FAQ

Granny's whole fresh and frozen unstuffed turkeys are not brined. If you are looking for a brine recipe, try this recipe for Standard Turkey Brine - Recipe Link: https://www.grannys.ca/recipe/whole-turkey-brine/

We recommend thawing your turkey before roasting. There are two methods for thawing your turkey – The Refrigerator and Cold Water Methods.

NEVER leave poultry out at room temperature to defrost and NEVER refreeze uncooked meat.

Refrigerator Method: This method keeps the meat cold until it is completely defrosted. Leave the poultry in its packaging and place it on a tray on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator. Allow 5 hours per pound (10 hours/kg) thawing time. For example, a 10-pound (4.5-kg) frozen turkey would require 2 full days to thaw inside the refrigerator.

Cold Water Method: This is the fastest method for thawing. Put the still-packaged poultry in the sink or in a large container and cover completely with cold water. Allow for 1 hour per pound (2 hours/kg) thawing time, changing the water frequently. Once thawed, refrigerate immediately and cook within 48 hours.

However, if you’re unable to thaw your turkey and want to roast from frozen, reduce your oven temperature to 300°F (150°C) and add around 2 hours to the suggested cooking time above. Be aware that if you cook it from frozen you’ll have more juices in the pan. Let the bird stand for 15 to 20 minutes before carving.

You can substitute ground turkey for ground beef in most recipes. We find that adding a little extra finely chopped garlic, onion, celery and carrot and browning it well helps to add more flavour to many ground turkey dishes.

You don’t need to brine a turkey to roast it. You can get great results in a fairly hot oven, seasoning it with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

We do advocate cooking a turkey by convection method. A convection/roast option is even better; there is usually a combination of convection air blown by fan and a bottom heat source. Cooking times with convection are usually reduced somewhat due to better heat distribution and products often cook more evenly.

Your unstuffed turkey is cooked when the meat thermometer in the inner thigh reads 170°F (77°C) or 180°F (82°C) for a stuffed turkey. A chicken is also cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 170°F (77°C) or 180°F (82°C)for a stuffed chicken. For maximum juiciness, remove the chicken or turkey from the oven, cover it with a tent of foil and let it sit covered for 15-20 minutes before carving.

Choose packages that have been well-chilled and tightly wrapped without any tears or holes. Always look for the best before dates to ensure you are getting the freshest product, as quality and food safety decrease after these dates. Keep your poultry as cold as possible on its journey from the supermarket to your home refrigerator.

If you're using a propane gas barbecue, we recommend roasting the bird in a shallow foil pan either on very low or indirect heat. The barbecue should remain covered during cooking. You can add wood chips to a smoking pan to get more flavourful results. It should take anywhere from 2.5 - 4.5 hours depending on the size of the bird and barbecue temperature. A digital meat thermometer should read 170°F (77°C) when it is done. We also have a great Barbecued Whole Turkey recipe. Recipe Link: https://grannys.ca/recipe/barbecued-whole-turkey

There are two ways to safely thaw poultry: The refrigerator or cold water methods.

NEVER leave poultry out at room temperature to defrost and NEVER refreeze uncooked meat.

Refrigerator Method: This method keeps the meat cold until it is completely defrosted. Leave the poultry in its packaging and place it on a tray on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator. Allow 5 hours per pound (10 hours/kg) thawing time. For example, a 10-pound (4.5-kg) frozen turkey would require 2 full days to thaw inside the refrigerator.

Cold Water Method: This is the fastest method for thawing. Put the still-packaged poultry in the sink or in a large container and cover completely with cold water. Allow for 1 hour per pound (2 hours/kg) thawing time, changing the water frequently.

Once thawed, refrigerate immediately and cook within 48 hours.

There are two kinds of meat thermometers available today:

• An oven proof is inserted at the beginning of cooking and remains inserted into the bird throughout cooking.
• An instant-read is inserted into hot food for only a few seconds during cooking time.

Both are suitable for poultry. To use an oven-proof meat thermometer, insert it into the inner thigh area near the breast of the chicken or turkey without touching the bone. Instant-read thermometers should be inserted into the thickest part of the meat preferably the thigh, but not touching bone; it usually produces an accurate temperature readout in about 5-15 seconds. Turkey and chicken is fully cooked when it reached a temperature of 170°F (77°C).

A low-calorie gravy can be made with pan drippings from a turkey roast the same as with regular gravy. If you want a low-calorie gravy it is important to separate all of the fat and not use any of it. The remaining liquid can be brought to a boil and thickened by adding a teaspoon of corn starch mixed in 2 tablespoons of cold water. Once it returns to a boil it will thicken. If the gravy is too thick it can be thinned out with fat free chicken stock or if it isn’t thick enough you can add more corn starch mixed it cold water. You may add a few tablespoons of red wine and salt and pepper to taste.

We recommend baking fresh boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs at 350°F (180°C) for about 30 minutes or until they reach an internal temperature of 170°F (77°C). Cooking times may vary depending on the size of the pieces and your individual oven. They should not show any signs of pinkness inside and the juice should run clear when they are done. It is best to bake them on a wire rack in a pan to ensure even cooking. It is also a good idea to brush them with olive or vegetable oil and season them before cooking. Allowing the cooked chicken to rest loosely covered in a warm place for 10 minutes will help them retain their natural juices.

Chicken Farmers of Canada recommend that you should cook thawed chicken within 48 hours. Turkey Farmers of Canada recommend that should cook thawed turkey with 48 hours.

If packaged well, whole chickens and turkeys will keep in the freezer for two years.

Here are some simple measures:

• Boneless, skinless chicken: 450 g or 1 lb of raw chicken will serve approximately two people.
• Chicken wings/drumsticks: 450g package or 1 lb of raw chicken wings or drumsticks will serve approximately 1-1½ people.
• Roasting chicken: A 1.5 kg or 3 lb chicken will serve approximately 3-4 people.
• Whole turkey: 450 g or 1 lb. of uncooked turkey per person.

It is always a good idea to buy a little extra.

The bag is made of food-safe paper and it isn't harmful to eat a turkey that has been roasted with the giblets left in.

If the travel time to your dinner is no longer than 20-30 minutes you can use tinfoil trays to keep it warm. But if you think it’ll take you more than 30 minutes to get there, we suggest you refrigerate immediately after carving and then transport it cold and reheat at destination.

Simple cut into the thigh, all the way to the bone where, it attaches to the bird. There should not be any redness around the bone and the juice should be clear.

We recommend roasting it uncovered in a pan on a rack at 350°F (180°C). It should take 45 minutes to an hour. We recommend seasoning it with salt, pepper, paprika or any other seasoning that is well suited to roast meat. It is best to check it with a meat thermometer and ensure it reaches 170°F (77°C) internally.

Washing poultry prior to roasting can spread harmful bacteria around your kitchen. Chicken and turkey are well rinsed in our process prior to packaging. It’s highly recommended that you don’t wash chicken or turkey prior to roasting.

Foil is a poor conductor of heat and will increase your cooking times. We recommend adding about 10 minutes per pound to your cook times when roasting a turkey in the oven.

In most cases we recommended that you cook stuffing in a separate dish instead of stuffing the bird. It takes longer for both the stuffing and the meat to reach a safe internal temperature, so cooking an unstuffed bird also saves time and may result in a moister bird. If you do prefer a stuffed chicken or turkey, stuff it loosely just before it goes into the oven and remove the stuffing as soon as it comes out. The stuffing should reach an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) when fully cooked and the thigh of the bird should an internal temperature of 180°F (82°C).

Ready to cook means that once it is thawed it is ready to go into the oven. Most of our frozen turkey bags do have cooking instructions on the back or refer to the cooking instructions tool: https://grannys.ca/poultry-pointers

Some of Granny’s whole turkeys come with a plastic Handi Clamp attached to the drumsticks of the bird. The Handi Clamp is a device similar to traditional trussing or tying a turkey’s legs with butcher’s cord. The clamp is made from a heat resistant plastic that is safe to leave on during cooking.

Chicken and turkey necks make excellent soup or stocks. Try our homemade stock recipes: Chicken: https://grannys.ca/recipe/chicken-stock Turkey: https://grannys.ca/recipe/turkey-stock

To find cooking times, please use the cooking instructions tool. https://grannys.ca/poultry-pointers  

Some of Granny’s whole turkeys come with a plastic Handi Clamp attached to the drumsticks of the bird. The Handi Clamp is a device similar to traditional trussing or tying a turkey’s legs with butcher’s cord. The clamp is made from a heat resistant plastic that is safe to leave on during cooking.

Here is a simple stuffing recipe: https://www.grannys.ca/recipe/traditional-turkey-stuffing. The video can be found here: https://www.grannys.ca/holiday-turkey.

We currently have two grades in the poultry industry; Grade A and Utility. Typically Utility birds may have a part missing like a wing or a drumstick or they may have a piece of skin missing. A Grade A bird should not have any parts missing other than possibly a wing tip and should have a good skin covering.

The bag is made of food-safe paper and it isn't harmful to eat a turkey that has been roasted with the giblets left in.

Leftover cooked chicken or turkey should be stored in a covered container, plastic bag or aluminum foil for up to 4 days in the refrigerator or up to 3 months in the freezer. All leftover meat should be carved from the bone and chilled within 2 hours of cooking. When reheating leftovers, be sure the meat reaches an internal temperature of 170°F (77°C).

Chicken thighs would give you the most meat, but chicken drumsticks are usually the most economical to buy (lowest price per kg). It is usually more economical to buy thighs or drumsticks with the bone in as opposed to buying them boneless.

There is no exact proper way to carve a turkey or chicken but we recommend the following:

1. Let your roasted bird rest loosely tented with foil in a warm place for about 20 minutes before carving.
2. If you have a cutting board that just fits inside a shallow pan it will capture any excess juice while carving.
3. Carve the bird just before serving and put the meat on a platter.
4. Use a large fork or tongs to hold the meat and carve with a sharp knife using the other hand.
5. Slices can be carved from the breast on an angle following the angle of the breast bone. Another way of carving the breast meat is to remove the entire breast from the bird and then cut it into slices on the cutting board.
6. Drumsticks, wings and thighs will naturally separate at the joint and it is easiest to pull them away from the bird and carve at the joint at the same time.
7. We suggest putting all of the white meat on one side of a serving platter and dark meat on the other so that guests can easily distinguish one from the other.
8. It is normal to leave some meat on the carcass. It can be taken off later by hand when it cools or you can boil it to make a soup.

You can add vegetables around a turkey when roasting it but it does have its challenges. Vegetables such as carrots, parsnips and potatoes work well. Chopped onions or whole baby onions are also a nice addition. If you have a large turkey you may want to add them later on as they will likely only take an hour or so to cook depending on how thick they are cut. Another challenge is that a fair bit of fat comes off of the skin of the bird and it can make the vegetables overly greasy. Another option is taking some of the fat from the drippings of the pan part way through cooking, mix it with your vegetables and then roast them in a separate pan.

When roasting a turkey or chicken we believe it is best to use a roaster with a rack and to cook it uncovered because it allows for the best circulation of heat so the roast can cook quickly and evenly. The breast meat doesn’t become overcooked this way and the outside becomes crispy. Sometimes it is it works well to cover a roast loosely with foil for the first 2/3 of the cooking time to prevent it from browning too much. With a lid on the excess moisture doesn’t escape and the meat steams more than roasts. It produces a different end result; neither is right or wrong they are just two different methods.

A turkey should be roasted with the breast facing up. The heat is able to circulate around the breast meat better and some fat from the skin melts, helping to keep the meat moist.

Seasoned boneless skinless chicken breasts or Individually Quick Freezing (IQF) chicken breasts were originally developed for restaurants. They do not dry out when held cooked for a long time during restaurant service and they are more economical and convenient than fresh chicken breasts.  

Sodium tripolyphosphate helps to keep the moisture in the meat. Presently, we are phasing out our high-sodium, high water content products. We are also developing new marinated products with broth instead of water added. We are also phasing out sodium tripolyphosphate in most of our seasoned turkey products.

Some people like to brine turkeys as the seasonings used can add unique flavours to the bird. Brining is especially popular when smoking a bird as the longer cooking time would otherwise dry it out.