# Tenderizing Your Turkey



## Liver and Onions (Nov 24, 2000)

The legs and thighs can be rather tough. Some even toss them and eat only the breast. Hmmmm.
For about the last 20 years I have skinned my toms so in addition to some tough meat, I also have a problem with the bird drying out while cooking.
What I do is to cook the bird in a turkey cooking bag with some water. I keep the heat at 350 and cook long enough that the meat is falling off the bone. If this were a domestic bird the meat would be tender after falling off the bone, but with wild birds it needs more cooking time. I then cut all dark meat into smaller pieces and put it in the crock pot with some cream of mushroom soup and chicken broth or chick bouillon cubes/water and then cook until totally tender.
For a much shorter time I will also put the white(actually tan) meat in the crock pot.

L & O


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## plugger (Aug 8, 2001)

I try to shoot jakes and my wife plucks them, these cook up well. We have deep fried a few older birds. Its kind of a pain but they come out moist and flavorful.


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## oaksrus (Aug 28, 2015)

I like to chunk up the breast into nugget size peices, dry rub, then deep fry. There is a fine line between done and turning them into shoe leather but when done right they are juicy and tender. This works well with pheasant also.


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## Ranger Ray (Mar 2, 2003)

Well, only two ways I will cook one, both mentioned above. Skin on.


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## Tron322 (Oct 29, 2011)

My wife does schnitzel with breast usually, cuts it and pounds it flat , egg / flour / egg / bread crumb mix and into hot oil...it's very good.

We used to cut the breast and wrap it in bacon before that on the grill, also very good.

Or cook the whole bird up in a bag with a few bacon slices from our local gas station/grocery/butcher we have in Cedar. And have a Thanksgiving type dinner, she wanted to do that option with the bird she shot on the opener... probably mother's day weekend coming up but sometime in May.

For the legs we have never had any luck just cooking them, we have a couple pressure canners and some automatic ones for cooking only just never tried it, we ussuly just grind them up and mix it with other burger.

Heard pressure cooking makes them tender, have to try it with a leg one of these harvests we get.

If the leg meat is as tough as it always is with the Thanksgiving type dinner I am going to suggest L & O's crock pot idea to her and maybe make a soup.


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## Playin' Hooky (Aug 29, 2002)

After several years of scalding and plucking to deep fry, I skin and bone them out now. Even the thighs drumsticks—best dark meat EVER! 

Tenderize by aging all meat in the refrigerator for a week or so. Freeze in plastic wrap and sealed bags.

We enjoy the breast grilled gently but favorite is chicken fried on the stove. Dark meat for stew or soup w wild rice. Delicious!


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## jacksonmideerhunter (Oct 9, 2011)

A brine in water and morton tenderquick for at least 3 days works wonders on wild turkey. 5-7 days is even better. If keeping the bird whole, use an injector too. I just breast them out and take the legs and thighs.


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## d_rek (Nov 6, 2013)

i'll suggest something different: trim all of the meat from the bone, cube it up, and make turkey sausage out of it!


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## Gander Club (Dec 31, 2004)

Legs, thighs, neck, giblets and the deboned carcass go into a pot to boil. Makes the best tasting stock or turkey noodle soup you've ever eaten!


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## Martian (Apr 28, 2011)

for the dark meat, I cook in crock pot 24 hrs on low. remove and clean, back in . add bullion egg noodles for turkey noodle soup


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## DirtyCuffs (Sep 22, 2016)

For the breast, I prefer making piccata. Its basically a Schnitzel with a mushroom/caper/wine sauce over it. Cut a breast against the grain into 1" strips and pound them out flat. Dredge in flour. Fry in clarified butter or oil and dust with salt and pepper right after. I normally set them in a warm oven while i finish all of them and the sauce. In the same pan as I used to fry them, I get rid of most of whatever butter or oil is left. Then I saute mushrooms until soft, sprinkle some herbs of whatever I feel like at the time, salt and pepper, maybe some garlic, the capers, and go one more minute. I pour some white wine in and simmer for a minute to reduce a little. You can also just use chicken stock. Then i add some roux. I make batches of roux and store it in a jar in the fridge. You can use cornstarch too if you want. Simmer for a minute and it should be thickened.

I also do a roll up. I use half of a breast for one. I pound it out thin into a large "squarish" piece. Don't worry too much about the shape or it it breaks apart a little, its getting rolled up anyway. I saute apples, onions, garlic, and thyme with some salt and pepper. Right before its done i hit it with some bourbon and fire it off. I Let it cool down while I braid bacon into a square the size of the breast. Set the breast on the bacon. Smear the apples and onions on top, and roll it up. I tie it with butchers twine and bake it at 350 until internal temp hits 160.

For the drumsticks, I just smoke them and use them in batches of collard greens or red beans.

For the thighs, I love making stroganoff in a crock pot with them. Id show you my recipe card but its embarrassing, like most of my personal recipes.....lots of scribble and notes over the years until it was perfected. Its pretty simple though. I just place chopped up onion, celery, garlic, and carrots on the bottom of a crock pot. Place a bay leaf on top. I set the thighs that I seasoned with salt, pepper, thyme, and oregano on top. Then I add 2 cans of cream of mushroom over it. Then I set chopped mushrooms on top of that. add about a half cup of chicken stock and then cook on low for 6-8 hours. remove the thighs, debone, and chop up the meat. Return meat to the pot and then add roux or cornstarch to thicken if necessary. Serve over egg noodles.

Turkey hearts and livers are delicious just sauted after dredged in flour. Its normally the treat I enjoy after the kill of any animal I harvest. Turkey liver pate is good too


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## Spartan88 (Nov 14, 2008)

I pressure can mine.


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## adam bomb (Feb 27, 2006)

Anyone pressure cook the legs/thighs? I was thinking about putting them in the instant pot. Sounds like 20 minutes high pressure will have them tender. I just wanna use them for soup and I don’t have time to cook them all day. 


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## Liver and Onions (Nov 24, 2000)

Haven't done it, but I'm sure that will work. Get it tender and use it in sandwiches, potpies and bisquicks & gravy.
I like the strong favor of wild turkey, especially the dark meat, but I can see where the flavor might be too strong for some tastes.

L & O


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## adam bomb (Feb 27, 2006)

Liver and Onions said:


> Haven't done it, but I'm sure that will work. Get it tender and use it in sandwiches, potpies and bisquicks & gravy.
> I like the strong favor of wild turkey, especially the dark meat, but I can see where the flavor might be too strong for some tastes.
> 
> L & O


40 minutes ended up doing the trick. I stripped the meat cut it up and made quite possibly my best turkey noodle soup ever!!! 

I did the same with the thighs today. Seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder, tossed in an onion with a cup of water. I have them processed and slow cooking with cream of mushroom soup. Will be serving over noodles tonight. Tastes just like beef IMO. 


















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## adam bomb (Feb 27, 2006)

It turned out great. Super tender. 











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## Liver and Onions (Nov 24, 2000)

adam bomb said:


> It turned out great. Super tender.
> 
> View attachment 764993


That does look good. I'm glad a few pics and some discussion were added to this thread. I know that I have talked with a few turkey hunters who either only keep the breast meat from their tom or complain about the toughness of the leg & thigh meat. With some effort that meat, which has very robust flovor, can be tender too.
I suggest going back to look at posts 9-11 in this thread for some great ideas for making turkey soup or main dishes.
The 2 turkey soup ideas will make for the tastiest soup you will ever make.

L & O


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## adam bomb (Feb 27, 2006)

Liver and Onions said:


> That does look good. I'm glad a few pics and some discussion were added to this thread. I know that I have talked with a few turkey hunters who either only keep the breast meat from their tom or complain about the toughness of the leg & thigh meat. With some effort, that meat, which has very robust flovor, can be tender too.
> I suggest going back to look at posts 9-11 in this thread for some great ideas for making turkey soup or main dishes.
> The 2 turkey soup ideas will make for the tastiest soup you will ever make.
> 
> L & O


I think there’s more in that camp than not unfortunately. Legs/thighs are a tough cut but with proper prep can be fork tender. It’s just takes a little time. I should have put some pics up of the soup a couple days ago. I also pressure cooked the drumsticks and made quite possible my best turkey noodle soup ever. The flavor was amazing. The wife and I really enjoyed it. I can’t wait to make it again next spring!

We did deep fried turkey nuggets with half the breast.I cut them up in 1 1/2” cubes, smacked a couple times with the meat mallet the seasoned with Tony Chacheres Cajun Shake. I rolled in Fryin Magic and deep fried 3 minutes at 350°. They were moist and tender and really good. Eat as is or with your favorite dipping sauce. My daughter really loved those. I froze the other half of the breast. Not sure what I’ll do with it just yet. I may smoke it at a later date, make Turkey poppers, like I do with duck, or something else if the mood strikes. 

In the end I’ve never understood why turkeys get such a bad rap. IMO. It’s likely poor preparation techniques leading to unsavory results. 


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## Flag Up (Feb 15, 2009)

Damn Adam Bomb! Looks yummy!!!


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