'Turkey mites'--myth or reality?
dirtgirl
16 years ago
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Elly_NJ
16 years agojeannek_NEPA
16 years agoRelated Discussions
Dream vs reality
Comments (24)I can offer you up a couple of viewpoints. I grew up on a farm and I was prepared for what life about 30 minutes outside the city would be like. I was prepared for the idea of NOT being prepared for everything because I've lived hard, but I never owned a home before this one. My wife, complete city girl AND total apron-string nutcase with her mother, says she loves it but over time has proved otherwise. My step-mother, now in her 80's, also moved from the city down to the farm where I grew up. In her words, "I hated it for the first two or three years, but now I couldn't imagine going back to the city. I'd just die." Things my wife hates: - getting up extra early in case of inclement weather, accounting for that additional driving time. More often than not she stays with her parents in the city if bad weather is coming, with the result that I end up left alone, sometimes for weeks at a time in winter, and I hate this. On the other hand life in the city is poor planning AND would eventually kill my soul, so I hope for the best here. - She hates all our neighbors/friends being generally so far away. - She hates that we can't just jump up and go out to a movie without planning, or to a particular restaurant. - She hates the grocery being off a ways, but I chalk this up to poor planning and her inability to just make stops on the way home from work. - We live by a cornfield, and we have a HUGE mouse problem. On the other hand I'm learning how to get rid of the mice, but it's taking time and planning. Still, it's a pain to deal with initially. - Septic system: If you're building, then take pains to make sure you have a good system AND that you MAINTAIN it regularly to ensure long life. The former owners said they did (they SAID lots of things), but a few months into our life here the toilet didn't flush very well. Fortunately a few doses of Rid-X did the trick, and I apply regularly now. - Learning how to deal with a well. I grew up with well water, but we had a LOT of top quality water. Many wells do NOT have great water, and digging a well can be dauntingly expensive. If you plan on digging a well, make CERTAIN it's not near your septic. Also, while you may lose water in the event of a power failure, there is an alternative: Since you're digging the well anyway, have a hand-pump installed outside, for emergency use. It's not that much more expensive, and if another Hurricane Ike comes through, you'll be glad you did. Power is one thing, water is quite another. - Propane: You will obviously want to insulate your house as well as possible. Propane is NOT cheap if you use it to heat. I HIGHLY recommend having a fireplace insert installed for home heating, and I recommend researching a model which can act as a practical fireplace in the event of power loss (after all, what drives that circulating fan?) so you can still heat. As for cooking, it's great with propane or natural gas, BUT keep one thing in mind: If you lose power, you lose your oven UNLESS you get a dial-controlled oven you can light rather than an electronically-controlled oven you cannot use during a power outage. - Using your land: I have ten million ideas for what I WANT my homestead to look like, and I have tons of know-how. I lack, however, some of the simplest pieces of equipment to do the jobs I want, such as a tractor. Finding neighbors to do jobs for me isn't as easy as I'd hoped originally, so don't COUNT on it. Bearing that in mind, getting started is much, much harder than you might think (especially if you're like me and have to do it all alone). Another thing which lacks sometimes is TIME, since you have the commute. It's one thing to tell yourself you'll be diligently in the yard nightly after work, another thing to arrive home tired, need to prepare supper AND get outside to take care of projects. Great on paper, difficult in application. - Costs of commuting as gas prices rise. Commutes aren't just gas, they're also time and effort. - Childcare if you have that issue. If you have to leave work to pick up your child, is he home and local, so you have a 30-minute drive BACK to him/her, then BACK to the city for a doctor, all because someone local babysits at a feasible price? Or do you opt for in-city childcare at outrageous prices? I shell out nearly $800 per month for my son's daycare. That may not be a concern for you at all, if you're not far from retirement, but it's definitely something to consider IF you plan to pass the homestead on to your kids. - Also, as pointed out, your 30 minute from the city may be a mere 15 or even 10 minutes in just a few years, and you may be IN the city by the time you're old and pass the land on to your kids. I've only had this place 1.5 years and already, farms nearby are selling and subdividing. It won't be long before 10 acres will be a LOT of land, and that's sad....See MoreTG turkey perfectly cooked - except for one thigh ???
Comments (17)" Posted by lindac --I big cold turkey in a pot of hot water is a good way to keep the meat at just the proper temperature for bacteria growth. Much better to put it directly into the oven. " This topic of cause can lead to an endless heated discussion. Still, let me give it a try. What first gave me the reasons to try to find a way that led me to use my method: 1. A frozen 20-lb turkey will take five to six days to thaw in the frig, and there is never room in a freezer to keep a turkey. We all know how much other stuff you have to get for the Thanksgiving dinner in the refrigerator. 2. A turkey from the frig directly to oven, takes too long to cook to reach safe temperature all the way deep inside, and by that time, the meat outside, thatÂs more than half of the turkey, is very overdone, tough and dry. Or worst, the inside meat is still bloody when you are serving to your friends and family. Please understand that I am not recommending to anyone to be unsafe. The many cities I have traveled to outside of this country, including Argentina (meat capital of the world) and recently to Paris, it is not unusual for meats to be sold without refrigeration for the whole day. Pathogens can grow in the refrigerator temperature as well. Generally, it is considered unsafe for temperature to be from 41 to 140 degrees (I think, please check for accuracy). The other important factor is time. Given it enough time, anything can go bad. That why it doesnÂt take long for meats to go bad in a frig. I hate to think what is going on in an uncooked turkey for more than six days in a frig. Here is what I have been doing for more than ten years. Reserve in advance a turkey from the supermarket. Pickup the frozen turkey on Thanksgiving day. Prepare hot water to about 120 degrees. Dump frozen turkey with its plastic bag in hot water, and keep water temperature at about 120 to 130 degrees. I donÂt know if this is absolute correct, I never timed it. Depending on how big and how frozen the turkey is, about an hour later, the whole turkey is completely warmed up ready for seasoning and stuffing. Because the turkey is hot (but not cooked) at this time, it does not take long in the oven for the temperature to reach 165 deep inside without overcooking the outside. Just simple law of thermal dynamics. The entire process gives very little time and opportunity for harmful pathogens to multiply. I advice you not to use my method. It is unorthodox. Go cold turkey. :-) dcarch...See MoreHarvey remodel. My dream HAS to be a reality, now!
Comments (16)We finally found a place to rent that has 3 bedrooms and isn't insanely expensive, Yay! I've been playing with the ideas off and on while buying new cars, visiting potential rentals, and working on the house. I talked with the family about converting our 4th bedroom to expand bath and move laundry. My kids were aghast! Where were guests going to sleep? Where were we going to put the desk top (they watch movies on it occasionally, too)? Middle kid thought that it was going to be his room when ready. So, we've decided to keep laundry in the original place. I'm still stealing some of the 4th BR for our MBA, though. The island plan looks fantastic but I kept wanting more storage options once the laundry room had to stay. Also, there is significant cost savings by not digging out concrete for plumbing and installing a beam for the load-bearing wall. Some ideas I had: 1) Widen the existing 32" doorways from garage and into kitchen to 36". Those doors are a huge pain when moving large items through, like the washer/dryer/fridge etc. I can use a barn door or pocket for the kitchen entrance. This will shorten the pantry a bit (measurements are existing on drawing are existing). 2) 1-2 d/w in clean up zone. Bring the existing pass through to counter level so kids can help put dishes away on DR/FR side. Maybe have space for cookbooks under that counter, as well. 3) 30" deep counters 4) Love to keep Mamagoose's 3 panel doors to the patio. With the wall shortened over there, it will bring a lot of light into the house and northern light isn't so bad in the South. I'm not sure what to do with the cabinets between the fridge and sink. I'd like to plan for the future and have some kind of narrow pullout to the left of my 32" all fridge that can be removed if going bigger. The wall on that side can be shortened for french door swing and the pantry remain as sized. Maybe a narrow pantry using cabinetry and store packages of paper towels, grocery bags, etc, above the appliances in the laundry...or in the garage....See MoreTurkey shortage??
Comments (68)"so cooked longer till 165 and rested for 20 minutes or so." No wonder your breast meat was chewy and dry. 165 out of the oven is to hot and then resting will raise the temperature another 5 degrees to 170 and it's toast, and it wasn't the turkey brand. Over the last 3 months I've cooked two cheap brand turkey breasts in the bone and both were perfect. Nothing special just thaw, season, let sit at room temp for an hour, stick in oven with temperature probe inserted, it beeps at 155, verity with handheld probe, pull out of oven, cover wait a while with the probe in and it they always come up to 160 and even a little more. It's not hard....See Morebbcathy
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