Too Easy

My primary reason for purchasing the BigEasy No Oil Turkey Cooker was to free up some much needed space in my oven.  Cooking Thanksgiving dinner is challenging.  It's no easy feat to get 15 things prepared and on the table at the same time.  Figuring out how to shuffle food in and out of the oven around the turkey is an annual routine.   When I heard about this cooker thing I thought maybe I had found the answer to this problem.  The no oil thing sold me on it.  A big vat of super heated oil just seems like a disaster waiting to happen.  

My secondary reason for purchasing this cooker was to get the husband to cook the bird.  I heard about this cooker from one of the guys at work.  He went on and on about how juicy the turkey is and how he uses it to cook other things all year long.  This was a guy bragging about cooking the Holiday turkey.  Men love to cook meat so long as it's not in a kitchen.  It's a caveman thing.  I figured it was worth a shot.

I found one of these contraptions on sale, made the purchase and brought it home.  My husband was skeptical.  My sister expressed fears that this radiant heat cooking might be cancer causing.  My daughter, the vegetarian, said a turkey lives a miserable life until it is slaughtered for our Holiday meal and it doesn't really matter how we cook it since we shouldn't be eating it anyway.  (Spoil sport).

The cooker sat in the living room for 4 days.  Yesterday morning, when he couldn't put it off any longer, he cracked it open and assembled it.  There were pieces and parts strewn across the living room floor.  He grumbled a little but I know he loves that sort of thing.  When he was done the assembled cooker innards and turkey basket were placed on my kitchen counter.  He informed me that I had to oil the thing up generously to make for easier cleanup and easy removal of the turkey.  I could tell from the tone in his voice he was thinking "I done my part now you do yours."   He almost figured out my ulterior motive when I cracked a tiny smile at that.

Since I was busy preparing the other holiday dinner delectables I ignored the cooker.  "I'll just oil this thing up for you." he said after waiting for an hour or so.   I thanked him, careful to keep my back turned so the tell tale evil smile would be hidden.    I did help out when it came time to put the bird in the basket.  But that's only because I didn't want salmonella spread all over my kitchen.

As the bird was cooking he would check on it periodically.  Our family members were invited to check out the new bird cooking gizmo.   The bird was done in an amazingly short 2 1/2 hours.  I helped him (notice who the helper is) get the bird onto the plate.  It was a beautiful golden, crispy brown.  Bonus, it tasted delicious.  It was truly the moistest turkey I have ever eaten.

If I hadn't sealed the deal by then the adulation of the dinner guests was the final nail in the coffin.  I was careful to say the "The turkey was all Jim's doing."   Luckily for me he doesn't read my blog and I know I can count on my sister and daughter to not tell him how he was played.  Next year, I predict he will be itching to get at that bird.  That was too easy.