The
Holiday Season means that a very large number of turkeys will be gobbled up
from Thanksgiving through Christmas. They will be prepared for our tables in a
range of different ways. Deep-frying seems to be slowly gaining in popularity
in spite of the fraction of practitioners that burn their garages down. Most
will be roasted, dressed up in foil or not as the cook pleases.
For cooks that relish a
challenge, deboning prior to stuffing and roasting is the way to go. The task
takes on a blend of cosmetic surgery and taxidermy, as the final result needs
to bring forth expressions of awe and appreciation for the hungry revelers
around the groaning table.
This year we have some new
advice. Verwilghen, Busoni, van Galen and Wilke have published the ultimate
teaching aid in the current issue of Veterinary
Record (1). They have the final word on the closing argument.
Various suture patterns
were tested on 15 turkeys. The standard procedure of the US Department of
Agriculture Food Safety & Inspection Service was followed to the letter to
get them deboned, stuffed, and roasted; only the suture methods were varied.
Five closure groups were tried in triplicate as would suit government
inspectors.
For the
technical among us who are interested in fancy needlework, the closures were:
firstly simple continuous (most of us can mange that), followed by the Lembert,
Cushing and Utrecht Variations, and lastly surgical staples. The Utrecht and
Stapled turkeys looked OK, whilst the others looked like they had been through
an autopsy.
After the
turkeys were roasted and rested, they were ready to have their stiches taken
out. Only the staples had a good cosmetic result. Yanking the stitches damaged
the skin resulting in cries of sympathy from the team; not a result that you’d
want around your festive table.
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