Cooking Wild Turkey
Some hunters and food enthusiasts prefer to cook a wild turkey than the standard grocery store Butterball. Although a wild turkey is similar to a domesticated bird, you will need to approach cooking it with a different set of rules. Add this to my Recipe Box.
Differences between store-bought and wild turkeys
Wild turkey and convential turkey have different tastes. Wild turkey has a gamey but fresher flavor than grocery store turkey. The biggest difference between these turkeys is the breast meat. Wild turkeys have the ability to fly, making the breast muscles smaller than the birds bred for eating. Wild turkeys have minimal breast meat but what there is tastes good. The dark meat will be a little tougher than the tender meat of a domestic turkey.
Brining
A good way to ensure the turkey retains its flavor is brining it before cooking. Brining the turkey helps the meat keep its original flavor by keeping it from drying out while cooking. The simplest method of brining a turkey is dissolving salt in a large pot of water and letting the turkey soak for several hours before cooking it. Add about one cup of salt per gallon of water. Some recipes call for additional ingredients, such as brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce.
Cooking Methods
Roasting a wild turkey a common way of cooking the bird. Stuffing the bird does nothing for the flavor and slows down cooking time. When roasting the bird, place it breast down to prevent the breast meat from cooking too quickly. Roast the turkey until the breast meat reaches a temperature of 165 degrees. Some people prefer to smoke or even deep fry the turkey.
Tags: breast meat, before cooking, grocery store, turkeys have, wild turkey