Turkeys, Catering, and Those Blasted Pop-Up Timers

Unlike most food service businesses that do catering to corporate offices, we cook all of our own meats for the sandwiches we make. They don't just fall of the back of a truck and onto your sandwich! Our prime rib and turkey are slow roasted in our well loved smoker over various hardwoods from hickory to mesquite to oak or apple. What I have never understood are those little blue and white pop up timers. The very first step in preparing a turkey for roasting - before seasoning, before ANYTHING should be removing that useless timer, taking it out back, placing it under the tire of the largest truck one can find and driving over it until it has been crushed to dust! In other words, those little "timers" should be considered the bane of man's existence, public enemy number one, persona non grata.
If you haven't figured it out yet, I don't like those things! Ever wonder how those little demons from hell work? There is a little blob of metal in the tip that melts when the internal temperature of the bird reaches 185°. If you remove the bird from the oven the moment that timer pops, it will "only" reach 195°. If you don't catch it the moment it pops, you're looking at temperatures over 200°. Water, as you know, boils at 212°. The closer your bird's temperature gets to that magic temperature, the drier your dinner will be. Make sure you have plenty of bottled water available. Your guests will need it to rehydrate their dinner! How many people catch it the moment it pops? How many get caught up in the big game, a book, chasing the kids around the house? Why do you think most of the time Thanksgiving turkeys have about as much moisture and juice as the sand in the Sahara.
According to the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) the internal temperature of a turkey should not exceed 165°. This is now recognized as a safe temperature and will also insure a moist and juicy bird. To achieve a final temperature of 165° remove the turkey from the heat when it reaches 155° and it will carry over to the ideal doneness. This guideline changed in 2006. So why are these implements of culinary torture still on the market? Is it a government conspiracy? An alien plot?
Now can we finally put those little trinkets of yesteryear to rest once and for all? No more National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation turkeys! If you have any doubts, give us a call and we'll deliver!