Turkey after holidays is cheaper and often more appreciated.

With the football final four on television for an exhausting seven hours yesterday (note the HDTV picture at the right, with some sort of cartoon character apparently farting), I took the opportunity to try out the frozen Kroger Private Selection Ready-Roast Turkey.

I usually buy whatever is the least processed because of cost (food processing is all about adding water and air and charging more), but there was a bunch of these turkeys leftover after the holidays, and I had a $4-off coupon, so figured it cost about $0.50 a pound.

Borrowing from Pete Snyder’s why-not-cook-from-frozen, the bird arrives trimmed, stuffed and frozen, inside of some plastic bag. This is particularly nifty because it eliminates cross-contamination risks. Take the bag containing the turkey, put in a roasting pan, make a few slices in the plastic and cook for about 4 hours. After confirming a proper temperature was reached with a tip-sensitive digital thermometer (I went to about 175F because of the stuffing, not just piping hot), slice and serve with homemade whole wheat rolls from scratch, drink more beer and wine and watch bad football. Converse (not the shoes).

The spices and stuffing overwhelmed the flavor somewhat and I didn’t serve on a decorative serving platter, but overall the convenience – and reduced cross-contamination risk – worked well.