The first couple of birds I shot I cooked the whole thing (1 roasted, 1 smoked) and both turned out dry and tough. So, I just keep the breast and thigh meat and either fry it or roast it wrapped in applewood bacon. The rest goes in the dumpster. I do keep the tail, spurs, beard, and sometimes cape them out (not fit for human consumption). LOL
I remove the breast , cut it into nuggets and marinate in tonys seasoning in the fridge a few hours. season up flour or cornmeal with salt , pepper , cayenne pepper and a little tonys. dip nuggets in a beaten egg and place the nuggets in the mixture. a good solid coating , heat oil to 350 and deep fry to golden brown. only takes 3 or 4 minutes. nothing but goodness.
I keep the whole bird. I don't cook it all at once, though. Breast cooked one way, thighs slow bbq'd, drumsticks/wings slow cooked for carnitas, the carcass smoked with the thighs to use in soup.
The breast is a slice of heaven. The wings and thighs along with the carcass get boiled down or braised
Thighs and drumsticks get ground, breast halves done in different styles depending on mood.
Never ate feathers, craw, or spurs....seriously I usually just breast them out.
My wife makes a mean turkey pot pie out of the breast and wing meat. I crock pot the legs and other dark meat for turkey stew. Be sure you get all of those leg bones out before serving! After removing the wings and tail, the remainder of the carcass goes to the cats. For those of us who are archers, the primary wing feathers can be worked into very usable fletching and the tails can be removed at the pygostyle (oil) gland, the tail's muscle tissue removed, and that area"salted" down with borax after spreading the fan on a piece of cardboard using roofing nails to hold it in the spread position for several days until it dries in that position. I've made several wingbone yelpers, but still have not mastered that type of call. I even used borax to dry out the feathered skin off the turky's back and used this over a five-gallon bucket with wings, fan, head, etc. added to take several gobblers.
The breast is the best!
Mostly I just breast them out. I would like to try some different things with the legs and thighs this year though. I love the breast meat, just havent figured out a way to prepare the legs that they arent tougher than rubber.
I breast them out also.
Quote from: jepcho on April 08, 2015, 04:08:57 PM
I love the breast meat, just havent figured out a way to prepare the legs that they arent tougher than rubber.
i throw the legs or thighs in the crock pot, add water to cover, add some poultry seasoning, a chicken boulion cube and cook on low 10-12 hours. meat is tender as can be and the tendons easily pull out of the legs
then it's turkey soup, turkey & noodles, turkey pie, turkey enchiladas, turkey salad (like chicken salad w/pickle relish, mayo, onions, boiled egg, etc) ...
for the breast, we usually cut it in strips, marinate in lawry's mesquite or teryaki and cook on grill
occasionally, will pluck one, leave whole and cook on grill or in roaster
I usually keep all of the meat. Like others, I'll put the legs and thighs in the crock pot for a while and the meat comes off the bone nice and tender. There's plenty that can be done with all of the meat. One guy that lets us hunt his property wants all of the hearts and gizzards from the birds that we kill. No problem there buddy! lol
I fillet the breast and it usually ends up getting fried. The legs and thighs go in the crock pot to make perlo or gumbo.
Surely some of you guys aren't throwing away the carcass with legs intact???? If so thats completely irresponsible and wasteful .
The legs are just as easy to get out as the breast and though the lower drumsticks have some pretty ligamentous tissue the thighs are heaven to eat..
If you are that guy that is just breasting and tossing please do the sport a favor and go ahead and keep the legs. If you don't like them at least toss to the next guy on the corner looking for a hand out!
I just breast them.
Take the legs and thighs and put in crock pot, add cream of chicken soup, chicken broth ,a little water, carrots ,celery and onion, season legs and thighs. Cook on low for 10-15 hours and all bones will float to top. Dip all of them out serve over mashed potatoes or rice. Meat will be just like a good roast. It is super tender and very good!
Slice and fry breast or smoke and make smoked turkey salad for a good dip.
Usually just the breast.
of course the breast is the best but to waste the rest is an injustice..
we use the wing meat for soup or even debone it and fry or grill.
and like the others we use the leg/thighs for some of the best turkey noodle soup ever!!
crock pot is good but we found that if you pressure cook em ,it only takes 30 -45 mins and then we can get on with making the soup. I have had people over who didn't know what kind of meat it was and said they never would have believed it was turkey and we never have to throw any out
I don't even like the legs of a store bought turkey or chicken legs from Boston Market. I can't even find someone to take extra meat from a butchered cow, let alone a few ounces of dark meat from a wild turkey...
I just give the entire bird away to some old folks that swear by them. I don't really care for turkey, not even the domestic stuff.