Turkey cleaning methods

[popeshawnpaul]

I've always wondered how other people clean their turkeys.  I try to do it as much like a Butterball as possible so as to trick the wife into eating it easier.  So I pluck mine and clean the cavity.  Plucking it like a Butterball is difficult but I try and do the best I can.  The one thing that always confused me was the "sporangia"?  It's the soft spongy stuff around the neck.  I've heard that most people just leave it and it scrapes off easy after cooking.  I've heard others trim it off the best they can.  I also try and leave to skin on to keep it moist when cooking. 

So how do you clean your turkey?  Do you skin it?  I've thought about grinding some and making turkey burger and sausage this year... Has anyone done that before?

[Intruder]

I've plucked a view but am done w/ that.  I fillet the breasts off the bird then take the thighs and legs.  Breast are used in a variety ways... fried, bbq, etc.  Thighs and legs are braised in water/white wine, cooled, meat is stripped and then ground for turkey salad.  I often throw in the thighs and legs from my pheasants from the prior fall.

[Huntmossberg8]

I plucked my first turkey, and since then every otehr bird i have cleaned, i have, guted, then Skined in like a deer..lol... Until i have the enire turkey cleaned, and i do try and get as much of the fat, "sporangia" off., but i have recently decided, whil in the cleaning prossess, if it is a leanbird, lets say a jake, ill cook it like a thanksgiving bird, but if is an old tom, that is very gamie, and has  a lot of crap on it ill fillet, it and cutt off all the meat, and cook it seperatly or last year i mixed it with beef, and deer and made some sasauge, and Jerkey . it was quite tasty.

[DOUBLELUNG]

I've plucked a few, but not lately.  When I did, I would cut out the gobbler's sponge.  It's not difficult with a very sharp blade, near impossible with a dull one; I like to use disposable blades, so sharp's never an issue.  I skin the bird, fillet off the breast, and cut 1/2" steaks.  Those go (one breast half each time for an adult tom, both sides for a jake) into a marinade of plenty of sliced peeled fresh ginger and garlic, with a couple of drops of Worcestershire and a tablespoon or so of olive oil.  Marinate in the fridge overnight, and grill over high heat 1-2 minutes/side.  We eat the whole bird fresh, don't freeze anything. 

Legs, thighs, and all the meat I can trim off the carcass go into a crock pot, with just enough water to cover, on low for 24 hours.  Pour off the water (save it for soup stock if into that), let it cool, and pick out all bones, sinew/tendons, cartilage, pellets, etc., so it's just pure cooked meat.  Back into the crock pot with 2 tablespoons or so of olive oil, and an entire bottle of tangy barbeque sauce, for another 24 hours on low.  Eat on sandwich buns, TASTY!

[300wsm]

I breast them out and take the legs off.  I'll brine the turkey breast in my smoke salmon recipe, I'll leave them in there for only about 3 hours and them wrap the breast in bacon to keep them from drying out.  Then I put them in the smoker for 6 to 8 hours.  I makes great lunch meat and snacks. 

[Michelle_Nelson]

Well I have never killed a turkey, but. . . . I have some people ask me about "If I bring you a bird, what happens to the meat?"

Thats a good question.  About 90% of the birds I get have been frozen whole.  Depending on the temp a turkey can take up to 3 days to fully thaw out enough for me to skin it.  That being the case the meat goes into the trash.  I mean who wants to eat a bird if it has been in 70 - 75 degree temps unthawing for 36+ hours, which is normal defrost time for birds at 70 - 75 degrees. 

Those that do come to me fresh out of the field I usually just remove the brests for the hunter and thats it.  Up until now I never thought of removing the leg meat for them for stew.  May have to consider that from now on.  I hate to see any meat go to waste.  Thats why I like offering reproduction fish.  For L/S birds I need the entire leg bones and wing bones.  I clean them and wire them inorder to get the corect articulation in how far a bir can move it's joints.