How To Pluck And Clean A Wild Turkey

Most of the turkeys we kill each jump go skinned. Skinning is faster, gets the meat cooled down quickly, and works for the vast majority of the recipes we apply. But once or twice a flavour, when fourth dimension permits, I similar to pluck a whole bird for smoking or roasting.

Like just about everything in the outdoors, there are several opinions on how to best pluck a turkey. I have tried well-nigh of them, and they all concluded with a cleaned bird. This method is similar to one nosotros employ when nosotros procedure our meat chickens. It uses a quick dip in hot water to help loosen the feathers earlier plucking. An outdoor gas burner and big pot are just the ticket for the chore. And, especially if you are married, I suggest this be an outdoor job.

Most of the time, I wait on field dressing the bird till after the plucking is finished so that feathers don't work their way into the body cavity. However, if the conditions is warm and it will be an hour or two before y'all have time to process the bird, go alee and field dress it by making a small slit in the peel most the vent and reaching upward into the cavity to remove the entrails. Lots of folks like to save the heart, liver and gizzard for giblet gravy. Now is the time to place them into a ziplock bag and stick them on ice. Once the body cavity is empty, fill a gallon ziplock handbag about one-half full of ice and slide it into the turkey to assistance cool the bird from the inside out.

Start the plucking procedure past filling a large pot with enough water to allow complete submersion of the bird. Temperature is key hither. If the water is too cool, all you are doing is getting the bird wet. Besides hot, and you will cook the skin, making information technology tear easily, and yous volition fix the feathers tightly into the skin, making plucking well-nigh impossible. The optimum temperature seems to be around 145 to 150 degrees. A thermometer, either digital or dial, is a good idea. Adding a few drops of dishwashing liquid to the water helps it to penetrate the feathers and makes plucking a bit easier.

While your water heats, become ahead and remove the head and neck an inch or two in a higher place where the neck meets the body. I like to take the wings off at the first joint, leaving just the drumstick shaped portion attached to the bird.

Turkey wings are hard to pluck, there merely isn't enough meat on the second wing section to be worth the fourth dimension it takes to pluck information technology all the way out. I leave the feet on for now, they brand a handy handle to dip and hang the bird by.

If you want to save the tail fan from your bird, go ahead and remove it before dipping. But run your hand along the base of the fan and feel for the clump of fat and cartilage that holds the feathers together. Slide your knife under the clump and remove the tail fan.

When your water reaches the correct temperature, dip the bird for effectually 30 seconds. Much longer and you run the risk of cooking the bird. Lift the bird from the water and pull out a plume or 2. If they come out easily, the bird is ready to pluck. If they still take a bit of a tug to go them loose, dip again for a few more seconds.

I like to hang the bird by the legs virtually head high. This position allows easy access to the entire turkey and lets you rotate the bird to easily reach all of the body. Start at the back and pull the feathers out. Grab just a few at a time, attempting too many will tear the pare. Pull with a snapping motion against the grain of the feather, having the bird hanging past the anxiety makes it easier to pull the feathers down to remove them.

Continue over the entire carcass until it is clean. Whatever of the small pilus-like feathers that remain  can exist removed by burning them off with a quick pass of a lighter.

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Source: https://www.realtree.com/timber-2-table-articles/how-we-pluck-a-wild-turkey

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