Over time, a primary reason American turkeys got bigger was the public's desire for leaner meat than beef or pork and the increasingly large turkey byproduct industry -- everything from ground turkey to turkey sausage to turkey pot pie to turkey breasts to roast turkey for deli sandwiches. In 1960, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average annual turkey weight at slaughter was almost 17 pounds, and at holiday time (November and December) slightly more than 19 pounds. By 1990, the average annual weight at slaughter rose to more than 21 pounds, and the USDA tracking for this year to date shows an average slaughter weight of about 28 pounds.
The National Turkey Federation maintains that for home-roasting purposes, the average weight of the turkeys Americans purchase is about 16 pounds. But anybody who's ever looked into supermarket poultry bins at this time of year knows that it's a lot easier to find a 20-pound turkey than a 12-pounder.
Those big birds seem to mesh well with American home cooks' inclinations. "Everything is bigger in America, starting with the Big Gulp at 7-Eleven and going down from there," says Lindeborg. "Maybe it's the way we urban people get the thrill of the hunt."
Besides, when deciding how much turkey to buy, a common estimate used by sources such as the USDA and the National Turkey Federation urges us to purchase turkeys based on calculation of a pound per person.
In my view, that's nuts. The estimate, of course, takes the weight of the bones into consideration and assumes shrinkage during cooking as well as a desire for leftovers. But even given that, it's too much food. Do you really need to serve even half a pound of protein in a dinner that includes -- and I'm estimating modestly here -- mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, a couple of other vegetables, stuffing, gravy, a sweet relish and at least one dessert?
Now consider the advantages of cooking a smaller turkey.
Since a 12-pound turkey will cook more quickly than a 20-pounder, you're much more likely to cook it properly. "A smaller turkey will cook a lot faster because the heat moving from the outside has a shorter distance to go. There's much less muscle and tissue to heat," says Harold McGee, whose revised 20th-anniversary edition of "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen" (Scribner) has just been released.
If the turkey is in the oven for a shorter period of time, the breast meat is less likely to dry out. "The bigger the bird, the longer it takes to cook through, and the longer the outer parts are exposed to drying temperatures," he says. (Even so, McGee cautions that cooks shouldn't really rely on pre-determined cooking schedules.
"There's no substitute for monitoring and checking and not letting the turkey slip past the ideal stage," he says.
Since smaller turkeys are younger than older ones, roasting a smaller one is much more likely to produce a moist, flavorful bird.
"Older turkeys are more gamey and less tender," says Bryan Voltaggio, executive chef at Charlie Palmer Steak in the Penn Quarter. "As the bird gets older, the meat just isn't as pleasurable." For his restaurant this year, Voltaggio commissioned a local farmer to raise and slaughter turkeys to his specifications. "The meat is more moist on a younger bird, and more tender, too. It hasn't been able to develop its muscles as much," he says.
To ensure food safety, a bird must be refrigerated, even when it's defrosting. So a small bird is easier to keep cold. "People bring home huge birds, but where do you put them? Your refrigerator is already full of stuff," says Lindeborg.
If you haven't already bought a small frozen turkey or reserved a fresh one, it may be hard to find one. And you may not be ready for such a change. A big bird seems to be ingrained in the American culinary imagination. "My mother would never cook a turkey under 20 pounds," says Ris Lacoste, executive chef at 1789 in Georgetown. "I've never cooked a small one either. I don't know why. I don't have anything against them."
(She, of course, is a seasoned chef who's presided over countless turkey dinners at the restaurant. She has a staff that tends carefully to the big birds, unlike some of us who might just shove the turkey in the oven, baste it occasionally and hope for the best. )
Besides, it takes a confident cook to serve a holiday meal without the big bird. "It really does have more to do with logistics than the finished product," says McGee. "You can make a good [turkey] out of a little turkey or a big turkey. You're going to a lot of trouble, and you want people to have as much as they want."
