In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

Wild turkey

Discussion in 'The Smokehouse' started by Sandhillbilly, Oct 23, 2020.

  1. Sandhillbilly

    Sandhillbilly

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    Who has done em? And how? Smoke, brine then smoke? Inject and deep fry? Skin or pluck?
    Never done one before but there’s a flock hanging around at work & I’ve been thinking about giving one or two a ride into town.
     
  2. Eckie

    Eckie

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    They're good cut into chunks and fried, but we almost never fry due to mess, smell and trying to eat "healthy". I've started putting the breasts (one side, whole) in the sous vide and then a quick grill...we really like it like that. Ill have to find the recipe and link. Most people i know dont mess with the legs, dark meat and the drums have all those hard tendon strands or whatever. I have been saving the legs, but haven't tried them in the sous vide yet.
     
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  3. Eckie

    Eckie

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    Sandhillbilly, here is that sous vide recipe for turkey. Not sure if you have a sous vide, but it is really good for turkey. Ive used fresh rosemary and fresh oregano for this and we really liked how it turned out.

    As an aside, we do a lot of chicken breasts in the sous vide. The missus doesnt care for chicken breasts usually, its a texture issue for her, especially since i like to know my chicken is done. The sous vide can cook at a lower temp for the time period and be safe. Sometimes i have to cook (or heat in microwave) the sv chicken a bit more to attain a texture i can handle. Also have done deer roasts in the sous vide, came out very tender and juicy compared to other methods.
     
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  4. Sandhillbilly

    Sandhillbilly

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    Well I gave a turkey a ride to town this morning. Plucked it and have it in a brine. Midday tomorrow it’ll go in the smoker. I’ll keep you posted
     
  5. Eckie

    Eckie

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    Nice, interested in knowing how the smoking goes...have thought about doing that with a piece but that's as far as I've gotten. I haven't heard of a person plucking a turkey in a long time, good job!
     
  6. SmokeyTheBear

    SmokeyTheBear

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    Plucked and oven roasted.
     
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  7. SmokeyTheBear

    SmokeyTheBear

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    Low brass, full choke,16 GA, single shot.
     
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  8. Sandhillbilly

    Sandhillbilly

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    It was Much easier than plucking a Canadian goose!
     
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  9. Eckie

    Eckie

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    Hahaha yeah i can only imagine! Did you scald it first? I was just talkigg to a buddy the other day and for some reason cleaning turkeys came up. He doesn't pluck anymore either, but used to and said he would dip in hot water first.
     
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  10. Sandhillbilly

    Sandhillbilly

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    I thought about scalding it. In hindsight I think that would probably take longer by the time you get water hot, and then there’s cleaning up the feathers. Just pluck on the tailgate in the country and go seems faster
     
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  11. Sandhillbilly

    Sandhillbilly

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    Looks really good. Flavor is good. Definitely not dried out, but not quite done either. Research found a couple mentions of probe temp of 165 in the thigh, that’s where I quit as soon as it got there. It was getting late and we were hungry. Probably put what’s left in the crockpot tomorrow. 9622BFE5-7636-4E47-923B-A11E79890A91.jpeg