7 months worth while?

[hobbyfarmrookie]

My wife does not put our turkeys in a bag. She places it on top of vegetables or fruit depending on the desired flavor. For some whe will use chicken broth and veggies for others she will use apples, oranges, equal parts chicken broth and white wine. Place cheese cloth over the bird and baste about every 20 minutes. When it is about 20 minuted before it is to come out of the oven remove the cheese cloth to let the skin darken. SUPER JUICY!

As far as not over cooking it; I have a poultry thermometer and I keep an eye on the breast temperature.


Can you tell me how you slaughter your turkeys? This was my first year but I had a couple to process but I am looking for a better way. It appears I will be processing many more the whole family has sworn off store bought turkey.

 

[GBov]

Quote:
I tied its feet together and used vet wrap to bind its wings. I use to use a bag I made out of a baby blanket with a draw string opening and a hole for its head and neck on the other end but its in storage so tried the sticky bandage and it worked a treat. Then I put a sock over its head. (I find the sock keeps it calm and then I dont have the eye thing going, just dont like to watch their eyes.) After I put the sock on it I had to put together the hoist and when I turned round it was sound asleep so the sock really does keep them calm lol so then I hung it up by its feet and gently placed the jaws of my bypass lopper around the neck, right behind the head and closed the jaws together firmly.

Deed done!

The ONLY thing I will do differently next time is keep hold with the loppers till it stops moving. I let go and it splattered blood more and farther than chickens do but once I grabbed it with the loppers the blood went where I wanted it to, instead of on the walls, the kids, myself, the shed

Remember, while the loppers give you a clean severing of the neck without ANY chance of getting it wrong, it doesnt take the head right off, some skin stays intact so you have to cut it the rest of the way off when you start processing the carcass. I dry plucked but if and when I get the chance to raise my own I will be looking into pluckers and scalders.

I LOVE loppers, it means a short, plump, not to strong me can kill REALLY BIG poultry on my own, with no risk of hurting myself with sharp knives or hatchets!

I was surprised at how much blood was in the neck skin on a heritage turkey, my spanish blacks and bbw's didnt have a tithe on this one but thinking about it, this one had all the face colors so needed the blood to supply it. Still, was a bit of a surprise lol

Thanks for the cheese cloth tip, will other kinds of fabric work? Dont know where to find cheese cloth round here.

 

[hobbyfarmrookie]

We have never tried another type of fabric because our local groceries carry cheese cloth near the holidays and we stock up. Thanks for the killing tips.