How do you clean your turkey???

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How do you clean your turkey?

Pluck the whole bird
3
5%
Skin the whole bird
10
18%
Just remove the breasts
44
77%
 
Total votes: 57
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UntouchableNess
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Re: How do you clean your turkey???

Unread postby UntouchableNess » Fri Apr 05, 2019 8:42 am

Those with an InstaPot, try pressure cooking the legs in some kind of sauce.


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backstraps
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Re: How do you clean your turkey???

Unread postby backstraps » Fri Apr 05, 2019 9:02 am

UntouchableNess wrote:Those with an InstaPot, try pressure cooking the legs in some kind of sauce.


I bet this would be really good

I have a buddy that uses the can cooker

He slices carrots onions potatoes and adds two cans of beer

It actually was really good
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Re: How do you clean your turkey???

Unread postby Chuck B » Fri Apr 05, 2019 9:58 am

I usually grind the breasts up and then put into jerkey gun for some delicious turkey jerkey
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Re: How do you clean your turkey???

Unread postby ol_ben » Fri Apr 05, 2019 10:05 am

I have yet to have the pleasure of deciding what to do with a wild turkey, but I trust Hank Shaw as he has never steered me wrong cooking wild game. He's got recipes on his website for bbq wings and legs, leg carnitas, leg stew. The common thread is that you have to par-cook them beforehand by some means (boiling, pressure cooker, etc) to break down the connective stuff and THEN bbq, or use a low and slow method like braising, not unlike you would treat a deer shank (someone mentioned osso bucco somewhere up the thread).

Here's the wing recipe, the rest of the recipes are on the same site:
https://honest-food.net/bbq-smoked-turkey-wings-recipe/
P&YBuck1
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Re: How do you clean your turkey???

Unread postby P&YBuck1 » Fri Apr 05, 2019 12:47 pm

Breasts only too, the legs have many flat bone like structures in them.

The meat is delicious no matter how cooked to me :)
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thepennsylvanian
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Re: How do you clean your turkey???

Unread postby thepennsylvanian » Fri Apr 05, 2019 1:30 pm

I am absolutely impressed with how many "just the breast" votes there are. I skin the while bird and break it down from there, it's super super easy to break down when you have a naked bird. The legs and thigh hold a ton of meat, if you have a crockpot/smoker/oven it can be made into some outstanding dishes! I actually prefer the thighs because I like my turkey a little fattier then the breast meat. I do make almost all my breasts into jerky, it's just to darn good! If you guys have never taken the legs and thigh I would recommend doing once this year, you'll never let them go to waste again!
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Hawthorne
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Re: How do you clean your turkey???

Unread postby Hawthorne » Fri Apr 05, 2019 2:00 pm

I just cut the breasts out usually. I shot a jake one year. I skinned the whole bird and cooked it in a cooking bag in the oven. Was very delicious
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Re: How do you clean your turkey???

Unread postby Mike32 » Fri Apr 05, 2019 3:04 pm

I usually cut the breast into strips wrap in bacon and grill and the thighs and legs I smoke. Sometimes I just keep the breast and toss the rest.
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Mario
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Re: How do you clean your turkey???

Unread postby Mario » Fri Apr 05, 2019 3:19 pm

Breast and wings, I would like to fry the whole bird one of these times
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tgreeno
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Re: How do you clean your turkey???

Unread postby tgreeno » Fri Apr 05, 2019 3:46 pm

BigHunt wrote:i dont pluck, skin or breast them ...heck i dont even clean them :lol: i just take it to kewaskum meats and they do it for me :mrgreen: im a big fan of smoked turkey! :L:


Hmmm...I used to have a buddy that smoked pheasants...Yum! What do they charge to smoke one?
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Re: How do you clean your turkey???

Unread postby sureshotscott » Fri Apr 05, 2019 3:58 pm

thepennsylvanian wrote:I am absolutely impressed with how many "just the breast" votes there are. I skin the while bird and break it down from there, it's super super easy to break down when you have a naked bird. The legs and thigh hold a ton of meat, if you have a crockpot/smoker/oven it can be made into some outstanding dishes! I actually prefer the thighs because I like my turkey a little fattier then the breast meat. I do make almost all my breasts into jerky, it's just to darn good! If you guys have never taken the legs and thigh I would recommend doing once this year, you'll never let them go to waste again!


We have 2 pages of guys saying mostly, "save the breasts and dump the rest." And you seem to be saying the legs/thighs are great. How much crockpot/smoker/oven time are you talking about? More details would be appreciated.
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Re: How do you clean your turkey???

Unread postby Ack » Fri Apr 05, 2019 6:42 pm

Still only keep the breasts, but in the past I have given the rest of the bird to my mom and she cooks everything down for turkey soup......good stuff. I'm just not patient enough to do all that! :lol:
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brancher147
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Re: How do you clean your turkey???

Unread postby brancher147 » Sat Apr 06, 2019 1:31 am

thepennsylvanian wrote:I am absolutely impressed with how many "just the breast" votes there are. I skin the while bird and break it down from there, it's super super easy to break down when you have a naked bird. The legs and thigh hold a ton of meat, if you have a crockpot/smoker/oven it can be made into some outstanding dishes! I actually prefer the thighs because I like my turkey a little fattier then the breast meat. I do make almost all my breasts into jerky, it's just to darn good! If you guys have never taken the legs and thigh I would recommend doing once this year, you'll never let them go to waste again!


I agree. Don't want to waste thigh and leg meat when I work so hard for my birds. I break it all down and package separately and freeze. At the end of the season, if I have a few birds, the thigh and leg meat really add up and you have more than enough for a crock pot meal with leftovers. But the thighs are good any way you cook them once they are cut up correctly-putting in a brine for a day does help also with all meat. It does take some time and not much meat from just one bird, but as I said, if the birds start dropping it really starts to add up.
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Re: How do you clean your turkey???

Unread postby Turtlethumperforlife » Sat Apr 06, 2019 1:44 am

Turkey breasts are some of my favorite :dance: This year I'll try to utilize the whole bird by turning the rest into sausage.
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Re: How do you clean your turkey???

Unread postby Sailfish_WC » Sat Apr 06, 2019 3:02 am

Just cut the breast’s out.
Chunk and fry

I have on occasion done the legs and thighs.
Some reason though, they either turn out utterly amazing and tender when baked or horribly chewy.
Still can’t figure out why that is.
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