Turkules

The wife and I usually host the family gathering at our house. This has been going on since we moved in over 7 years ago, so we're getting the hang of it. We've got the basics nailed down - the turkey, stuffing, mashed taters, gravy, cranberry sauce, apple pie, and rolls. The rest of the family are kind enough to bring some other favorites - green bean casserole (yuk), creamed mushrooms (super-yuk), various dips and pre-gorging snacks, as well as additional deserts such as my sister-in-law's pumpkin pie.

This year, we went all out again, but the most ambitious task by far was our giant turkey. He was so huge and impressive that we dubbed him "Turkules" - master of all gobbledom. Half god and half bird.

29.45 lbs. Yah, you read that right - just a half pound shy of 30. Luckily we remembered to take pictures of some of the preparation. Some of them are, well, um, kinda, sorta gross. You really don't want to see pictures of me washing him or dropping him in the brine. BTW - here's Alton Brown's recipe - the one we use.

I'll keep the pictures pleasant. Here's Turkules just before prep. Just to give you some perspective, we have a huge sink - it's 19 inches across, and 10 inches deap.

Here's the supreme gobbler unwrapped and flexing his muscles.

Here's the finished Turkules. Finally defeated by 12 hours of brine, a blast of 500 degree heat, plus 4 more hours of roasting. His legacy? 12 full bellies, the tastiest gravy ever(prepared by the red-head), about 7 turkey sammiches, a giant pot of turkey corn soup, and still some remains in the freezer.