Preparing/Eating Thunder Chickens

[guywhofishes]

If work ever gets off my chest we'll be shooting some turkeys out west.

What's everyone's go-to on eating them? It's been too many years since I've done it.

 

[fj40]

I grind the breasts for turkey salad sammiches and use the legs/thighs carcass for soup.

 

[KDM]

My first word would be "bacon". My second and third words would be "Wild Rice", followed by my forth and fifth words being "seasoned asparagus". Toothpick bacon around any turkey meat and bake in an oven bag. Serve with the aforementioned accouterments, along with some good white wine and you have a veritable feast. Hope you bag one.

 

[Kickemup]

If they are not shot up they are great fried have fun plucking. I just cooked one yesterday I breasted one of the birds out and made a bacon weave. Wrapped the breast in that. Then I smoked it for 4 hours. It was very good. Make sure you don’t over cook it will get dry.

 

[BotnoJoe]

a dip in hot water helps make the plucking easier. smoking or grilling the whole bird are my favorite cooking methods

 

[savage270]

I used to pluck them and get them smoked. Now I have less time on my hands so I just run all of the meat through a grinder along with a pound of bacon and make turkey burgers on the grill.

 

[espringers]

the few i've seen had so much yellow fat on them in the breast area (like 1.5+ inches) i can't imagine just plucking and cooking them. how does that taste? are they all that fat?

 

[Jigaman]

Anyone just chunk up the breast and throw it in the crockpot with potatoes, carrots, onions and cream of mushroom soup?

 

[Fishmission]

Anyone just chunk up the breast and throw it in the crockpot with potatoes, carrots, onions and cream of mushroom soup?

That sounds like something I’m gonna try.
Most of the time I just skin them out (don’t pluck anymore), cut them up in various size strips and either throw them on the grill with some light seasoning or bread and fry up just like chicken fingers. Yum Yum

 

[KDM]

Chunks of turkey or the whole breast covered in cream of mushroom soup, a few diced onions, topped with cheese and a top layer of croutons thrown in the oven is another wonderful dish we make with our turkeys.

 

[NodakBuckeye]

Last 2 I got, I plucked and brined, little butter garlic injection and smoke grilled.

 

[Bfishn]

Its been about a decade since i last shot one, but back then my mom made it in the oven just like a thanksgiving turkey and they were great. We did that with 2-3 of them and all turned out good. I have heard some people say they taste like shit, but those people probably hate deer to.

PS: Did anybody have any luck calling this weekend? I didn't go out but will probably give it a try this coming weekend.

 

[Rowdie]

Skin them, then breast them out. Use Turkey breasts in ANY CHICKEN RECIPE. Dice, slice, grill, roast, whatever you can think of will work.

Don't waste time plucking them.

I use Drumsticks and thighs in soups

 

[eyexer]

Scald em in boiling water then just brush the feathers off. Best I've had is deep fried. But set up the fryer so that you can have everything but the legs in for the first half of the cooking time. Then drop it in the rest of the way otherwise the legs over cook something fierce. Put a thermometer in the breast and leave it in there.

 

[SDMF]

In addition to what's already been posted, deep-fried nuggets in your favorite coating.

Might be too much work, but, maybe your hot-water machine to ~100-110, then 90min or so in the smoker, followed by just enough time on a grill to attain finish temp and crispy skin.

 

[Apres]

I second turkey nuggets, just bread and deep fry. My all time favorite: brine if you have time otherwise just butterfly the breast the long way use prepared stove top stuffing put down a layer then sprinkle a layer of cheese. roll that all up and bake 350 for about an hour or till done. I simmer the legs and thighs with some veggies all day, then shred and crisp up in a little oil/fat and right at the end add a splash of lemon juice and a drizzle of honey stir and serve like carnitas or tacos or whatever you'd normally use meat like that

 

[Sum1]

Take it in and get it smoked. Smoked wild turkey is really good

 

[guywhofishes]

Take it in and get it smoked. Smoked wild turkey is really good

take it in?

 

[NodakBuckeye]

take it in?

To your local charcuterie store of course.

I suppose some butcher places would smoke it?

Still, Roger the Shrubber came to mind when I first read that...

 

[( deleted account )]

Tried every way over the years, and settled on crock pot. Pretty idiot proof for a lousy cook like myself. Impossible to overlook and turn into hardened rubber wild turkey.
Still haven’t figured out how to remove the tendons in the leg. The thigh to knee is eatable, but below the knee is just a mass of tendons. I saw a short video on an outdoor website of how to remove tendons from pheasants but lost track of it. Wonder if it works on turkeys?