I've been recovering from a case of Covid and the regular flu at the same time, sequestered in the middle of nowhere and trying to swig NyQuil and fall over and sleep for 18-hour stretches. I'm in the stages where I'm over the bad parts, and since I had purchased two 21-pound turkeys for Thanksgiving, I had to do something with them. They had been trying to thaw, but both were still fleshy shells around blocks of solid frozen bird.
I happen to have a couple of Instant Pot pressure cooking devices. One is an 8-quart, and the other is a massive 17-quart beast.
The first thing I had to do was get the gizzards out of the turkey. Several trips to warm my hands under hot water later, I had extracted the guts and the neck. I chucked the gizzards into the Beastpot and put the neck outside for the possums to enjoy. I have a thing for possums, they're cool.
In the bottom of the pot, I put two cups of filtered water, eight crushed garlic cloves, some red and Videlia onions (halved), two bay leaves, and a dash of olive oil.
I crammed a bird in, but I had to disjoint one of the legs to make things fit. Some sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and a drizzle of sesame seed oil and it was ready to cook.
The ballpark is six minutes per pound of turkey, so I set it for two hours and let Tom enjoy a last spa day.
When it was all over, I kept it on warm and let the pressure naturally drop. Then I opened it up.
I had a quarter of the pot under broth, and the turkey was so juicy and tender it fell off the carcass, including the drumsticks.
If you like crispy turkey skin, you can run it under a broiler for five to ten minutes. I just peel it off and give it to the possums.
I used a skimmer to remove the boneless turkey and put it in containers, then put some broth in a pitcher so I can make some soup later. Then I went through and skimmed out all of the bones and leftover skin, again feeding the possums that were now waiting by my back door.
If you recall, I had two turkeys, so I left the rest of the broth and crammed the second turkey in and repeated the process. I have enough turkey to feast for a week.
If you ever are caught with a frozen bird and company coming over in a few hours, this is a way to enjoy a homecooked meal without having to eat at eleven at night.