How do you process your bird?

[SalmonSlayer]

First year turkey hunting. I'm wondering, do you guys gut and pluck, or just breast them out and take off the legs?

[ANYFISH2]

Both, depending on how I intend to fix them.

Deep frying or smoking I will pluck. Keeping skin intact helps to ensure moist meat.

I will breast if slow cooking, baking or pan frying.

I aways inject the bird to help keep moist.

[DonBo]

I've found it very difficult to pluck a wild turkey. I just pull the breast and the legs/thighs.

FWIW, the legs/thighs are too tough to try to cook and eat, this is soup meat for me.

[paceman]

My last turkey I simply dropped of at the local game processor and had it smoked. OMG it was awesome!

[Powerstroke]

I find plucking to be fairly easy if done when the bird is fresh. The only reason I pluck is for ease of transport. I don't hunt close enough to home that I could wait till I get home so I usually pluck to save space.

I remove the breast separately and then the legs,thighs and wings and what ever other meat I can pull off the carcass are set aside in a different bag. Most of that meat is pretty tough so I use it for soup or my new favorite way to prepare it is to slow cook it for several hours and make turkey tacos with it. Kinda like a shredded pork. Its amazing.

There is so much meat that gets wasted by people who only breast their birds. Try a new recipe and you'll have more wild meat to use without having to take another bird.

[fsnrod]

I breast it and cook the breast in various ways. I debone the legs and thighs grind it along with the heart and gizzard you get eight good sized and delicious turkey burgers.

[Cheetah]

If you are going to pluck your turkey, do it will the bird is still warm.

I cut out the meat on all mine. Breast, thighs and drumsticks. We use the thigh meat for soups or stir-fry. Drumsticks need to be slow-cooked to get tender then the meat is very tasty, you get plenty of meat off of them.

[IlliniWalli]

yep, we really like the dark meat, too.

i just cant see wasting that much meat. would be like keeping the loins and pitching the rest of the deer or keep the cheeks and throw away the rest of the walleye.

toss the legs or thighs in the crock pot. fill half full with water, add a chicken bouillon cube and some poultry seasoning and cook on low for 12 hours. let the legs cool a little but debone while they are still warm and those tendons pull right out.

then its turkey soup, turkey n noodles, tacos or enchiladas, turkey salad (just use a chicken salad recipe but sub the cooked turkey), turkey n wild rice casserole ...

i'll dry pluck a turkey one in awhile. just take your time and place one hand on the skin at the base of the feathers and just pull a few feathers at a time to help keep the skin from tearing

[123fish]

It's a lot easier to pluck a turkey if you dip it in a tub of hot water first. A lot easier. We have used a five gallon pail and that worked.

[eyeguy 54]

Monday night I threw a leg and a thigh in the crock pot. Mixed in 1 can cream of chicken soup, one can water, whole onion sliced up, some cajon powder and pepper. 9 a.m. Tuesday threw in a buncha mushrooms. 11 a.m. took the meat out and deboned and let it cool. Had turkey wraps with a friend for lunch with a bowl of the soup. outstanding !