72-pound turkey feeds 28 revelers

MINNEAPOLIS , Nov. 23 (UPI) -- A Minneapolis man said his 72-pound Thanksgiving turkey was the result of a longstanding big-turkey-cooking rivalry with his sister.

Rich Portnoy purchased the bird -- which weighed 85 pounds alive -- for $30 and cooked it in a 36-inch-wide chef-caliber oven for 15 hours, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported Friday.

Portnoy and his wife, Charlene, shared the gargantuan fowl with 26 dinner guests.

Portney told the newspaper he decided to go all out and seek an especially heavy bird this year after a 47-pound turkey cooked last year by his sister, Andra, put his 37-pounder to shame. Andra Portney said she can't compete with the size of her brother's oven.

The Star-Tribune said Rich Portnoy, through the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association, reached Gold Turkey Farms in Motley, Minn., that had a huge breeding tom. that turned into the feast for 28.

"It's a relief," Rich Portnoy told the Star-Tribune. "I've finally retired."