Hunting Washington Forum

Other Hunting => Turkey Hunting => Topic started by: Chanks on April 12, 2010, 03:21:33 PM

Title: How are you cooking your gobbler?
Post by: Chanks on April 12, 2010, 03:21:33 PM: How are you planning to prepare and eat your gobbler after knocking him down this week?
Title: Re: How are you cooking your gobbler?
Post by: Tom Tamer on April 12, 2010, 04:02:42 PM: The wife got me a Turkey cooker last Xmas so I'm gonna try that out.
Title: Re: How are you cooking your gobbler?
Post by: 10Key on April 12, 2010, 05:41:09 PM: Considering my luck with turkeys, I will worry about how to cook one once I have one dead and in my cooler :)
Title: Re: How are you cooking your gobbler?
Post by: turkeydancer on April 12, 2010, 07:13:34 PM: Injected with marinade, sprinkled with Cajun seasoning and deep fat fried ! Have a propane and electric cooker ....
Title: Re: How are you cooking your gobbler?
Post by: Birdguy on April 12, 2010, 07:20:11 PM: I will not be cooking it...but, however the Wife decides to do it will be fine by me :cue: :EAT: :tup:
Title: Re: How are you cooking your gobbler?
Post by: Tom Tamer on April 12, 2010, 09:25:28 PM: Quote from: turkeydancer on April 12, 2010, 07:13:34 PM
Injected with marinade, sprinkled with Cajun seasoning and deep fat fried ! Have a propane and electric cooker ....

You gotta give me your recipie..... ;) either that or I'm coming over verytime you fire one up.....That one youcooked last year at your picnic, I can still taste it...... it either that or I haven't washed my goatee in a while :yike:
Title: Re: How are you cooking your gobbler?
Post by: wastickslinger on April 12, 2010, 09:32:34 PM: I dont count my turkeys before they are hatched. :chuckle:
Title: Re: How are you cooking your gobbler?
Post by: Hangfire on April 12, 2010, 09:36:36 PM: My wife cooks are turkeys. Tonight, we finished off the 2008 fall, hen that she cooked last night. She found this bird hidden in the freezer. The breast was vacuum packed and the bird tasted like a fresh turkey. She took the frozen skinned turkey breast and rubbed the outside with olive oil, ground rosemary and a season mix called Herbs de Provence. She sprayed the inside of crock pot with pam and put the turkey breast in, with 1/4 cup water, turned on high at 11:am. At 3:pm lifted turkey out set aside on plate and put in bottom of crock pot 1 package of stove top dressing and 2 handfulls of craisins, and stirred together. She added 1/2-3/4 cup of hot water. She set turkey, breast side up back into crock pot on top of dressing mix. She then took 1/2 can of cream of chicken soup and thinned it with 1/3 cup of water, stirred well and drizzled over the top of all the turkey. She put lid on crock pot and turned it onto high for 1 hour, then turned to low. At 5:30 turkey done, tender, juicy and very flavorful.

If I get a old gobbler we bone it all entirely and grind. This turkey burger she uses like one would any burger. She does make small patties, dip them in beaten egg, coat with cracker crumbs and fry in a little olive oil with garlic salt on, Delicious.

I younger tom we will cut off thighs and drumsticks for soup. The breast gets cooked like above.

My son cooks, a very young bird, by thawing if frozen, inject with a cup of equal parts, chicken broth, pear juice, olive oil with garlic and white wine. Let set 1 hour, fill body cavity with pears, rub surface with olive oil and seasonings. Put this thawed skinned bird in a cooking bag for 1 hour 10 minutes for a 8 pound bird, more longer very good.
Title: Re: How are you cooking your gobbler?
Post by: turkeydancer on April 13, 2010, 06:36:45 AM: Tamer ... send me a reminder e-mail to my personnal e-mail ... I have step-by-step "safety" instructions for ya ... don't want you launching one into orbit ... to much space junk as it is !
:bdid:
Title: Re: How are you cooking your gobbler?
Post by: Jekemi on April 13, 2010, 11:18:26 AM: 1. try to keep the skin on your bird. It makes a huge difference in the moisture and flavor
2. brine the bird overnight. For a brine recipe consult my cookbook (I make it available to Hunt WA members electronically - let me know if you want a copy)
3. remove the leg-thigh from the breast and place them down in the pan, inside down on the pan.
4. place roughly chopped onion, carrot, celery in the pan and add about 2 cups chicken stock
5. season well with coarse salt and pepper; inject butter into the breasts in several places.
6. slice salt pork into very thin slices and place over the breast. This will make the bird very moist but without the overpowering smoked bacon flavor
7. cover the bird with wet cheesecloth
8. tightly cover the cheesecloth, the entire pan really, with aluminum foil
9. roast for two to three hours at 350 degrees F
10. remove the foil and cheesecloth and roast one additional hour to brown the bird. Use a meat thermometer to test; breast meat should be at 160 degrees F.
This will make a very delicious, moist, and tender bird and the leg-thigh will be tender and flavorful because they cooked summerged in stock. Enjoy.
Title: Re: How are you cooking your gobbler?
Post by: carpsniperg2 on April 13, 2010, 11:21:12 AM: i usally chunk them up into nugets and fry them :EAT: but i don't count my gobblers before there head is off or full of shot :chuckle:
Title: Re: How are you cooking your gobbler?
Post by: KimberRich on April 13, 2010, 11:28:31 AM: I'll be cooking mine with #6's at about 1300 fps! :chuckle: :chuckle:

After that :dunno: Probably marinade it and chunk it up and bake it with rice or something. I absolutely believe in eating what you kill and always do but wild turkey is not at the top of my list of favorite wild game to eat..
Title: Re: How are you cooking your gobbler?
Post by: quadrafire on April 13, 2010, 12:44:20 PM: I usually crock pot the legs/thighs, add dumplings at the end of cooking time.
I will cook 1/2 of breast with olive oil, salt/pepper indirect heat on the grill. It always seems to turn out just right. People that don't think they like wild game can't believe it.
Title: Re: How are you cooking your gobbler?
Post by: benhuntin on April 13, 2010, 12:45:22 PM: Smoke em if you get em
Title: Re: How are you cooking your gobbler?
Post by: robb92 on April 13, 2010, 01:45:22 PM: Quote from: benhuntin on April 13, 2010, 12:45:22 PM
Smoke em if you get em

Thats what I will be doing. Soak in apple juice for 24 hours and inject some into the breast and legs and then smoke for 18 hours with alder.
Title: Re: How are you cooking your gobbler?
Post by: Tom Tamer on April 13, 2010, 07:25:18 PM: Quote from: robb92 on April 13, 2010, 01:45:22 PM
Quote from: benhuntin on April 13, 2010, 12:45:22 PM
Smoke em if you get em

Thats what I will be doing. Soak in apple juice for 24 hours and inject some into the breast and legs and then smoke for 18 hours with alder.

Are you doing that in a smoke house? At what temp? The apple juice idea sounds absolutely awesome :drool:

I'll once in a awhile make nuggets out of the breast, egg,flour and a mixture made up of pepper, lemon pepper, cayenne, brown sugar, cinomin(sp.) garlic powder,mustard powder, fry that up in a cast iron skillet
Title: Re: How are you cooking your gobbler?
Post by: duckaholic on April 13, 2010, 08:06:09 PM: now this might sound dumb, but i will be joining some buddy's of mine for the first time on a turkey hunt. now after you get a turkey how do most of you clean them? i mean do you jest breast them out, pluck them or do you skin them? oh and if the bird is left whole whats the best way to gut them out? thanks in advanced for your help.
Title: Re: How are you cooking your gobbler?
Post by: skagit on April 13, 2010, 08:12:41 PM: I just took last year's Tom out of the freezer, marinated it in Terrijo sauce, alder smoked it and made jerky out of it. Most of the time the bird is tough as hell anyway so might as well make jerky. I often take the dark meat and make a gumbo with that. The kids and friends always gobble it up. :cue:
Title: Re: How are you cooking your gobbler?
Post by: KimberRich on April 13, 2010, 09:17:32 PM: Quote from: duckaholic on April 13, 2010, 08:06:09 PM
now this might sound dumb, but i will be joining some buddy's of mine for the first time on a turkey hunt. now after you get a turkey how do most of you clean them? i mean do you jest breast them out, pluck them or do you skin them? oh and if the bird is left whole whats the best way to gut them out? thanks in advanced for your help.

Yes, yes, and yes. You can do any of those methods. I've done all 3 and of course breasting them is easiest but I read a thread on here a while ago about a guy getting a "wasteing game" ticket so I'm not sure breasting only while in the field is even legal. Once your home it's your call. Plucking them takes some time and makes a big mess of pin feathers.. I heard somewhere they have 5000 feathers so ?? There has been other threads on here about the legality of cleaning and transporting turkeys. If I'm ;ucky enough to get one this weekend I'm probably going to skin it. Split from the bung to the ribs like anything else and clean it out is how I do it?? :dunno: Good Luck!
Title: Re: How are you cooking your gobbler?
Post by: duckaholic on April 13, 2010, 09:49:58 PM: thanks it gives me a better idea and ya i am more of a water Fowler than anything so i have a general idea on how it all works i was just more curious on how it is more commonly done. tanks again