Wild turkey

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longarm
Rank: Junior Hunter
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Oct 26, 2010 3:00 pm

Wild turkey

Post by longarm » Sat Oct 30, 2010 2:01 pm

I couldnt wait for Thanksgiving... and anyway there is plenty to be thankful for right now! I shot a #21.5 tom at the vineyard.

Roasted whole stuffed with apples, bread, morels, celery, wild rice, sweet onions, and a few cranberries. Gravy was made with the water from reconstituting the morels, and broth from the neck, giblets. It was near coffee black.

I'm having very good luck making moist roast turkey this by:
1. Make a moist stuffing. These lean birds don't have a lot of fat on them,
2. Rub exterior of bird generously in butter,
3. Cover with strips of quality bacon,
4. Cover that with double layer of cheesecloth,
5. Baste bird frequently with white wine and butter. I usually pour a cup or so in the bottom of the roasting pan to start. Drink remaining bottle. Open another as necessary..

Bake at 325 - 350F. The last half hour or so of the roast remove top of roast pan (or foil, if you used that) and the cheesecloth and bacon. Your bird will now brown. Continue basting as before. Using a meat thermometer I cook until interior of bird is ~ 160F. Some recipes will say cook to 180F, which I suppose is fine, but at 160 the bird is done, in my opinion.
Make certain to invite someone who is convinced that wild turkey is 'tough and dry', etc...

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ArcticRetrievers
Rank: Junior Hunter
Posts: 46
Joined: Tue Sep 14, 2010 8:34 pm
Location: Fairbanks, AK

Re: Wild turkey

Post by ArcticRetrievers » Sun Nov 21, 2010 9:59 pm

That sounds Mouthwatering!

Wild Turkey are non-indigenous to Alaska, But we have a Big Family that is surviving the winter, so all of the hunters up here (unanimously) voted to leave them be so that they can flourish...Cant wait for the day I can go turkey hunting again!

Your Making me miss VA alot!

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