11/15/07 Getting The Turkey Ready

Getting the Turkey Ready. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. One week from today is Thanksgiving Day and for many Americans that means roast turkey on the platter. No matter if it's smoked, baked, boiled or roasted there are plenty of turkeys available for the holiday this year according to Sherrie Rosenblatt, Vice President of Marketing & Communication with the National Turkey Federation. ROSENBLATT: USDA's most recent numbers had estimated turkey production at 270-million turkey's and it's definitely above last years numbers so there are plenty of whole turkey's for us to enjoy this Thanksgiving holiday. I will however remind people that if you want a fresh turkey, all you have to do is tell your retailer what size turkey you need to make sure it is available for you a couple of days before you purchase it for that Thanksgiving dinner. I've always believed when it comes to buying a turkey, the bigger; the better. My wife doesn't always agree. But if you are wondering what size of bird you should buy, Rosenblatt gives us the rule of thumb. ROSENBLATT: We recommend about a pound per person so if you've got 15 people for dinner on Thanksgiving, we recommend ordering that 15 pound turkey. As for the turkey producers, this time of year is the biggest demand and prices have been holding up well. Over the last few years deep frying a turkey has become very popular although it has long been the traditional method of cooking a turkey in the South but Rosenblatt says for the most part it's about tradition. ROSENBLATT: You know I think this is definitely one of those holidays where we go back to basics. We do what mom or grandma did. We don't spend very much time in the kitchen anymore, that's for sure but the one time of year that we do go back into the kitchen and pretty much cook from scratch is the Thanksgiving holiday and the National Turkey Federation has a web site which is eatturkey.com and it really gives you everything you need to know from purchasing, preparing and what to do with the leftover turkey which is a lot of peoples favorite part. I'd venture a guess that most people toss the carcass when they are done but hold the phone&put it in a big pot with an onion and some spices and boil it down. ROSENBLATT: It's going to be winter soon if it's not already and you can make a great turkey stock. Take the leftover turkey and make a great turkey soup, put it into containers and you can enjoy that soup all winter long. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.