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Author Topic: Best way to prepare turkey breasts  (Read 4178 times)

Offline daddyduke

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Re: Best way to prepare turkey breasts
« Reply #15 on: May 22, 2018, 01:19:15 PM »
Wild turkey makes excellent Jerky.
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Offline Snoodsniper

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Re: Best way to prepare turkey breasts
« Reply #16 on: May 22, 2018, 04:11:45 PM »
Cube them,soak in Italian dressing for a couple days then grill on bamboo skewers. Makes a great spiedie sandwich.

We usually only do one breast at a time for our family of four.

Offline JonD.

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Re: Best way to prepare turkey breasts
« Reply #17 on: May 22, 2018, 05:00:44 PM »
I cut the breast into strips. Then I make up my own seasoned flour. Put a cup and a half or so of flour in a plastic bowl with a tight fitting lid(cool-whip bowl) Add a tablespoon of each of these: garlic pepper, onion salt, paprika. Add a teaspoon of ground mustard and cumin. Once in while I add a teaspoon of red cayenne pepper. Put lid on and shake it up and mix it all really well. Add turkey strips and shake again coating them really good. Place the strips in a hot cast iron pan with either olive oil or coconut oil. Fry'em up and enjoy. Delicious.
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Offline SteelerFan

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Re: Best way to prepare turkey breasts
« Reply #18 on: May 22, 2018, 05:18:10 PM »
Sorry to hijack this thread a bit but I'm looking for suggestions on how to cook leg/thigh meat.  I've never kept the leg meat in prior years but decided to keep it from this year's bird.  I have chunks of leg/thigh meat that I cut off the bone and cleaned up real well.  Any good suggestions out there?  Thx

We did up some legs / thighs this year at camp - parboiled and then pulled, and sauteed with butter & garlic. Very tasty.

Any parboil / crock pot / smoker will aid in retaining moisture and making tender. The common theme among all responses here: think outside the box. If you plan on roasting  a wild bird like a butterball - you may be very disappointed. Wild birds are much leaner than domestic, and will dry quickly.

Offline J-Shaped

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Re: Best way to prepare turkey breasts
« Reply #19 on: May 22, 2018, 11:34:49 PM »
Breast meat - cut in strips and fry, smoke, grill, kabobs, bacon wrapped poppers, grind......the possibilities are endless. A simple brine works wonders regardless of how you prepare it.

Legs/thighs - I like to grind them and make breakfast sausage, or pressure cook the meat off the bone, pull/chop and make bbq. I also do a similar technique to make pulled taco meat using a variation of Hank Shaw's recipe for venison barbacoa.

They're delicious in so many variations, though I'll admit I'm a sucker for them fried in Cajun seasoning.

Offline wade

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Re: Best way to prepare turkey breasts
« Reply #20 on: May 23, 2018, 10:41:37 AM »
Ate 5 meals off of my SD bird. Bacon wrapped, coffee rubbed and grilled half the breast at the cabin. The other half back home. Cooked the legs, thighs and upper wings in a crock pot. Pulled the meat and made salad with some of the meat and enchiladas with the rest.
Coffee rubbed doves
About 30 dove breasts
1 Pound cheap bacon
15 round toothpicks
4 TBS ground coffee
2 TBS paprika
2 TBS light brown sugar
2 TBS ground mustard
2 TSP granulated garlic
2 TSP course sea salt
1 TBS ground black pepper
Mix all rub ingredients in a plastic bowl with a tight fitting lid. Use the back of a spoon to crush lumps of brown sugar and make sure the rub is mixed well. Set aside.
Break the toothpicks in half and cut the bacon stripes in half. Wrap each breast with a half strip, secure with a half toothpick.
Place 6 breasts in the rub bowl and toss to coat. Repeat until all are coated with the rub.
Place bone side down on medium coals, cover grill and cook for about 30 minutes. Turn and cook just until the bacon is crisp, no more than 10 minutes. Do not overcook.
Just cut the turkey breast meat into chunks about 3" X 4" everything else is the same.
Do it outdoors

Offline mikejd

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Re: Best way to prepare turkey breasts
« Reply #21 on: May 23, 2018, 12:13:07 PM »
I just ground mine up with the leg meat and made a great meatloaf. First time I ever tried it and all the guys I had it with said that it was a great idea and really enjoyed it. I also got the most out of the bird as there was no waste that way. Threw it all in.

Offline rock54

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Re: Best way to prepare turkey breasts
« Reply #22 on: May 23, 2018, 08:13:55 PM »
my ex father in law who used to own resturants, told me to cook in a crok pot for 8 hrs or so add 1 box of

chicken broth and a few seasonings and they just fall off the bone and are super tender, i also make a box of

stuffing and a small batch of mash potatoes, thanksgiving in the spring time, i almost like the thighs and legs

more than the breast ?  just another idea, russ

Offline Gooserbat

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Re: Best way to prepare turkey breasts
« Reply #23 on: May 24, 2018, 12:39:20 AM »
Debone and leave whole.  Inject each breast with 2 oz of olive oil.  Apply rub of choice.  Place in an aluminum pans and smoke at 200 until internal temp is 165. 
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Offline compton30

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Re: Best way to prepare turkey breasts
« Reply #24 on: May 24, 2018, 06:03:41 AM »
I enforce a weekly "Wild Game Wednesday" in the house and the kid's favorite is nuggets or strips and my wife's favorite is the legs and thighs in a sawmill gravy over waffles or biscuits. Hard to beat any culinary application when it comes to the Wild Turkey.

Offline Uncle Nicky

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Re: Best way to prepare turkey breasts
« Reply #25 on: May 24, 2018, 08:16:57 AM »

[/quote]

 If you plan on roasting  a wild bird like a butterball - you may be very disappointed. Wild birds are much leaner than domestic, and will dry quickly.
[/quote]

I would agree on a spring gobbler that has been chasing hens, even a jake can be tough this time of year.

But a fall bird (hen or poult) that has been eating grain, beechnuts, & acorns can be very good roasted, I cook them in an oven bag, put a 1/4 onion & 1/4 apple in the cavity, and drape a couple pieces of bacon over the breast, I pluck the birds & leave the skin on. Granted, they are still drier than a commercial bird, but the liquid at the bottom of the bag makes an excellent gravy. :turkey:

Offline spursRus

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Re: Best way to prepare turkey breasts
« Reply #26 on: May 24, 2018, 08:49:05 AM »
breasts get smoked or grilled. legs, thighs and wings go into crock pot, pulled, put in food processor and turned into turkey salad with miracle whip, onions, celery and salt and pepper.

Offline ejhandler

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Re: Best way to prepare turkey breasts
« Reply #27 on: May 24, 2018, 11:07:17 AM »
breasts get smoked or grilled. legs, thighs and wings go into crock pot, pulled, put in food processor and turned into turkey salad with miracle whip, onions, celery and salt and pepper.

Same here.  Boobs go in the smoker and legs/thighs go in the crock pot and shredded.  Made taquitos with the pulled legs/thighs last year, they were excellent.

Offline Happy

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Re: Best way to prepare turkey breasts
« Reply #28 on: May 24, 2018, 09:14:33 PM »
Inject the entire turkey with a stick of melted butter mixed with creole seasoning. Cold smoke whole for 4 hours. Take it out, debone the whole bird and dredge in flour., and fry in Butterbean more creole. Time consuming but delicious. The brown meat is just as good as the breast. I am gonna fix one one sat.

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Offline J-Shaped

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Re: Best way to prepare turkey breasts
« Reply #29 on: May 25, 2018, 01:51:33 PM »
I mentioned this in my earlier post, but if you are looking for something good to do with the legs and thighs, try this recipe substituting the venison with turkey. I make it all the time with both venison and turkey, and it never disappoints.

https://honest-food.net/barbacoa-recipe-venison/