Ground turkey yield

[DuelingOwlFarm]

We are fortunate enough to have a processor nearby who will do ground turkey from our birds. I have a "single breasted" breed (Narragansett) and I'm wondering what sort of yield we should expect. Let’s make the math easy. Suppose I have a 30 lb Tom and get the breast and thigh turned into ground meat and keep the drumstick and wings separate, what sort of yield should I expect? What if I add the drumstick and wings to the grind? Is that even a good idea?

Honestly, I think we get the most usable turkey if we just get it whole but to have the processor do the work to grind it would be awfully convenient.

Thanks ahead of time for you input!

Happy 4th of July to all!!!

 

[Oregon Blues]

It's going to depend upon how good your processor is at separating the meat from the bone. Since it takes extra time to get it all, he will probably get just the main chunks.

The weight of your ground meat plus the weight of the bone and meat that is left on the bone will equal the weight of the dressed carcass.

When you buy commercial ground turkey, it is mechanically separated. The entire carcass is ground and then pressed through a sieve to filter out the little chunks of bone. Unless your processor has a huge factory, he won't have that equipment. If you'd even want your meat processed that way. Personally, I won't buy ground turkey because of the gritty texture.

Your processor could take the meat off of the largest wing section quite easily.

Personally, I would worry about all the hard tendons in the leg The processor won't take the time to separate those out and they don't seem to me like they would be much good ground up. I cook the legs and then separate the cooked meat and use it to make tacos and enchiladas. Or it could be made into turkey pot pies or turkey and dumplings or turkey soup.