After you Kill the Turkey

[jbullard1]

How do you dress out the bird and what parts do you eat.
Just looking to see how others use the bird.

[terry08]

Jerry, I let someone else kill it. Then I take the skin off that says Riverside on it. Then roast, smoke or deep fry and eat the whole bird.

[sidog]

I fillet the breast meat off, remove beard and spurs!

[jbullard1]

I fillet the breast meat off, remove beard and spurs!

That is what everyone I know does.

I am going to try skinning the whole bird, filleting the breast then boiling the rest of the cleaned bird for stew meat or dressing.
I am not knocking anyones way of using the bird

[sidog]

I've tried different ways of cooking whole birds in the past and never had any luck . The legs are always tough as leather. my family is spoiled to fried breast nuggets and the rolls made with 10-15 onions, jalapenos,cream cheese with bacon wrapper. If you come up with something you like please share.

[jv]

I have always cleaned the whole bird and leave the skin on

[gtk]

I just filet the breasts off & cook different ways.. I have tried & tried to cook the legs/wings, and have yet to get anything worth eating.. I may be doing it wrong, but I've tried everything with the legs.....grilling, smoking, crockpot.. I just end up with a bunch of tendons or tough as nails leather.

[mt]

I have always cleaned the whole bird and leave the skin on

Then inject and deep fry!

[brewer03]

I filet the breast out and grill it covered with bacon

[erle]

I also don't spend much time with the legs & wings. I do pluck out the complete breast & brine it overnight before I smoke it.

I have found that brining wild or bought turkey is the way to go. Turkey meat has such a tendency to be dry & brining makes it moist. Bought my 1st brining mix at Williams-Sonoma but found it too salty. I now mix my own using more apple cider, spices, & a lot less salt. Family loves it too!

[gtk]

hi erle.. give us more info on brining a turkey breast ? i'm always up for something new to try

[jbullard1]

hi erle.. give us more info on brining a turkey breast ? i'm always up for something new to try

I second that request

[jv]

Brining is a process of soaking meat in salt water along with other spices and herbs to give the meat more flavor. Many years ago people used to brine meat as a process for food preservation. Most people add only about one cup of plain salt to each gal of water and make sure you submerge the meat completely and leave it that way for about a hour per pound of meat. After you remove it rinse off the meat good to remove any excess salt.
I have been doing meat like this for many years it's something my grandmother showed me to do.

[chadbragg]

I filet the breast out as well. I've tried legs and wings in the crock pot and they still don't get edible....

[flipper]

I've only cooked one wild turkey and it was the best I've ever had. I did what a friend told me to do, God rest his soul. It's been a long time and when I get home, I'll see if I can find the recipe. Basically, it was injected with butter and spices, oiled up and smoked. Don't know why it was so good.