Cleaning a Turkey!

mammoth · April 9, 2002, 06:00 PM

Hey All; Just wondering what some of your methods are for cleaning a Turkey...field dressing... to Table preparation! Skin on OR off...etc
Love to hear about it!
Jake

----------------------------------
From My Cold...Dead...Fingers.

labgrade · April 9, 2002, 07:05 PM

Skin on is better, but takes a lot of pluckin'.

Any more, I just bone 'em out & cook accordingly, but you lose that traditional turkey-thing in the oven/on the table.

Wild turkey's are pretty lean (zip for fat that a store-bought's got) which helps in the juicy department when roasting.

Boning helps with that as it's more compact/easier to keep covered, or marinate before-hand.

Trade-off.

Better yet = get the kids to pluck.

Far as dressin' 'em - make a cut under the breast bone, stick your hand in there & take out everything. Wash it up & get it nice 'n cool soon as possible.

Some like the heart, gizzard, liver :barf: .... (decent enough though to use for makin' gravy 'n stuff)

j-heart · April 13, 2002, 06:04 AM

I'm going turkey hunting for the first time this month. I've never cleaned a bird before. Is there any visual information, such as a well illustrated book or video that shows one how to dress a turkey?

Art Eatman · April 13, 2002, 09:59 AM

Well, just think of it as a big chicken, or a great, great big dove/quail. The main difference is that the heart, liver and gizzard are large enough to be worth keeping.

If you want to bake it in the traditional fashion, skin on, plucking is much, much easier if you dip the whole bird rather briefly into a big pot of almost-boiling water. This makes the feathers dramatically easier to pluck.

If you want to follow labgrade's ideas, disassemble it like unto a chicken. Probably got pictures of chicken-chopping at your local meat market. Or, just look at the pieces they sell you, already cut and wrapped.

Just boil the back and neck until the meat falls off the bone, and make soup.

FWIW, Art

April 9, 2002, 06:00 PM	#1
mammoth Junior Member Join Date: March 24, 2002 Location: Adirondack Mtns Upstate New York Posts: 5	Cleaning a Turkey! Hey All; Just wondering what some of your methods are for cleaning a Turkey...field dressing... to Table preparation! Skin on OR off...etc Love to hear about it! Jake ---------------------------------- From My Cold...Dead...Fingers.

April 13, 2002, 06:04 AM	#3
j-heart Member Join Date: October 16, 2001 Posts: 49	Any visual information? I'm going turkey hunting for the first time this month. I've never cleaned a bird before. Is there any visual information, such as a well illustrated book or video that shows one how to dress a turkey?

April 9, 2002, 07:05 PM	#2
labgrade Member In Memoriam Join Date: November 29, 1999 Location: west of a small town, CO Posts: 4,346	Skin on is better, but takes a lot of pluckin'. Any more, I just bone 'em out & cook accordingly, but you lose that traditional turkey-thing in the oven/on the table. Wild turkey's are pretty lean (zip for fat that a store-bought's got) which helps in the juicy department when roasting. Boning helps with that as it's more compact/easier to keep covered, or marinate before-hand. Trade-off. Better yet = get the kids to pluck. Far as dressin' 'em - make a cut under the breast bone, stick your hand in there & take out everything. Wash it up & get it nice 'n cool soon as possible. Some like the heart, gizzard, liver :barf: .... (decent enough though to use for makin' gravy 'n stuff)

April 13, 2002, 09:59 AM	#4
Art Eatman Staff in Memoriam Join Date: November 13, 1998 Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA Posts: 24,798	Well, just think of it as a big chicken, or a great, great big dove/quail. The main difference is that the heart, liver and gizzard are large enough to be worth keeping. If you want to bake it in the traditional fashion, skin on, plucking is much, much easier if you dip the whole bird rather briefly into a big pot of almost-boiling water. This makes the feathers dramatically easier to pluck. If you want to follow labgrade's ideas, disassemble it like unto a chicken. Probably got pictures of chicken-chopping at your local meat market. Or, just look at the pieces they sell you, already cut and wrapped. Just boil the back and neck until the meat falls off the bone, and make soup. FWIW, Art