Got turducken?

[j mather]

I've been wanting to cook a Thanksgiving turducken, but didn't want to mail order it. Lucky me -- I found out that 4505 Meats is making them. They are even making a turducken jr., described as more of a roulade, which is a more manageable size for my needs.

http://www.4505meats.com/fmStore/list... Scroll down past the pastured pork to find the turduckens.

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4505 Meats
1 Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA 94111, CA

[wolfe]

For those who want to try but are put off by the cost Costco online special: Big Easy Foods Creole Style Tur-Duc-Hen 15 lbs $64.99 delivered. Haven't made mine yet but reviews are available on site (-+)..
http://reviews.costco.com/2070/115957...

[Malcolm Ruthven]

Lots of complaints in those reviews.

[wolfe]

Caveat emptor, That's what (-+) indicates but there were some 4-5 stars. I never did like turkey that much Malcolm

[Malcolm Ruthven]

Nor am I a fan of turkey. I always eat way more of the dressing/stuffing than turkey. Looking around, I found this source of turducken, priced like the Costco/Big Easy Foods version, that the Wall Street Journal thought was great in 2004 :-)

http://www.cajungrocer.com/food/fresh-foods/holiday-dishes-turducken.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB11...

[wolfe]

I know the price is the same it's the delivery that isn't.

GROUND $29.85
2 to 3 DAY AIR $47.55
NEXT DAY AIR $61.15
Saturday Delivery $76.15

[Malcolm Ruthven]

>I know the price is the same it's the delivery that isn't.<

These are the Cajun Grocer shipped prices.
GROUND..$79 to $95 2DAY..$95 to $105 More for 2-day or Saturday.

Their cornbread-and-pork-sausage stuffing version sounds interesting to me. Way better-sounding than rice for stuffing.

[Glencora]

I also like stuffing (with gravy and a bit of cranberry sauce and a bit of turkey...) and for that reason would not get turducken again. I didn't like the rice stuffing at all. The meat was okay. Hard to tell it apart. I wasn't even sure what I was eating. It was an easy way to feed a crowd and a source of conversation and amusement. Not tasty.

[Malcolm Ruthven]

>Not tasty.<

Do I assume correctly that you had the Costco/Big Easy version?

[Glencora]

Yes.

[wolfe]

I told my son I would have a kim chi side to enhance the flavor.

[j mather]

4505 announced their turduckens for 2012: https://store.4505meats.com/item_type...

These were great last year. The smoked pork rillete is very tasty too.

[Glencora]

I don't see it in the link. Am I being dense? Could you give a sense of prices? -- I'd like to suggest this to my parents for our Christmas dinner, but would first like to now how pricey is pricey.

[sfbecky]

I think Ryan only has these available at Thanksgiving, and the website has been updated. He had several sizes available, but I got the huge "Grand Turducken" for $275...it fed 25-30, came w/ thermometer, lots of extra root vegs, gravy, and detailed instructions. PLUS he made himself available by email to answer last minute questions about cooking (225 for 6-8 hrs), and responded right away.
I don't know the prices of the smaller roasts..

[j mather]

Turducken jr. was $125, with gravy, and would feed 8-10 easily. Well worth it but it was only available at Thanksgiving. A friend who also got one said "Why would I ever go back to plain turkey?". Ryan says he'll have something for Xmas but hasn't announced it yet.

[Glencora]

Thanks. I'll check back. We'll be 18 at Christmas. We've been doing roast turkey and poached salmon, but I'd like to try something different and more celebratory.

[j mather]

4505 announced their holiday meats, including duck stuffed with truffles, and a bunch of great sounding pork cuts: http://www.4505meats.com/fmStore/list...

Don't forget the chicharrones -- you can string them like popcorn for the tree.

[Glencora]

That duck sounds great. My mother has ordered a costco turducken. I'm dubious--it looks kind of yucky in the photograph--but at least it will be different. I'm filing this away for future reference, though. Love the idea of a chicharrones garland.

[poser]

Lunardis in Burlingame still has some. I'm not sure of the size or price though.

[Claudette]

: Schaub’s in Palo Alto said you could order the boneless turkey, chicken, and duck from them and then stuff and cook it yourself. They only charge $25 for the prep work, plus the $/# for each fowl.

Since I’m only having 5 at Christmas, I ordered butterflied turkey and chicken breasts, and will confit a few duck legs, then stuff w/ merguez and cornbread for a roulade.

[sfbecky]

It was great!! They provided detailed cooking and carving directions, and the meats were moist and perfectly done....the cornmeal-sausage dressing did a good job of kindof binding things together, so that each slice was a mosaic of meats/stuffing/vegies. they provided a meat thermometer, a bed of root veggies, and some delicious gravy (although I also made my own from the generous pan drippings).
Our 25+ guest enjoyed it very much, and we have plenty of left-overs today. It was pricey, but I'd say worth it for the fine flavor, while supporting a local business.

[j mather]

I agree with Becky's assessment. I got the junior, which is a roulade and serves 8 - 10 people. It was deliciously moist, and the high quality of the poultry was evident in the taste. It took a little over an hour to brown the skin properly. I just had some of the leftover, warmed up in gravy. I'd do this again. Maybe next year Ryan will wrap the whole thing in pork belly.

[bigwheel042]

Kind of shocked to hear it was possible to cook it perfectly. Everything I have read about turducken has said it's even harder to cook than turkey because of the difference in heating times between the center and the periphery of the dish.

[Windy]

If anyone can make it work, it's Ryan. I've been thrilled with all the meat packages I've gotten from him, especially the complicated ones.

[sfbecky]

I also have ordered one from 4505 Meats...I'm having 25 for Thanksgiving as usual, and I'm tired of brining whole birds,, supplementing with braised parts (Bittman). I'm getting the big guy, and I will report back after T-day

[rubadubgdub]

It would be great if you could report back on how tasty it is/isn't esp. at those prices. I do like 4505 stuff so I'm hoping they've figured out a secret formula. I did do a mail order turducken once and I'm sad to report that the different meats all tasted the same and not great. So now I'm thinking it's a gimmick albeit one that I really like conceptually.