Cooking a Turkey fast

I guess I'm just old fashioned. To me, the best part of cooking a turkey is the long, slow process, during which time family members visit, play board games, enjoy whatever football is on, take long walks, etc., while the anticipation builds. I don't get the point of cooking a turkey faster. When I was a little girl, Thanksgiving Day was also butchering day at my grandparents' farm. Usually, they did a beef cow and a pig. All the men in the family, over a certain age participated (I guess there was adult conversations that kids and women weren't privvy to?). The women all came with their specialty dishes, casserols, salads, desserts. Meanwhile my grandmother had both her stoves going. One was a modern (early 50's) electric model with all the bells & whistles, the other was the big cast iron wood stove with 2 big ovens. Besides a huge turkey they had raised just for this day, there was roast beef, and a whole ham. This was an all-day event. The smell of turkey roasting & pies baking, transports me back to a time and place in my memory that I cannot otherwise go to. I just want it to last as long as possible. :)

I agree, turkey cooked slow with stuffing brings back many memories. My mother usually did a 30 pound or so bird. If I want a fast turkey I will toss it on the weber kettle in the summer. The two are totally different and each has its place.

I can cook a turkey at 5 minutes per pound up to a 20 pound turkey and the meat comes out great. The skin is sub par and needs a little torching to come up to crisp.

Phil

How do you do that?

You need a special pot and the price has gone WAY up since I picked mine up. You can probably get better details at retail of course.

Ultimate Roaster - Seasoned Cast Iron Pot - Camp Chef

I mostly got this for camping purposes, and it's been a handy pot for that, letting me bake potatoes and roast turkeys, chickens and other things on the stove when there are fire bans (more and more often now) The turkey cavity goes right over the cone and it's FAST. Can also speed smoke a turkey this way, but you destroy the drippings.

I've used it on a couple of thanksgivings as well.

Phil