Back in late November, my sister and I decided to make our Christmas family dinner as simple of an ordeal as possible. Since my mom is still recovering from her stroke, large events and undertakings tire her out, so our plan was to purchase as many of the dishes as possible and just have a quiet family dinner together.
However, shortly before Christmas, I was approached by a PR company who wondered if I’d be interested in trying a turducken out. A TURDUCKEN?! Um…yes please!
A turducken is, simply, a whole load of meat. In theory, it’s a turkey, stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a chicken. In reality, it’s a lot of work and much more than I would ever begin to attempt to create in my kitchen. However, Echelon Foods, has made the whole experience super easy by producing and selling frozen turduckens that are ready for the oven! According to Echelon’s website, their “Original Turducken is a de-boned whole turkey wrapped around moist duck and chicken breasts, and stuffed with chicken apple or Italian sausage stuffing. This tasty beast serves 12-15 hungry adults and is easier to cook than a traditional turkey.”
When I mentioned to my foodie friends that my family would be enjoying a turducken for Christmas dinner, they were extremely envious, but mainly, they were concerned at how moist (or dry) the meats would turn out, since there were four different kinds of meat being cooked together.
I ordered my turducken online directly from Echelon (I chose the original one instead of the roast because I wanted it to look like a regular turkey would – with the legs and wings intact) and received the delivery within a few days. It was frozen (obviously) and since it was only a few days before Christmas Eve (when my family traditionally celebrates), I quickly started the bird on the Quick Thaw method.
Compared to when we need to cook a regular turkey, the morning of the meal was a breeze. I woke up, unwrapped the completely-thawed turducken, placed it onto the rack in the roasting pan, added 10 cups of water to the pan and stuck everything into the oven. Because of the timing (I slept in), I chose to do the High Heat method and also basted the turducken every 45 minutes. I inserted a meat thermometer into the turducken because I wanted to ensure it hit the required 165F degrees internal temperature.
My family were gathered in the kitchen when the turducken came out of the oven and were impressed with how nicely it had browned (although it did look a little bloated). After letting it rest for 30 minutes, Paul started the ‘carving’…which is really just slicing. Because the turducken has been deboned (except for the wings and legs), you can easily slice the meat. Although Paul tried to ensure that every slice had a little of each meat, we did find that the meat tended to separate and fall apart, but we took that as a good sign.
Tasting verdict: My family couldn’t wait to try the turducken and were happily surprised at how moist every meat involved turned out. The turducken skin is lightly spiced, but it had a nice flavour and wasn’t too strong. There wasn’t any dry meat at all and I deliberately tried each meat section separately, but every area was nice and moist. I wasn’t sure I was going to like the sausage stuffing, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I did enjoy it.
The only cons I found with the turducken were personal taste issues:
– Because there was almost no drippings or grease from the turducken, the gravy that I made using my usual method turned out way too flour-y and tasteless. I would definitely buy gravy next time.
– As much as I enjoyed the sausage stuffing that came inside the turducken, I did miss the amazing bread and sage stuffing that Paul always prepares for his turkey dinners.
Overall, I have to say my family was really impressed with the turducken and would definitely have it again. I loved how easy it was to get into the oven (usually it takes us a few hours to ‘prep’ the turkey) and was definitely happy with how well it turned out, with very minimal work. If you do the low-heat method (which takes a bit longer), you don’t even need to worry about basting. Because there’s so much meat involved, the turducken serves way more people than a traditional turkey and, as Echelon Foods had promised, it definitely was easier to prepare and cook than a traditional turkey.
After starting out in Canada, Echelon Foods has since expanded into the US and you can purchase their range of turduckens and turducken roasts (including one WRAPPED IN BACON!) online directly from Echelon Foods or through retailers across North America..
Disclosure: I received a turducken from Echelon Foods for review purposes. I did not receive any financial compensation for this post and the post was not reviewed by the sponsor prior to publication. All opinions expressed are my own. Please read my disclosure policy for more information.
