Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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A Thanksgiving Tidbit. For more than thirty years my little 37 acre farm Has raised many poultry, including literally thousands of turkeys-- About 600 per year, totalling around 18,000 birds. The first year or so we,of course, had to work out the 'bugs'. In December, after Thanksgiving had been celebrated, I had a few calls, giving me feedback concerning our birds. In general, the reports were excellent--wonderful taste. All our birds were ground raised, with mainly healthy grazing. The one issue, if there really were one, was dry breast white meat. That was an unexpected report from several customers. Now I needed to figure out just what created this phenomenon. The birds were raised quite perfectly to my mind. I concluded that the 'problem' was not caused by our husbandry. So, what on earth could yield this observation? After some thought, I homed in on cooking methods. With our birds being ground raised, the lack of huge amounts of fatteners Created a delicious bird that was leaner than commercial turkeys. Turkeys are most traditionally roasted with the breast up; This method is convenient because on its back, the body sits stably in the pan. Giving directions concerning a breast-down orientation resulted in a perfect product; All the breast meat was bathed in body juices during the whole cooking time. In addition, we created a guide with weight and time rules, Keeping in mind that a lean bird must be cooked slower and longer, With a reduced temperature to retain more juices. After two or three years, there were nothing but continual raves. Frank Maurer 20 December 2024 1610 Hours.