It's a meatloaf...in the shape of a turkey.

September 16, 2006 7:50 PM

Help me find a baking mold in the shape of a life-sized roasted turkey. I want to make sculptures out of meatloaf.

For an unorthodox Thanksgiving dinner, I want to make a big meatloaf. But for the kitsch factor, I want it to be baked in a mold the shape of a roasted turkey. You know, the traditional roasted turkey pose, like on a platter. I've searched everywhere for this, even ebay. Even ebay from other countries. I can only find small candy molds or plastic soap molds. And the only tukeys I can find are live, feathered turkeys.

If such a thing does not exist (and it has to!), I'd like to hire someone to make this for me. So leads on that would also be appreciated. I'm in the SF Bay Area.

posted by apostrophe to food & drink (7 comments total)

Well, apparently this turkey mold is only the size of a cornish game hen, but maybe your guests would be delighted by each receiving their own personal portion sized turkey meat-loaf!
posted by furtive at 8:27 PM on September 16, 2006

Here is a jello mold in the shape of a turkey. I doubt you could cook the meatloaf in it, but perhaps you could use it to mold the meatloaf and then bake it.
posted by Violet Hour at 8:29 PM on September 16, 2006

Molds are much more likely made for cakes than for meatloafs. I don't know why you can't try it in a cake mold except that I'd worry about the meatloaf not cooking evenly.

Here's a giant turkey mold, but it's more a live, standing turkey pose. It's being used for chocolate. You can buy it here, they specialize in molds, so might be able to help you find the right one.

Here's one that's more the right shape, but it's smaller than you want--like game hen size.

Other places to check: Sweet Celebrations, which has a lot of molds, generally for cakes, and The Wilton Store, again, for cakes mostly.
posted by GaelFC at 8:31 PM on September 16, 2006

not cooking evenly... 3D cake pans usually have a cone or such that goes up the middle to facilitate even baking on the insides. This is true of, for example, Wilton's 3D ball and teddy bear cake pans. The lamb and bunny ones don't have them because they are not particularly deep.

Sweet Celebrations... I can almost guarantee that they don't currently sell one, but if you call and ask nicely, the ladies who answer the phone will find you one somewhere if it exists at all, and if it doesn't, will work with you to come up with an idea on how to make your own one-off turkey meatloaf mold. Just explain what you want and that you need some creativity help, and it'll happen...

If this were my dream: I'd either (1) bake the meatloafs in smaller, manageable pieces that were more or less shaped like turkey parts (say, a couple 1/2-rounds for the body, a mini angel food loaf or oval pan for the legs), then add toothpicks and stuffing filler to get the full effect or (2) make a single mold out of heavy duty aluminum foil baking pans (the single-use 9x13s, for example), perhaps using a real turkey as a positive (i.e., forming the aluminum around the turkey, then clipping any multiple pieces together to make the full form). Use the Wilton aluminum-cone-up-the-middle trick to ensure proper cooking and provide a stuffing-hole in the endgame. If you go this route, the cone should have its base on the rack of your oven, so the bird will cook with the hole facing down. Does that make sense? Or (3) Buy an existing 3D cake pan (Wilton's 3D teddy bear or bunny would be your best bets, IMO), and make the full effect by some decorating tricks. They never actually look like what they're supposed to when they are undecorated, so take advantage of it...
posted by whatzit at 8:52 PM on September 16, 2006

On the subject of plastic jello molds...

I made a "meatloaf brain" for a halloween party by using a jello mold that I bought at a science museum's gift shop. I pressed the meatloaf into the mold, flipped it over into the pan, and it stayed in the same relative shape after cooking. ( although a bit smaller.)

I then used a turkey baster to inject ketchup into it. When cut open, the meat brain leaked blood all over the table. great fun.
posted by bradth27 at 9:34 PM on September 16, 2006

This person made a roast-turkey-shaped cake out of two oval cake pans and a heart-shaped one. You could cobble it together with toothpicks and then glaze it and put it back in the oven so it had a consistent finish.
posted by slightlybewildered at 10:29 PM on September 16, 2006

you could probably make one yourself with clay and a real turkey...
posted by Izzmeister at 12:35 AM on September 17, 2006