Refresh My Memory Please- Cooking Wild Turkey

[Thunderhead]

What did you guys use to keep the bird from drying out ? Was it wrapped in bacon strips ? I remember a thread from last year dealt with keeping a wild Turkey moist. I was digging around in the freezer and came across mine from last Spring. It's thawing out for dinner tomorrow. I can cook it in the oven or I have one of those self contained Turkey cooking rigs.
Deep frying is not an option.

Any and all comments are welcome. :)

Thanks and Merry Christmas guys.

[FIJI]

with a few bacon strips on the breast for moisture. The bag makes a big difference.

Or, try the recipe below, one of my favorites (courtesy of Linda Gallagher)

Grand Traverse Smoked Wild Turkey

I wild turkey breast
2 cups cherry reduction, cherry juice or cherry wine
2 whole cinnamon sticks
2 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper
2 teaspoons clover honey
sprinkle of nutmeg
splash of Wild Turkey Bourbon
1/2 cup dried cherries

Place all ingredients in baking dish. Marinate at room temperature overnight or 24 hours. Smoke slowly over green apple or hickory chips for two hours.
Smoked breast can be served fresh as an appetizer, or frozen for later use in soups, salads, gravies or sauces

:D

[FIJI]

but I dont remember who to credit for this recipe...

Chicken Fried Wild Turkey

1 turkey breast, deboned and cut into strips across the grain.
1 16 oz. bottle Italian dressing
1/2 tsp. Lemon Pepper
Dash of Liquid Smoke
2 eggs beaten
2 cups milk
Salt as needed
Pepper as needed
2 cups flour
Peanut or vegetable oil as needed

Marinate turkey strips in Italian dressing, lemon pepper, and Liquid Smoke for 8 hours or overnight. In small bowl, beat eggs into milk. In second bowl, mix salt pepper, and flour. Dip turkey strips in egg wash and then into batter. Deep fry in oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve with gravy made with 2 Tbsp. flour combined in skillet with 2 Tbsp. melted butter, salt and pepper. Slowly add 1 cup milk, stirring constantly until thickened.


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I tried a very similar recipe a couple of years ago, and it is my favorite way to make the big ugly bird. Next time, try throwing in a little parmesan cheese with the flour...awesome stuff.

[multibeard]

I have always dry picked my birds until this year, to have the skin to help hold the moisture in. I finally dipped them in boiling water this spring when my grandson and I doubled. The feathers just wiped off after being dipped.

I aways roast them in a turkey bag to keep them from dryng out. It only takes 1 1/2 to 2 hours to get a flat chested wild turkey roasted. The bag keeps the moisture in. I usally cook them the day before and carve them as soon as they are cool enough. I them put the meat in a tupperware container and pour a little of the juices from the bag over the meat to give it a little more moisture.

Like most of my wild game, cept for geese, I use no seasonings as I like the natural flavor of what I have harvested.

[Apache Trout]

Brine them - its the best way to keep a trukey from drying out.

[BarryPatch]

Brine them - its the best way to keep a trukey from drying out.\

We have a winner. Brining will draw moisture into the bird. First step regardless of method.

Secondly - as most seem to recommend, take the breast off the bone. Cook the dark meat separately.

I prefer the breast meat cooked quickly and still slightly pink in the middle.

If you don't have your heart set on a Norman Rockwellian whole slab of turkey - cut into small pieces and grill, skewer, stir fry or saute quickly.

Legs & thighs go in the smoker or or braised for several hours.

[wildgamecook]

I have a good Bacon Roasted Wild Turkey recipe with a pork sausage stuffing mix.

Basically, cook up the sausage and mix it with the stuffing, stuff the bird, roast 1/2 the time breast side down then flip it over and roast it with the bacon on the breast side up until it's done.

[Linda G.]

No wonder you don't like to eat wild turkey...do you leave them all in the freezer for 6 months plus before you eat them??

They're probably ALL freezer burned. I never leave a wild turkey in the freezer for more than a month.

I try to smoke, with the above recipe or something close, ALL my big toms. They're tough and stringy, with very little fat on them, and sometimes quite, uh, mature. After I smoke the meat, I cut it up and use as needed in all types of recipes and meals.

I go out of my way not to shoot a hen if the aim is to eat the bird-you have no way of knowing whether that hen is a year old or 12 years old-and some of them are.

If I'm going to eat the bird fresh, which is really the way we should eat all our birds, I'll take a jake...I have all kinds of good recipes for jakes.

If I'm roasting a bird, I try to take a young jake or, in the fall, a young jenny. Go take a look at the sexes and ages of your average domestic turkey in the meat bin in the grocery store...

Like any other type of meat, it's all in how you handle it...throwing it in the freezer and forgetting it exists for six months to a year is a great way to firmly believe that wild turkey is inedible. They are, especially if that big frozen bird is a mature tom.