The Ham that Saved Thanksgiving
Yes, a ham saved our Thanksgiving. I bought a roaster recently, and planned to cook our turkey in it, opening up the oven for side dishes. I’m one of those people who has to have turkey on Thanksgiving, but both Kristin and my mom aren’t big fans of turkey, so we picked up a small ham to have as well.
The first sign of trouble came when I checked on the bird near the end of its cooking time, only to find that the indicator hadn’t popped yet. A manual check of the temperature confirmed that it wasn’t finished. Not to worry, it just needs a little longer. Turn up the temperature and we’ll be OK. Nope, still wasn’t done. The natives were getting restless, and the sides were all finished, so we went ahead with the ham as the main course.
After dinner, the turkey was still not done. OK, time to revert to a known quantity and toss the bird in the oven. That finally did it, resulting in a very late, but well-cooked turkey. It may not have made it in time for Thanksgiving, but it’ll make some fine sandwiches for the next few days. And as for the roaster, I’m going to pick up a meat thermometer that can stay in the oven and determine if the roaster is having a thermostat problem.
Lessons learned?
- Don’t risk a holiday meal on untried appliances.
- Always have a backup meat.
Update! I tested the roaster yesterday and confirmed that it is defective. Time to lug it back to the store for an exchange.