How do you clean your turkey???

[Gardner Swamp]

Used to smoke them whole after plucking, it was worth it as I'm a dark meat fan. Now I just breast them out and give them away. I prefer butterballs.

I prefer Butterballs as well!!

[Mountain Archer]

I can,t believe nobody mentioned wild turkey strips deepfried, but then again I am from the south. The only way I eat wild turkey is to cut the breast in strips, soak in egg and milk, roll in flour with black pepper and salt and deep fry. Yes I know we fry everything in the south. You should try it though. By the way I also toss it all except the breast.

[Beason]

Breasts and legs. Pick the tendons out once it's grilled

[dan]

added new poll

[BigHunt]

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

[gogebicbuckslayer]

I just cut out the breast and toss the rest. We eat our birds right at camp, we usually inject with some seasoning and deep fry mmmmm good!

[ Post made via Android ]

[Stanley]

Breasts only for me.

[Uncle Lou]

I can,t believe nobody mentioned wild turkey strips deepfried, but then again I am from the south. The only way I eat wild turkey is to cut the breast in strips, soak in egg and milk, roll in flour with black pepper and salt and deep fry. Yes I know we fry everything in the south. You should try it though. By the way I also toss it all except the breast.

We have done this a lot the last couple years. I still skin the birds and either freeze whole, or cut the breast out to do above, then as I mentioned on page 1 boil carcass and pick clean for other recipes.

We had 5 turkeys from Ellie and I come through our kitchen last year, plus a couple neighbors birds that hit the frying pan. So we do a lot of wild turkey. Even the small ones in fall are worth boiling to me.

[UntouchableNess]

I filet out the breast and usually try to get the thighs as well. The drumsticks are a real work out for the jaws, might try to pressure cook some, but figure I'm done messing with them. I also took the hearts and livers out of last years birds.

I've brined and smoked breasts, thighs and drumsticks. For breast, that is pretty much my go to method (adjust volume to cover turkey).
Brine:
2 gallons cold water
1.5 cups canning salt
3 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
I'll usually throw in some form of hot peppers, whether chopped Jalapeno (fresh or frozen) or cayenne flakes.

Put the turkey in a container that will fit in the fridge as you want to leave it in the brine at least a day.



I have a Brinkman smoker with an electric element heater. There is a pan on the element to place soaked wood chips/sticks. Since the apple orchard is in the back yard, I usually use apple, but if I'm up for a walk to the fence on the far side of the pasture, I'll grab some hickory. About 4-5 hours in the Brinkman and I'm done.

Another tip is to lay bacon over the breast in the smoker.

[dan]

bump

[backstraps]

I just breast them out

I used to go through the cycle of plucking and smoking but wild turkey dark meat doesn’t taste as good as tame butterballs

[muddy]

Remove breasts
Cut into strips, pound them flat
Wrap that long strip around a jalopeno filled with cream cheese
Wrap that with bacon
Dip in BBQ
Grill till bacon is slightly burnt
Crack PBR
Let them cool
Crack another PBR
Est till the meat sweats set in

I'mma try the legs in my ossu bucco recipe this year if we kill any.

[Redman232]

I filet the breasts out and then open up the back and there are two decent sized pieces of meat that come off the back of the turkey. I braise the drum sticks and thighs, they've become my favorite wild game meat, tons of flavor, but you have to work for it. 3-6 hrs of braising to get the drum sticks to fall apart. I then use this ultra dark meat for tacos, soups, bbq.

[cantfoou]

Just the breast now. I have plucked once. Not worth the effort. I have tried everything with the legs and nothing has made them worth keeping.

[matt1336]

I usually just cut the breasts out. But I saw the thp guys use the thighs and legs. I might try throwing the dark meat in the pressure cooker this year and make shredded turkey bbq sandwiches