OT- Has anyone ever bought a pre-cooked turkey for Thanksgiving?

[nessz79]

I ordered a pre-cooked turkey from Publix today and am wondering if I should have. I know nothing about cooking a turkey. The deli lady said that it comes pre-cooked and I have to follow their directions to re-heat it on Thanksgiving day and it takes about 1.5-2 hours for a large turkey.

Has anyone done this before?

Can I still stuff the turkey when reheating or is that out of the question?

How much does a frozen turkey cost? Mine is costing $3/pound and I'm wondering how that compares.

Thanks in advance!

 

[adoptionmomma4]

I have never ordered a pre-cooked turkey. I am pretty sure my MIL has. She is a horrible cook and really just doesn’t enjoy it. So, I am sure the turkey was one of the best parts of that meal I am sure my MIL would agree with all of that.

I would think it may be a little dry after being reheated, but that is just a guess. I would think stuffing it would be fine. 2 hours should be enough time to cook the stuffing.

As far as costs go.... I am in Ohio so it may very, but you can get frozen turkeys around Thanksgiving really cheap. I am think I got a 22lb turkey last year for around $8.00. I put it in the freezer and we ate it in July for our Christmas in July dinner. You can get a fresh turkey at the regular grocery store for a little more than $1/lb. Then it doesn’t have to be thawed for days. I just ordered our turkeys for Thanksgiving and paid $2.30/lb for fresh, organic, free-range turkeys from and Mennonite shop near by.

Cooking a turkey is not very hard. I do hate taking the gross stuff out of it, but luckily my mom is here to help with that I cook mine in a nice roaster pan my mom got me as a gift and we never have dry turkey. A friend of mine cooks hers in a turkey bag (you can get at the grocery and made by reynolds) and she also says she never has a dry turkey. I am not crazy about cooking in plastic, but it does make clean up nice and requires no basting. Anyway- I stuff our and put in the roaster for the amount of time per pound suggested, at the suggest temp and walk away. It is really that easy!

 

[nessz79]

Thank you! Do you know how long a fresh turkey will keep in the refrigerator?

 

[adoptionmomma4]

My guess would be 1-2 days. I think there is a website you can check. Not sure of the name right now. I will check when I get home.

I am picking my turkeys up on Tuesday and they will be fine to cook early Thursday morning.

 

[mco-missy]

I have ordered the pre-cooked turkey from Publix for holiday luncheons at work. We had them slice the meat for us so I can't tell you anything about stuffing it. But, the meat was wonderful and very, very moist!

 

[nessz79]

My guess would be 1-2 days. I think there is a website you can check. Not sure of the name right now. I will check when I get home.

I am picking my turkeys up on Tuesday and they will be fine to cook early Thursday morning.

Thanks! I cancelled the order for the pre-cooked turkey. It was just too odd for me!

I think I may just pick up the frozen turkey. We have an extra refrigerator and freezer in the garage so it's no problem to store it.

Thanks for your help- I am totally clueless!

 

[SharpMomOfTwo]

Out of all the stuff you have to make on thanksgiving, the turkey is the easiest!! I'd make my own turkey and order the rest of the stuff if you don't want to cook.
Truthfully, I would think it would be dry, and I would worry about salimanela (SP?).

 

[gwcollins71]

We've ordered the precooked meqal from our local store before and it was fine. It allowed me to spend my energy on our special family favorites because all the basics were covered... potatoes, stuffing, etc.

Good luck and don't worry about it.

Gretchen

 

[MaleficentFan]

I know you said you cancelled your order... but in the event you consider it again in the future. I can cook well enough to keep my family from starving but I am by no means good at it... nor do I enjoy it. So I have twice ordered a precooked turkey dinner for Thanksgiving. We ordered ours from Whole Foods. It was DELICIOUS! And so easy... I actually was able to enjoy my guests and not get up at the crack of dawn. Our stuffing was separate so we heated it separately from the turkey... I'm also weird about the whole stuffing inside the bird thing.

Don't fear the precooked meal!

 

[Nicolepa]

It depends where you get it from. I've ordered them from a nice upscale grocery store and it was not too good. Last year I ordered a meal from Whole foods. Twice actually, Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was wonderful. We are doing that again this year.

I wouldn't think stuffing the turkey would turn out well. The whole reason the stuffing works is the juices from cooking is moisten the stuffing. If you are just reheating the turkey then the stuffing I would think would end up dry. Just cook the stuffing in the crockpot. Make it like you normally would and add some chicken broth and cook on low until you are ready to eat.

 

[arminnie]

A couple of years ago I was having 1 guest for Thanksgiving. She was arriving later in the day (so the hotel buffets were not an option). I arrived late afternoon on Wed. so really didn't have time to cook.

I went to Whole Food and bought everything. The food was absolutely fabulous.