What to do with my guinea????

[booker81]

I've purchased file powder in the spice aisle at the grocery store

I have a huge snapping turtle that I need to process, and the plan is gumbo from it. That's about the only time I use the file powder.

 

[HEChicken]

I have a pot of gumbo going on the stove right now. Mmmmm.....smells good.

To whoever asks, processing yourself is really not that hard - sending it to a butcher would make it a pretty expensive meal. When I processed this guinea the other day, catching him was about the hardest part. The method I use to process makes that part go pretty fast and I skin rather than plucking. I rather like the skin but plucking takes so long and is messy - the feathers stick to my fingers making it difficult to see what I'm doing. So now I just skin which takes only minutes. Eviscerating is not that hard either. Just cut a hole in the tail end large enough to pull out the intestines and organs, make sure you get in and scrape out the lungs, rinse well, then into a pot covered with water in the fridge for four days. Today I took him out of the fridge, cut him up (if you bend the joints you get a sense of where to slice through the connective cartilage to take joints apart cleanly, and prepared the gumbo.

 

[clucky3255]

i will probably be making guinea gumbo kuntry girl!

 

[evergreen1]

hi, booker81. do you have pictures of the snapping turtle? thanks

 

[clucky3255]

I've purchased file powder in the spice aisle at the grocery store

I have a huge snapping turtle that I need to process, and the plan is gumbo from it. That's about the only time I use the file powder.

you can EAT snapping turtles?! cool! wild ones or like pets? if i knew that i would've had it a few times. my older bros have caught some big ones!

 

[RockerHen]

you can EAT snapping turtles?! cool! wild ones or like pets? if i knew that i would've had it a few times. my older bros have caught some big ones!

Yep. We have some HUGE ones in our pond. My cousin caught a particularly large one and made gumbo out of it. It was actually pretty good.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Yep. We have some HUGE ones in our pond. My cousin caught a particularly large one and made gumbo out of it. It was actually pretty good.

Not to highjack the thread or anything, but any good tips on getting all the sand out of a snapper? We were going to try turtle chowder once, but after my dad butchered it, the meat was all gritty with sand.

 

[booker81]

Heh...didn't come back here, sorry

Yup, snapping turtle is pretty good, I think. I have another one in the barrel, waiting until I butcher it.

I like to put them in a 50 gallon drum half full of clean water when I get them, and leave them in there for a week or so, changing the water out regularly. I think it helps clean them out, and helps with the nasty swamp smell they get.

I've not had a problem with the meat being gritty, but I usually just skin out and cut out the legs and neck. I don't take the guts out, and I take care to wash it well. After all the meaty parts are cleaned up, I bag them and put them in the fridge for a few days (just like I do chicken or any other critter). After that rest time, I either cook it or freeze it.

I'm not sure on other states, but here in MI, there is a snapping turtle season (July 1st to Sept 15th), you must carry a valid fishing license, and the shell has to be over 13". We usually take and process a couple a year, not anything crazy. We just consider it another part of our diet.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Speaking of what to do with a guinea................well, I came home from work on Friday and found that my guinea that hatched in May 2012 had fallen between the fence and a piece of tin and had died. I was so hurt. I was going to just throw it out but I thought about it and realized that it just happened while I was at work, so I decided to pluck it and skin it and I will make a small guinea gumbo. I weighed it after skinning and the final weight was only 2.3 lbs. Not a lot of meat but enough for 2 servings.

Here is a pic of the little fella.