Something Different: Roast Turducken for Review

I trust everyone had the happiest of holidays, getting in lots of good eats and fun times with family and friends.  Last week I zipped away for a few days to visit my  mom and sister.  Oh, it was lovely.  Saskatchewan was cast in this spectacular hoar frost, and if you've been following me on Instagram, you saw how I got carried away with capturing the beauty of it all.  The woods behind my mom's house were especially pretty, and made for excellent post-food coma hiking. 

I mean, just look at all of that frost.  Birds were chirping down on me, welcoming me. It was pretty glorious.  

Speaking of food coma, let me tell you about this turducken.  I was contacted by Echelon Foods, saying hey, wanna give a turducken a try for your holiday feast?  Always up for something new, and after quick consultation with my mom, I agreed to give the chicken stuffed inside a duck stuffed inside turkey a try.  I thawed the Original Turducken for a couple of days in the refrigerator, and when I opened the bag I saw that it had already been seasoned.  With just a few drizzles of olive oil, I popped it in the preheated 220*F oven.  Package directions said to roast at this temp for 5-6 hours or so, given the weight was 4.6 Kg.  Low and slow, that was the plan.  After 2 hours, we took a look at it, and well the bird(s) still looked quite pallid, and I think this freaked my mom out, as we had a set time of 5:00 pm for dinner.  We jacked the heat up to 300*F, and let it cook for another 3 hours, basting every so often with the pan juices (we threw in chunks of onion, celery, carrot to roast along with the turducken, and to help build the flavour of the gravy).  For the last half hour of cooking time, I had the bird covered with the lid from the roaster, as it was golden and gorgeous, but didn't want it to get too dark.  I let it stand for about 20 minutes before slicing.  Smelled wonderful, let me tell you, and boy, did it look delicious presented on the platter.  Once everyone was dished up, with sufficient gravy smothering the whole lot of mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole (my mom tried something new this year), we tucked in to the turducken.  Right off the bat, we noticed how tender and juicy the turkey was, and how flavourful it was.  Same with the duck, and chicken.  There was quite a lot of Italian sausage stuffed between the layers of poultry, and not everyone at the table enjoyed this component of the turducken.  Some felt its flavour over-powered the rest of the meat, and some just thought it too spicy in general, with a bit of a spongy texture.  Myself, I probably could have done without any of the sausage, and my fork naturally gravitated towards the turkey, duck and chicken.  That being said, it was a new culinary experience for us.  At a bit of a hefty price tag $102.08 for 4.636 Kg, I realize this is not in every one's budget.  But if you want to try something different for your holiday feast, the turducken may be perfect for you. 

Disclaimer:  Echelon Foods compensated me for the Turducken.  All opinions about the bird(s) are my own.