Giving up on cooking feet....

[HeritageFan]

I’m making turkey soup tonight and have tried several times to blanch the feet.... but I can not get the skin off the bottom of the foot.

I’ve tried re blanching in the simmering water (about 30 seconds per try) but I’m in 4x at this point and just can’t get it apart.

It is a fresh turkey that I processed today. He was solo in his bachelor pen after thanksgiving, and needed to be processed. So. The feet were never frozen.

I have to go tend to my horses, and the soup is still going to simmer while I’m gone but. I’ve never used feet before amd don’t understand how everyone says the skin just peels right off and this guy is giving me so much trouble.
Any tips would be much appreciated, even if only for the next round!

I hate to waste anything, and appreciate the benefits of using the feet that I have read about. I’ve also tried to cut off the claws and work back from the toes; the foot and toe pads are my challenge. The leg was fine, and I’m no stranger to skinning.... they simply will NOT let go

TiA for any tips :/

 

[nuthatched]

What do you use turkey feet for?
Maybe a dry cooking method?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You said you processed this bird today? I have not done feet before, but... generally I let a bird rest for three or four days in the fridge before cooking, to let rigor pass and the meat tenderize. ( ETA, lets the meat fibers relax). I wonder if this might help?

 

[R2elk]

What do you use turkey feet for?

I would imagine it is used for the same as chicken feet are. Most uses I see are being used in making stock.

 

[HeritageFan]

Yes, I am just trying to make stock.
I guess -technically- broth, as there are both veggies and meat in the pot....

I wasn’t roasting him, so the bulk of the meat will rest for a couple of days in the fridge to be roasted and / or ground after resting, and the rest of the carcass with what I couldn’t cut off to rest, went into the pot, and he went in before rigor set in.

It’s not my first rodeo on a quick process like this.
The rest is 110% necessary if rigor sets in, but - if you are quick, you can even take a bird from the pen to the oven and have a good meal. I usually rest and brine if I’m plucking / plan to roast.

The feet, to quote
https://www.yellowbirchhobbyfarm.com/how-to-prepare-turkey-feet-for-use-in-stock/

“Turkey and chicken feet are little more than skin, bones, tendons, and cartilage. But when they are added to your stock, they offer up glucosamine and chondroitin, calcium, and collagen. Collagen, when cooked, transforms into gelatin- giving you the highly desirable gel that you see in a quality batch of stock. Collagen also contains glycine, which assists the liver and keeps the detox system running well. ”

I’d like to figure out how to utilize them. I did not do the ice bath to finish per the recommendations of this web site. Maybe that’s where I went wrong

Regardless, the house smells wonderful, and I’m going to go finish cooking my feet- free soup