Has anyone sous vide a whole turkey? Can it be done? At what temp? For how long?
How would I finish it?
Thanks
Joy, as you know thickness is most important in SV cooking and you are economical with with your turkey’s details so it’s difficult to give you an exact answer.
First, I advise you forget trying to SV cook a whole presentation-quality turkey. The cavity works against you.
And i hope you meant an unstuffed turkey.
Seriously, most cooks break down a turkey into its white and dark-meat components for SV so you have a manageable and a more uniform thickness with which to work.
The optimum cooking times and temperatures for turkey’s white meat and dark meat vary but a reasonable compromise would be 145F to 150F for 2 to 2 1/2 hours for a cut-up 10 to 12-pound turkey. I prefer my turkey on the lower side of doneness. Package the white and dark meat separately and let the dark meat cook for the longer time. It may not be perfect, but turkey seldom is.
To finish, after cooking pat the meat dry and quickly brown in a hot skillet. Be sure to reserve the juices from the packages for your gravy.
We don’t do plain-old turkey in my house. One of the most delicious items i do are Cajun-brined and smoked SV turkey thighs. They are moist and tender throughout.
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Chef Steps has a recipe for sous vide turkey, broken down into quarters first.
Hi Joy:
Here are a couple recipes you might investigate.
Hopefully you can get some information from these links that’s useful to you.
Good luck!
Thank you so much, this has been quiet helpful