How does wild turkey taste?

[KimberRich]

I eat it because I shoot it and that's the right thing to do in my opinion but it's not my favorite.  I've tried deep fried, baked, broiled, bbq'd, and most every way and they are ok.  Would never say delicious..  But like everyone said they do not have a ton of extra moisture in them so slow cooking and adding broth or cooking in an oven bag is a must to keep from drying out..  If you don't it can easily get tough as a leather.  

[Curly]

I hear they taste like bald eagle......

[KimberRich]

I hear they taste like bald eagle......

More like Spotted Owl actually..   

[bow4elk]

Tastes Great!  I marinated 1/2 this bird in each gallon ziplock so we'd have two separate meals ready to go.  One bag went in the freezer, one marinated for 16 hours in zesty italian salad dressing, then was transfered to a vented oven roasting bag with a 1/4 cup of butter and 1 cup water.  Baked for 1 hour with a thermometer - perfect!

They don't come with much fat as you can see.  You need to keep moisture in while cooking, and a roasting bag helps dramatically.

(last pic was prior to adding the gravy!)

[NWTFhunter]

Hope those feathers in the first pic didnt make it into the last.....

[WCTaxidermy]

OK bowe4elk, i'm really hungry now.  That looked good.  I take the breasts and marinate them for 6-8 hours in a brine of cold water, 1/2 cup brown sugar and a seasoning of your likings like, Johnny's, all season etc.

Then right before your ready to cook them, inject the breast with a mixture of melted butter, garlic powder, and chicken/turkey broth mixed well.  Be sure to inject them very liberally.  Then wrap the breast with a wet cooking cheese cloth and put on your traeger BBQ. Marinate every 10 minutes with the remaining injection fluid.  Take the breast out and enjoy when it reaches 180 degrees.

John

[bow4elk]

Hope those feathers in the first pic didnt make it into the last.....

I knew I'd catch hell for that!  No, I rinsed it VERY well and picked off anything that wasn't meat 

[NWTFhunter]

 

WTC, yours sounds good as well and I will have to try that !

[turkeydancer]

You have to remember that the domestic was a wild subspecies captured in Mexico and taken back to Europe and domesticated (now extinct in the wild).

I inject marinade, sprinkle with Cajun seasoning and deep fat fry ... never had a bad one nor can taste any appreciable difference. Turkey is turkey ...
 

[EastWaViking]

Two words....Turkey burgers! 

[NWTFhunter]

I hear you EastWaViking !  Kim just ground up what was left of 1/2 breast I cooked and made a sandwich spread out of it.  Was good !

[bearpaw]

Really depends on who you talk to, it is definitely stronger flavored (especially the darker meat) and not for everyone. I personally like it, but can understand why some do not like it.

I really like cutting into small pieces like turkey McNuggests...   Then fry with lots of season salt.

[carpsniperg2]

a little on the strong side but still tasty