Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting What does a wild turkey taste like?

Just that.

Closest I can compare is pheasant.

All dark meat, dry?

Nope.

Same as any other turkey........ Breast meat is white. Legs and thighs are dark. Drier than a Butterball, for sure. But not detestable.

Just did 2 breasts in the smoker this afternoon. Sliced them and rolled the slices up in provolone. Mighty fine snappin'

Thanks. I've rarely even seen one.

tabasco

Domestic is slaughtered after 60-110 days while eating much and working little. Very tender and fat.

Wild are 2-5 years of age and have to fight for every meal. Great tasting but a bit more tough than farm raised. Just have to cook them a bit differently... stews and soups for the leg quarters or pressure cooked and you can do anything with the white meat.

A simple brine makes em much better.

I smoke some and fry some.
Both are good.


https://i.imgur.com/fjodvsS.jpeg

Anyone make simple country pot pies out of them?

Post up some pics....if you knew how to smoke them they wouldn't turn out so dry.

I'm surprised Martha Stewart didn't teach her prO staffer Wild Turkey cooking 101....cook it fast and hot.

You wouldn't want to waste wild turkey breast in a pot pie.

This is a batch I cooked in my pellet smoker with Jack Daniels whiskey barrel pellets....injected with Buffalo Trace Whiskey the night before. Rubbed down with mustard and then seasoned just before going in the smoker.
The key to a juicy turkey breast is cooking it fast and hot...

450 degrees going in with constant temp monitoring and remove it at 160 degrees takes about two hours....then I let it cool and then flash freeze it before I vacuum seal it....if you don't semi freeze it the vacuum sealer will pull all the juices out.



You can't learn this on some POe dunk pro staff.

I seldom see one.

There's lots of them in Iowa. Maybe not just exactly where you are.

There ain't ANY in Wabigoon. I can assure you of that !!! 😁😁😁

That's heresy! 😡! (all in fun!)

Wild turkey tastes like....well....wild turkey! 😋! LOL!



^^^^This^^^^

I remove the breast whole and the legs and thighs.

My favorite way is to place the breast in one of those big "throw-away" roaster pans along with the legs and thighs.
Probably two quartered up onions, some garlic and some poultry seasoning. Add chicken stock. I add stock until I fear the pan may run over. LOL! Cover with foil and seal tightly. Cook at 350°F for 1 hour, reduce to 250°F and cook for 2 to 3 hours.
I usually bone out and chop up the legs and thighs and make "turkey salad"! Good stuff, Maynard! It also makes a good sandwich.
We slice the turkey and make dressing to go with it.
Cold turkey sandwiches are pretty awesome.
We also quarter slice the breast and make turkey "cutlets"! Awesome fried.

You can pretty much do the same thing with wild turkey you can do with a Pilgrim's Pride chicken, but the wild turkey will be drier. It's just the nature of the beast.

Actually a wild turkey if cooked right can be as tender as a domestic turkey without the domestic turkey twang....

A domestic turkeys taste is hard to hide/disguise a wild turkey has no twang.

One of my favorite ways to cook wild turkey is on shish kabobs....2" cubes of turkey with a 2" piece of bacon loaded on each side of the meat with vegetables of your choice.....again there's a fine line between over cooking it and it becoming shoe leather.

Most people that cook chicken screw up cooking wild turkey because they over cook it.

Because unlike chicken a wild turkey has no fat....

Looking good LFC!

Smoked Turkey is AWESOME! I do a couple every year (domestic birds). The legs taste like the best Ham you ever had, not sure why lol.

I have never heard of Jack Daniels whiskey barrel pellets, I enoy JD (way too much) so I will have to give them a try.

One thing about smoking a whole turkey is using the carcass to make "Smoked Turkey Soup" out of it, the smoke really enhances the flavor, one of my favorite soups :o)

Cheers and happy cooking!

I have, and use, the shredded up Jack Daniel's whiskey barrel wood chips in my smoker. The oak/whiskey blend gives a very nice flavor.

I fry the breast meat, we love it and it is seldom frozen before it is gone. The thighs and legs get chopped for turkey salad or gumbo.