Turkey Receipies

[Five Seasons]

I mucked up the live from the woods thread bad enough. How do you guys like your birds? Particularly interested in whole bird recipes. 

[turkeyfeathers]

I'd go  brine overnight and pat dry/mayo rub down/dry rub which will adhere to mayo/wrap in bacon for the safest way not to have it dry out   .

[Steuben Jerry]

1 hour ago, turkeyfeathers said:

I'd go  brine overnight and pat dry/mayo rub down/dry rub which will adhere to mayo/wrap in bacon for the safest way not to have it dry out   .

A buddy does the bacon wrap thing with his birds, works great. I usually sample the turkey and inhale the bacon!

[Five Seasons]

i'm not sure i'm sold on the brine part. any reason to brine or not to brine?

[turkeyfeathers]

I’ve never personally brined.  

[Fletch]

13 minutes ago, Belo said:

i'm not sure i'm sold on the brine part. any reason to brine or not to brine?

Have you ever brined one? I have not on a wild turkey but on store turkeys and chickens and it is a much juicier bird than without. 

[dbHunterNY]

wild turkey seems to dry out easier than your store bought stuff. brine for a whole turkey, marinade or brine for breasts, marinade for thighs, and then kabobs or nuggets sized pieces brine or whole milk soak.  i have a cajun injector syringe somewhere too i've used for larger portions to speed up the process of soaking.

[Robhuntandfish]

I know your looking whole bird but the only way I have ever really liked the leg/dark meat was to crockpot til it fell apart then use your favorite bbq recipe/sauce for pulled turkey.  Lots of ways to cook the breast and it will come out good.  TF's recipe sounds like a winner.  Im gonna smoke one of the breasts like that to use for sandwiches. 

[Five Seasons]

27 minutes ago, Fletch said:

Have you ever brined one? I have not on a wild turkey but on store turkeys and chickens and it is a much juicier bird than without. 

no. but i did a domestic on Easter in the smoker. not brined, but stuffed with aromatics and basted with some cider/vinegar broth throughout and it was maybe the best turkey i've ever had. skin dried out, but we dont eat that anyhow.

[Five Seasons]

6 minutes ago, Robhuntandfish said:

I know your looking whole bird but the only way I have ever really liked the leg/dark meat was to crockpot til it fell apart then use your favorite bbq recipe/sauce for pulled turkey.  Lots of ways to cook the breast and it will come out good.  TF's recipe sounds like a winner.  Im gonna smoke one of the breasts like that to use for sandwiches. 

yeah i appreciate that advice. i will probably try that if theres another big enough bird in my future. 

[Otto]

I have brined domestic turkeys before,  definitely juicier overall.  This year at Thanksgiving, I skipped the brining and salted the skin good and let sit overnight uncovered in the fridge.  Skin crisped up real nice and meat was flavorful and juicy.  It was stuffed though.  If you really want to use the whole bird, consider placing it inside a cooking bag and stuffing it with onions, lemons, oranges, etc. to help keep it moist.  

For a wild bird, I would suggest spatch-cocking it into two parts, brining it and either smoke or grill over low heat.  You can add bacon on top if you want, but I have done it before and if you go low and slow enough and do brine it, you will be fine.   Season the outside with whatever you please, plus olive oil.

Or, as suggested, use the legs and thighs for one recipe (i.e Hank Shaw Carnitas - https://honest-food.net/turkey-carnitas/)   And then use the breasts and skin for a roulade https://www.nwtf.org/hunt/article/wild-turkey-roulade  Use the remaining parts to make a stock for your gravy.

 

[Five Seasons]

So I decided to skip the mayo, but I did melt a stick of butter and drizzled it over. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.


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[crappyice]

I brine my thanksgiving bird every year and have started to use the deep fryer for thanksgiving bird(quick cooking and frees up the oven for other goodies). I wonder how brine & deep fryer would be for a wild bird ...we follow Alton Browns Good Eats brine/deep fry recipe.


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[doebuck1234]

2 hours ago, Belo said:

So I decided to skip the mayo, but I did melt a stick of butter and drizzled it over. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.


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Sure does look good!looking forward to the verdict

[Five Seasons]

Well here goes nothing... not sure the smoker is big enough


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[crappyice]

Well here goes nothing... not sure the smoker is big enough


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No “Done!” Pic??? Wtf?!?


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[nyslowhand]

We all know this, but... difference between wild turkeys vs farm raised turkeys is similar to venison vs beef. Less fat thus a dryer meat when cooked.

Those cook-in-the-bags work good for whole turkeys or just the breast. Can be creative with what liquids &/or spices you add to the bag before sealing it up.

[wolc123]

5 hours ago, crappyice said:

No “Done!” Pic??? Wtf?!?


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I also was wondering how that turned out, aside from the breast.  I have always been a dark meat guy, when it comes to domestic turkey.  I once tried some drumsticks in the crockpot, from a wild spring tom, and they were barely edible.  Even after cooking on low for 8 hours, they were tough, stringy and poorly flavored.  Those that I did from a young wild hen last fall, that same way, were much better.  

[crappyice]

Well here goes nothing... not sure the smoker is big enough


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Belo...BELO??? I am concerned that the turkey got the final laugh and Belo choked on a leg tendon???
Check back man!!! I need to know if it’s worth the work or if I just keep wasting my time looking for morels!


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[Five Seasons]

Haha alright so final verdict is mixed. On Easter I did a 17lb farm bird. I’m not sure what the weight of this bird dressed was, but it was def bigger.

For experiment purposes I used the same recipes and wood with the exception of adding bacon.

The farm bird was done in about 3 hours, which was shorter than expected, so thinking a bigger bird would take another hour I started at 2 with a goal of being done at 6 or 7. Come 7 and it’s still at 142* and I’m needing 155 and not able to really hold out. So we pull the bird. I’m nervous about over drying it, but also don’t want to take any health chances. Wife and I decide to pop it in the oven at 400 and it was in there for maybe 30 minutes and at 150 we took it out.

The skin was toast, but we’re not skin eaters anyhow and the bird was moist and freaking delicious. I’m soooo happy it didn’t go to waste.

Some thoughts on this.
1.Don’t shoot big birds or plan on longer smokes haha.
2.The bird didn’t seem to retain the smoke flavor of the domestic. It was moist and good but bland. Maybe we were spoiled by the Smokey flavor of the domestic, but gravy or sauce is needed for some kick.
3. The legs were certainly tougher as expected but edible.

Really excited for the sandwiches this week and I’d recommend you guys try to cook the whole bird. It’s worth the extra meat in my opinion.


Ps the bacon won though haha


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[Five Seasons]

I followed this method and minus cleanup had this done in 30 min. Not bad

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[ATbuckhunter]

My favorite thing to do is to make it into a turkey salad. Pretty much all my wild turkey is prepared this way.

[Doewhacker]

165 finished temp for poultry. I’m assuming you pulled it and let it rest and retemped it at 165?

Brine will help add flavor, for wild birds I’d go at least 24 hours. Store bought birds are injected with crap needing less time in brine. 

 

[Marion]

I also was wondering how that turned out, aside from the breast.  I have always been a dark meat guy, when it comes to domestic turkey.  I once tried some drumsticks in the crockpot, from a wild spring tom, and they were barely edible.  Even after cooking on low for 8 hours, they were tough, stringy and poorly flavored.  Those that I did from a young wild hen last fall, that same way, were much better.  

Wild turkey dark meat tastes like shoe leather. And that's being generous. I'd rather eat a belt

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[TACC]

Great info all around guys, thanks.

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