to kill the bacteria.
> >> Opinions?
> >>
> >> TIA
> >
> > If you are going to cut it up and not serve it as a big family meal,
> > just thaw out what you want to eat and nuke it until warm enough for
> > you. :-)
> >
> > We've taken smoked turkeys on camping trips and cut them up for
> > sandwiches and snacking as is.
> >
> > They are, as you say, "fully cooked".
> >
> > Treat it like you would cooked ham.
> >
> > It's delish'!
>
> The bird in question is about half-thawed now so the info's not useful
> for this turkey, but for the future, how do I cut pieces (leg, half
> breast, whatever) off of a frozen wrapped turkey? If I can manage it, I
> might be eating smoked turkey more often. I only rarely see whole birds,
> and very rarely smoked turkey parts, in my grocery stores.

Smoked turkey actually keeps in the 'frige about as long as ham does.

If you thaw it just enough to be able to cut it up, (still a bit
crystally), re-freezing it should cause minimal damage to the texture.

My family, when there were 4 of us, could easily wipe out an entire
smoked turkey in about 4 days. ;-d Now that there are two of us, I'd
probably try to wheedle the meat cutters into sawing it in half or
quarters for me at the store while it was still frozen. <G>

The cutters at HEB slice up whole hams for me for free all the time.

I did have the rear half of a frozen emu cut into slices for me, frozen
solid, at a local butchers for IRRC about 18 bucks. Don't remember what
price per lb. they charged me but it was at least 25 lbs. plus of meat.
They even wrapped the slices in butcher paper and _kept_ it frozen
solid! :-)

Smoked wings and legs are usually available in the meat section if you
don't want to mess with a whole bird, but the whole ones are usually
cheaper I think? It's been awhile and they are nearly always cheaper
around the holidays.
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson

In article >,
Ken Knecht > wrote:

> "kilikini" > wrote in news:C4eng.30888
> :
>
> > Just cut it apart and put the pieces in a zip-lock. You will love
> smoked
> > turkey. You will. It's awesome.
> >
>
> But a frozen turkey is too hard to cut with a knife, isn't it? I've tried
> unsuccessfully to cut other frozen food in the past, though not, as I
> recall, a turkey. Or maybe I just need a sharper knife?
>
> Ken

Chinese cleaver........

and a kitchen hammer for the harder parts. ;-)

One of my kitchen tools is also a clean hacksaw used ONLY for food.
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson

In article >,
George > wrote:

> Ken Knecht wrote:
> > "kilikini" > wrote in news:C4eng.30888
> > :
> >
> >
> >>Just cut it apart and put the pieces in a zip-lock. You will love
> >
> > smoked
> >
> >>turkey. You will. It's awesome.
> >>
> >
> >
> > But a frozen turkey is too hard to cut with a knife, isn't it? I've tried
> > unsuccessfully to cut other frozen food in the past, though not, as I
> > recall, a turkey. Or maybe I just need a sharper knife?
> >
> > Ken
> >
>
>
> The simplest approach if you are buying a whole frozen turkey is to have
> them cut it in half for you on the bandsaw while it is still frozen and
> put paper in between so it doesn't freeze together. When you get home
> wrap one half well and put it in the freezer for future use and process
> the other half.

YES!!!

Or quarters.
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson

In article >,
Ken Knecht > wrote:

> (Sharon Chilson) wrote in news:14454-449D7780-152
> @storefull-3334.bay.webtv.net:
>
> > Every once in awhile Sam's Club, at least the one near me, will have a
> > similar size frozen smoked turkey. I defrost it, bake it according to
> > their time and temp, and then (re)freeze the leftovers. They're always
> > just fine, taste and texture isn't adversely affected.
> >
> >
>
> Thank you. That's good news. I was afraid I had wasted much of the money
> on the one I bought.

Smoked turkey is never a waste of money. <G>
Even if you have to eat it every day for a week.......
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson

Peter A wrote:
> In article >,
> says...
>> I agree with what you said about texture being altered, but if you
>> want to use the turkey in enchiladas or tacos or soups/stews,
>> texture won't matter. It all depends upon how creative you can be.
>>
>>
>>
>
> Texture doesn't matter in tacos and soups? I beg to differ. A rubbery
> or mushy piece of turkey is no more pleasant in a taco or soup than
> anywhere else.

Totally agree with you there, Peter. Texture absolutely matters no matter
how you use the ingredients. But I personally have never cared for smoked
turkey. It's just not a good thing to do to a turkey, even if I liked
turkey.

Jill