Decisions, decisions. Do you brine your bird (as recommended in Take Control of Thanksgiving Dinner)? Do you rub the bird with butter or olive oil before popping it into the oven? Do you season your stuffing with traditional herbs, or simply put a sprig of fresh rosemary into an unstuffed turkey?
The fellows over at Seasonshot.com have another idea. Their new product takes a double-barreled approach to preparing a turkey. After using their seasoning-filled shotgun pellets to bring down your bird, you then cook it, allowing the biodegradable wrapping on the pellets to melt, releasing seasoning into the roasting turkey.
Yeah, right. Chances are this is merely an elaborate joke backed by an elaborate website (masterminded by a couple of experienced Minnesota game hunters). But for some reason no one wants to venture anywhere near the carefully guarded Season Shot Test Kitchen to investigate.
November 11th, 2006 at 5:51 am
I’d like it to be true, but I think it has to be a spoof.
In the first place, iff it could work it would be a VERY good thing, since lead shot stays in the animals that get away from hunters and then die; they’re then eaten by other animals, who get lead poisoning. This is a real issue, because there’s also all the lead pellets that simply miss (most of them, in fact) and contaminate the surroundings.
Another point, from physics: shot is made of lead because of its density (weight per unit volume); even iron — which would be cheaper — is not used because its lower density translates into less penetrating power. Shot made of seasoning ingredients would be lighter still. And then there’s the problem of the pellet breaking up in flight.
November 17th, 2006 at 9:52 am
I tried to get a hold of them to find out if it was real, but they never returned my call. However, they were on Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me (the NPR news quiz), and claimed it was real there.
November 5th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Lead shot isn’t used much anymore due to enviromental concerns. Steel shot is the choice now, it’s better for the enviroment, but not for the birds.