Cooking Turkey in a Clay Baker?

Susan Sanders-Kinzel
Diamond Feedback Medal for All Time! 1,023 Feedbacks

November 25, 20040 found this helpful

Hello,
I can't find anything about cooking a whole turkey in a clay cooker. Below are links for clay baking. The second is from one of the clay cooker websites.

The important thing with clay cooking is not preheating the oven before putting in the cooker and having the cooker presoaked with water for at least 15 minutes. Once the cooker is soaked, add what you want to cook.

I've cooked whole chickens in the cookers and they were delicious but you must have a very big one to fit a turkey. You may want to cut it into smaller pieces. These sites may help give you an idea how long to cook it, temperatures, etc.

homecooking.about.com/.../aa030899a.htm

fantes.com/romertopf.htm#poultryandgame

Happy Thanksgiving!
Susan

Hello Susan,
Well, here goes. I have a clay cooker cast in the shape of a turkey. I got it about 1970. It holds a turkey up to about 13 3/4 pounds, maybe even 14 pounds. I've only cooked a turkey in it since I got it, not by any other means. I do a fully stuffed bird in 3 hours at 400 degrees f. About an hour and a half into cooking, I take it out, drain off the accumulated juices in the bottom, and put it back into the oven. And then do the same about half an hour before it's finished. I coat the bird and the inside of the lid with butter, before putting the cooker in the oven, so as the wings and upper body will not stick to the lid. Other than that, there's nothing else to attend to. The most difficult part, is getting the bird out of the bottom half, when removing it for carving. But, it's been foolproof all these years. So, try it and enjoy!