Cutting a Frozen Turkey

[dcarch]

Frozen turkeys can be very cheap. I got two 18-lb turkeys for $0.49 a lb.

What if you don’t want to make a whole turkey and you don’t want to thaw and refreeze the turkey?

Here is how I cut a rock hard frozen turkey in half.

dcarch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdqR9ZV-8_4

[heidih]

When we left my dad and his wife alone for Thanksgiving I was somewhat surprised when they insisted on turkey for themselves. We had postponed the holiday for a week due to travels. The 89 year old former butcher used a hand saw and sliced a frozen 8 pounder in half so they could have a small bit of turkey for the actual day.

[Dakki]

Hurray for power tools!

Fantastic presentation on the half-turkey there, dcarch.

[Kouign Aman]

How did you cook the lotus root? and what turned some of it pink?

Very pretty turkey.

[Paul Bacino]

THis is a roll.. never thought about using a saws all.

But the price seems nice.. I hope you saved the scraps for stock!!

Power man 2000.. out

BTW

Really that half, looks nice

x

[Jaymes]

Every year around Thanksgiving, when turkeys are the loss-leader at the grocery stores, I buy at least two extra. Because they are frozen, I ask the butcher in the meat department to saw them in half with their big saws. Which they do. And then I bring the halves home and wrap them separately and store them in the freezer.

Come summer, we'll smoke a half out on the BBQ grill. I've got a congealed apple/cranberry salad recipe that I serve with the smoked turkey. It's an absolutely wonderful, and extremely cheap meal.

[Shalmanese]

Yeah, I was going to say it would seem much simpler just to get the butcher at the store to cut it on their bandsaw. Also, how do you wrap & store half a turkey in your freezer?

[Jaymes]

Yeah, I was going to say it would seem much simpler just to get the butcher at the store to cut it on their bandsaw. Also, how do you wrap & store half a turkey in your freezer?

I just wrap the halves up separately, with foil. I don't do anything special. They do look kinda weird because that saw cuts right through the frozen giblets, but those halves sure are handy to have later in the year. As I said, we usually smoke them outside, but sometimes I make some dressing/stuffing, put it in a pile on a shallow baking pan, put my turkey half on top and roast it. I'm more willing to experiment with different sorts of stuffings when I know that my entire Thanksgiving dinner doesn't depend on it.

Not only are turkeys usually cheap at Thanksgiving, they're often even given away at local markets if you spend a certain amount of money. So having a turkey half later in the year couldn't get any cheaper. And then I use the carcass to make soup. Thrifty to the max.

[dcarch]

I decided to cut the turkey myself because:

I wasn't going home right away after shopping.

I have done this before, it take less time then to wait for the butcher in the supermarket.

I intend to sous vide the turkey, just want to be sure that there would be no other meat bits got into the turkey.

I may cut the turkey into even smaller pieces. 1/2 of a turkey is still too big for one meal.

dcarch

[rotuts]

I did a similar think around thanksgiving in a previous century. it saved space, allowed me to get more Turks etc.

this year I SV'd the lot. boned, portioned, baged. SV'd, iced and back in a very cold frig then the freezer. eventually i saved all the meat off the carcass for gravy later.

I have a freezer thats more like a closet ( ie upright, not chest ) and it has 5 shelves. 3 22 lbs turkeys fit on one shelve.

4 SV'd turkeys in bags +1 22lb turk now fit in that same space.

fortunately I like turkey! BTW my turks look to be the same brand as yours !

Edited December 4, 2011 by rotuts (log)

[Jaymes]

I decided to cut the turkey myself because:

I wasn't going home right away after shopping.

I have done this before, it take less time then to wait for the butcher in the supermarket.

I intend to sous vide the turkey, just want to be sure that there would be no other meat bits got into the turkey.

I may cut the turkey into even smaller pieces. 1/2 of a turkey is still too big for one meal.

dcarch

I think that's great. I probably would have done the same if I thought it was feasible for me. But it isn't. So I ask the butcher to saw the two turkeys in half while I finish my shopping.

I'm sure it's better for you to do it at home if that's an option. Sounds like it might even be kinda fun.

[Martin Fisher]

I'm a big fan of halving a turkey, because I love to have turkey quite often. LOL.

For Thanksgiving I typically traditionally roast one half and cure and smoke the other.

I think it's clever to split them while still froze,

I had to laugh though, somehow it brought back memories of years ago when our neighbor got drunk and sawed a frozen deer in half with a chainsaw!!! LOL

BTW, Mr. dcarch I've taken your tomato trellis method and ran with it, I love it!!!!

Edited December 6, 2011 by DiggingDogFarm (log)

[dcarch]

"---BTW, Mr. dcarch I've taken your tomato trellis method and ran with it, I love it!!!!"

It must have been 6 or 7 years with my "Invisible" system in use, I have not had to buy anything for replacement yet. Looks like it will be good for another 10 years, even we have had many wind and snow storms.

A few neighbors came by, because from across the street, you can't see the supports at all, just red tomatoes.

dcarch