how to clean a turkey

[gray fox]

how should i clean a turkey.

[dukkillr]

Breast it out.  The legs are stringy at best.  If you don't know how to breast it out cruise through the threads because someone else asked that question about a month ago.

[quickdtoo]

I skin it, feathers and all, fillet the breast off, keep the rest for turkey noodle soup in the crock pot, it's too tough for anything else unless it's a young hen or a jake.

Tim

[osceola]

Most of the time I pluck the 1st bird I get, be sure to get the gobble box out. 

I bake it in using a cooking bag, I found it works best to use a meat thermometer(180F).  I place it in the deep thigh muscle being sure not to touch the bone.  After letting it rest for about 15 minutes I take it out of the bag to slice with an electric knife.  The breast meat is dry so I help it out with a couple basters of liquid from the bag.  There is so little fat to bake out of a wild turkey, it really moistens up the meats texture and flavor.  The rest of the broth goes into gravy, shake about 1 1/2 cups cool water with 1/2 cup flour together, salt, pepper, tsp Kitchen Bouquet(found in the baking section) for color, pour into the boiling stock and bring back to a boil(add more thickener or just water if needed, it's an art as much as a science).  My Daughter loves a wild bird for Thanksgiving.  I use a lot of plastic wrap to tightly package it then into several kitchen size trashbags and finally cinch it all down with packaging tape to avoid freezer burn(it's 7 months to turkey day).  It's somewhat of a hassle, but worth it to me.

If I get a 2nd bird I also fillet the breast off then cut it cross grain into 1/2" steaks, then pound out lightly to about 1/4" to  make chicken-fried turkey sandwiches.  The pounding helps out the breading process.  Then dust them in seasoned flour then into an egg wash(2 beaten eggs with 1/4 cup milk) then back into the flour--double breading.  Place them into a pan with 1/2" hot shortening, the breading gets light & crunchy, flip and cook accordingly.  Put it on a hard roll with tomato, mayo & a little horse radish.

[TribReady]

.

[dukkillr]

I took the time to take some pictures while I cleaned my last turkey.

First, you need a knife that doesn't suck.  No big rambo knives here, I like a short thin "muskrat" style blade.  The 77OT has 2 great supersharp blades and the Case 6207 has a second blade that's rounded for skinning.


Next you need to decide if you want the spurs:


If you do, cut all around the joint and disarticulate the lower leg:


And to save the beard:


Pull it out and cut along the base of the beard:


Then you need to put the bird on it's back:


And peel back the skin, it's important to get the skin all the way past the wing joint:


Now cut away the fat around the neck (on male birds):


Now cut down to the "ribs" along the "sternum":


Pull the meat away and cut along the "ribs" as you go:


Cut the breast clear all the way down to the wing:


Until you're left with this:


When you're done I either use the meat within a week or put the breasts in a 1 gallon freezer bag, remove as much air as possible, and freeze.  Good luck this spring!