My first crack at roasting a wild turkey

[Tripplebeards]

I always wanted to try it but always cuts out the breasts and grind up the legs into hamburger. I plucked my first and only other in 89’ and had it smoked. That turned out great. The breasts I usually make jerky out of myself or batter fry up in nuggets and strips. Tried the legs in my croc pot a few times but was never impressed. I have just ground the legs up onto hamburger the last half a dozen or more and has turned out great.

So I made my first store bought turkey a month or so ago and it turned out to be the best turkey I’ve ever eaten. I figured I’d give it a try with one of my turkeys I harvested a few weeks ago. I wanted to try to brine it first. Plucking is a PITA! I should have tried the scalding water dip first. I eventually plucked most of of the feathers and froze it up. This was the smaller of the two birds I shot. It was a 17 pounder with a 4 &3/4” beard. The 27 pounder is still on my freezer saved fro another day.



I thawed it out last week by setting it in a tub of wet brine. The brine was a salt, cane sugar ( I was out of brown), and Worcestershire sauce. I left it in for two days. One day to thaw and one day to brine. I removed it and let it sit in the fridge over night to dry out a little. Read this is done if you want crispy skin.



I pulled it out of the fridge yesterday morning and finished plucking the blood feathers out. I took a match to the “hairs” as well. I then fired up my lil totem smoker and used some peach branches I had pruned off one of my trees for smoking. I left it in the smoker for 2 hours. My little smoker would take a week to smoke my turkey so I just used it for the smoke flavor and planed on finishing it off in the oven. When I removed it from my smoker it wasn't very warm to the touch. I then did the same as I did to the domestic turkey previously. I rubbed it down with mayonnaise and then sprinkled it with a mix of brown sugar, turkey seasoning, and some famous Dave’s rib rum all combined together.




The plan was to put it in the oven at 350 degrees for 2.5 hours and check the temp after two hours to see if it rose to an internal temp of 165 degrees. I checked it after the two hour mark and it was 200 degrees! Whoops! I removed it and called it done. The skin started splitting...I would assume from overcooking? I was still very moist but not watery moist like the domestic bird was I made a few weeks ago. The breast meat was excellent with a good smoky flavor. The legs and wings were very moist but still a little chewy yet so we didn’t consume them and planned on slow cooking in the croc pot today till tender. I have 3/4 of the bird left over to live in for the next week...and then some. The skin is way to tough to chew. I would assume that’s a wild turkey thing? I remember the skin in the turkey I had smoked professionally was the same way.




The plan for turkey number two (the 27 pounder) will be to make jerky out of one side of the breast, strips or nuggets out of the other side, and grind the legs into burger.

[RedlegEd]

Nice! Looks really, really good.
Ed

[Tripplebeards]

I put the wings, drum sticks, and thighs in my croc pot along with some left over chicken and beef broth to clean out the fridge. I also poured some molasses over the top and heated on high for 4.5 hours. About perfect timing. The meat fell off the wings and drums sticks when separating the meat off the bones. I had a drumstick and wing for supper. The skin was very soft and tasty as well.

[Wayne Smith]

I have sacrificed the skin in every turkey I have smoked - and that's going on 30 years and multiple smokers.

[Lloyd Smale]

I did one like that once too. If it tasted near as good as they look id be shooting 20 a year. Truth was the one I cooked was so tough (other then the breast) that you couldn't eat it. Skin wasn't really eatable either. For the most part a waste of time. Wife and I each had a bit of breast and the rest got ground. Anymore I just skin them peel the breasts out to cook and drop the rest of the bird in the pressure cooker for a couple hours and use the meat for chicken salad. Even the breasts don't excite me much. Id take a store bought turkey ANY DAY over a wild one. For about the last 5 years I haven't even bothered shooting any. To much work for what you get when store turkeys bought out of season are cheap.

[Boaz]

Nice job cooking the turkey , turned out real pretty !

[Smoke4320]

You did good . I tried to roast wild turkey once..... thought I was doing good till the bottle broke

[Tripplebeards]

I did one like that once too. If it tasted near as good as they look id be shooting 20 a year. Truth was the one I cooked was so tough (other then the breast) that you couldn't eat it. Skin wasn't really eatable either. For the most part a waste of time. Wife and I each had a bit of breast and the rest got ground. Anymore I just skin them peel the breasts out to cook and drop the rest of the bird in the pressure cooker for a couple hours and use the meat for chicken salad. Even the breasts don't excite me much. Id take a store bought turkey ANY DAY over a wild one. For about the last 5 years I haven't even bothered shooting any. To much work for what you get when store turkeys bought out of season are cheap.

Déjà vu... After I crockpoted the legs, thighs, and wings for 4 1/2 hours on high the skin was extremely soft, fell apart, and was very good and tasty (edible). Same with the meat as it fell off the bones. But yes, you’re exactly right, it’s way too much work and the wings and thighs were way too tough to consume without putting them in the crockpot. I have to say the dark meat turned out excellent after going in the crockpot. It still had a nice Smokey flavor and very tender. But before re heating in the crockpot it was literally impossible to eat the skin. WAY to much work but it’s off my bucket list of things to do now.

[fcvan]

Tradition in my family has been the new homeowner cooks thanksgiving. My new bride had never cooked a turkey before but it was 'all the rage' to place the bird on a rack, seasoned and rubbed down with butter, placed inside 2 brown paper grocery sacks, and placed in the oven at 200 degrees overnight. Paper ignites at 400 degrees so there was no issues there. The next day, I went to remove the bird from the rack and onto the serving platter for presentation.

As I set the bird down it collapsed. There was no carving, just stick a fork in it, the bird was done perfectly. Juicy, tender, and a big hit. Pretty much like deep pit for pork or beef. They make cooking bags in place of the paper sacks, but it is the same outcome. The meet doesn't dry out and all the flavor is there. If/when I bag a wild turkey it will be done the same.

[Lloyd Smale]

did it have crispy skin. To me that's the best part of a turkey. No skin? No thanks! My sister pressure cooks turkey. You can have it.

Tradition in my family has been the new homeowner cooks thanksgiving. My new bride had never cooked a turkey before but it was 'all the rage' to place the bird on a rack, seasoned and rubbed down with butter, placed inside 2 brown paper grocery sacks, and placed in the oven at 200 degrees overnight. Paper ignites at 400 degrees so there was no issues there. The next day, I went to remove the bird from the rack and onto the serving platter for presentation.

As I set the bird down it collapsed. There was no carving, just stick a fork in it, the bird was done perfectly. Juicy, tender, and a big hit. Pretty much like deep pit for pork or beef. They make cooking bags in place of the paper sacks, but it is the same outcome. The meet doesn't dry out and all the flavor is there. If/when I bag a wild turkey it will be done the same.

[Traffer]

I never cooked a wild turkey. But if I did I would use an.....
OVEN BAG.
One thing I do different than the insructions:
Instead of poking 5 half inch holes in the top of the bag. I CAREFULLY Poke One hole about as big as a kitchen fork tine in the top. (making sure it doesn't hit the top of the oven and plug up when it starts to make the bag get big)
The tiny hole acts kind of like a pressure cooker (albeit low pressure). The bag puffs up but not like a balloon. and it cooks stuff REALLY well. If you have never used an oven bag try it, you will never go back to regular roasting again. Guaranteed!.
I learned the trick about the tiny hole by accident. Back when single a roommate made a roast dinner in an oven bag but he didn't read the instructions and did not poke any holes in the bag.
The bag expanded to the entire shape of the oven (gas oven) and obviously pressurized. BUT it did not tear or blow up. But it was very VERY funny. I opened the door of the oven and it was a huge balloon.
It ended up tasting great.
So there you have it ...the whole story.

[MaryB]

If you slow cook the turkey over low heat you can crisp the skin up with a propane torch, it will also hep brown it more. That is a BBQ contest cheat for chicken skin that is rubbery!