From the Smoker!!!!

[KDM]

The turkey legs and the chicken legs were good enough to put on the table. The goose legs went into stock with the turkry, goose. and chicken carcasses once we were done picking the meat off them for sandwiches. Very little goes to waste around here.

 

[Fly Carpin]

KDM what did you do with the legs? I have yet to find a way to "consume" them with out playing a round of "throw them in the trash". Too many tenants and such. Other than being a novelty item part of a "whole bird".. Admire smoking of the whole bird, but have only found the breast editable. Ticks were so bad last year, It was was a buzz kill of the spring turkey season only to be covered right out of the shoot. Ended up not applying due to my last outing.

- - - Updated - - -

Maybe I'm a pessimist, but have a hard time keeping pheasant legs for the same reason. Maybe I'm missing something????? Thighs, I can see the effort, Otherwise, no dice. Believe me if I could mustard the effort, I would.

Lightly score the skin where the feathers meet the bare lower leg. Give it a good twist to somewhat loosen the tendons. Grab a foot in one hand and the leg in the other. Give it a manly pull with steady pressure. If the foot pulls free with 3 tendons attached you're smooth sailing and can rest easy knowing you have an edible drumstick. Very easy on pheasants. Slightly harder on ducks. Only ND born men that are pure of heart and deep into a bottle of good whiskey can successfully attempt this feat with geese and turkeys

 

[406Joe]

Not knocking the effort. Have tried the legs, but ended up being able to play a good round of "way too tough for me". Is it worth the effort is the question. Thought I had a thing of beauty on the smoker until I dived in. Then it was all show and no go!

 

[KDM]

Not knocking the effort. Have tried the legs, but ended up being able to play a good round of "way too tough for me". Is it worth the effort is the question. Thought I had a thing of beauty on the smoker until I dived in. Then it was all show and no go!

Kind of up to each individual. Is it worth the effort to spend 2 hours looking for a downed bird? Is it worth the effort to fish in the rain? All good questions, but each is answerable in a different way for each person with many many variables. The legs on my birds get used in stock if they are too tough to chew on. Once they are boiled for a couple hours, the meat gets more tender, but you lose some flavor obviously. The left over meat pieces stay in the stock usually, so they get used for something else. It may not sound like it's worth the effort in the beginning, but when you enjoy the several meals with that smokey flavored stock used on roasts or mashed potatoes, the effort becomes well worth it IMO.

 

[NodakBuckeye]

I make stock or soup. Plucking is not going to make legs tender, but it will help keep the bird from drying out and you have more options on cooking. I don't pluck every bird but those I intend to smoke I pluck

 

[guywhofishes]

canned critter legs are amazing

 

[LBrandt]

Buy smoked turkey legs at Sams 3 for 12 bucks. They look like they came off a T-Rex. One will make 2 meals for me and wife. Not really that bad, good flavor and moist if warmed up right way.

 

[Duckslayer100]

I've had very poor luck getting all the tendons out of a pheasant leg using the pull-the-foot method. Yes, you get some of the bigger ones, but by my count there are approximately 357 other smaller tendons left behind. The only reason I know this is because my wife could find a fathead pin bone lodged in a halibut fillet, and she told me so.

These days, all pheasant legs are either ground for burger or braised and pulled for various pulled-meat delicacies. But unfortunately I shot a whopping three cocks last fall, and thus my leg cache is spent.

 

[LBrandt]

I save the legs of pheasants and crock pot them and make like a chicken pot pie out of them after removing all the bones.

 

[NodakBuckeye]

I've had very poor luck getting all the tendons out of a pheasant leg using the pull-the-foot method. Yes, you get some of the bigger ones, but by my count there are approximately 357 other smaller tendons left behind. The only reason I know this is because my wife could find a fathead pin bone lodged in a halibut fillet, and she told me so.

These days, all pheasant legs are either ground for burger or braised and pulled for various pulled-meat delicacies. But unfortunately I shot a whopping three cocks last fall, and thus my leg cache is spent.

In Ohio where pheasants are harder to come by, I pulled the tendons with a needle nose, able to get about 354 of the 357. Only because I was lucky to get one or 2 a year.

 

[Fly Carpin]

I've had very poor luck getting all the tendons out of a pheasant leg using the pull-the-foot method. Yes, you get some of the bigger ones, but by my count there are approximately 357 other smaller tendons left behind. The only reason I know this is because my wife could find a fathead pin bone lodged in a halibut fillet, and she told me so.

These days, all pheasant legs are either ground for burger or braised and pulled for various pulled-meat delicacies. But unfortunately I shot a whopping three cocks last fall, and thus my leg cache is spent.

Were you enjoying a whiskey? It's a crucial step for successful tendonectomies

 

[Duckslayer100]

Were you enjoying a whiskey? It's a crucial step for successful tendonectomies

DAMNIT! I knew I was forgetting something.

 

[Colonel Angus]

Did up some deer a couple weekends ago. Forgot to take pics of the sausage and jerky, but these are ground with beefstick seasoning. Instead of stuffing them, we run these patties through the slicer to make the sticks, then vacupak. This batch was only 55 lbs. Was hanging them out on each end to cool down when I took the pic.

 

[NodakBuckeye]

That's a good idea; must be why you are a colonel.

 

[Colonel Angus]

That's a good idea; must be why you are a colonel.

Nope, that's a whole different bag of tricks.

 

[guywhofishes]

ba ha ha

 

[NodakBuckeye]

Well, at any rate, I guess you've got it licked.

 

[ItemB]

I like that loaf idea then slicing, been meaning to make jerky this way seems would be easier than shooting it through a jerkey gun..... Now that I see you have did it going to try it

 

[Colonel Angus]

I like that loaf idea then slicing, been meaning to make jerky this way seems would be easier than shooting it through a jerkey gun..... Now that I see you have did it going to try it

My recipe is 50 lb deer, 5 lb 80% beef or pork, 2 packs of beefstick seasoning, 1/4 to 1/3 pk of hunter sausage seasoning (to spice it up and get more garlic flavor), and a couple oz of the pink stuff. (I get my seasonings from Hornbachers)

I roll them out (about 3lbs per patty) on a jelly roll pan about 1/2 inch thick. Saran wrap the pan with enough underneath so that you can cover up the entire loaf when you are done rolling it out. I stack them in one of my meat totes and put them in the fridge overnight. In the morning they will have binded up nicely and you can put them on the racks and take off the saran wrap and pour the smoke to them. It takes about 6-8 hrs to get 55 lbs to 170 degrees in my smoker, about 12 hrs for 110 lbs.

I let them get fairly cool before slicing, and usually slice the next day. I will stack them back in the tote, separating each loaf with some paper towels to soak up any moisture. I don't like putting them back in the fridge, but my garage is cool enough.

 

[ItemB]

Thank you sounds like an easier way to get a bunch of jerky beef sticks made