The time had finally come to butcher the three big toms that I had left from a hatch earlier this year. I've dreaded this day for months. We are no strangers to butchering our chickens, but I feel a deeper connection to my turkeys. If you've never owned one, then you probably don't understand just how personable a turkey can be. They respond to their names, gobble and talk when they hear your voice. And despite what most people will tell you, they are not nasty and aggressive birds. My toms and hens have never so much as attempted to peck me, even during mating season.
So, you might be able to see why this day has been so long dreaded.
I'm also a little leery of the unknowns in butchering anything that I have not done before. So like always, I've spent the last week or so scouring the Internet for ideas and tips.
Most people like to hang a turkey upside down and cut it's throat to bleed it. I may have mentioned this before, but I am not a fan of this method. Proponents claim that the bird "falls asleep" and bleeds out quietly before death. Personally, I can't imagine that having my throat sliced and being left to bleed out is painless or quiet.
There is a large group of people that prefer to break a turkey's neck, then remove the head to allow them to bleed out. This can be difficult depending on the size of your turkey and if you lack much arm strength. Also, once the heart stops beating it becomes a much longer process to get the blood to bleed out.
Lastly is the old chop-off-the-head method. This is what we use for our chickens. Yes, it's bloody, and yes, it seems brutal. But honestly, it's the quickest way we've found.
Now, with turkeys this method can be dangerous, as once the head is removed the body will begin convulsing. From doing chickens we knew that the wings can quickly get out of your hands and you can easily get "whapped". This is much more dangerous with a large bird like a turkey or large duck.
So on the Internet I found the perfect solution - place the turkey in a feed bag! Just take a feed sack, make an incision in the closed end big enough to put the head through, and proceed. A noose tied to a nail keeps the head stretched out of the bag for chopping, and the you can easily hold onto the feed through the open end of the bag. Once the head is removed the bag keeps those dangerous wings from doing you any harm!
I tried to include a link to the site that I gleaned this important piece of info from, but haven't been able to find the site again. (Don't you hate it when that happens!) I absolutely believe in giving credit where credit is due though, so as soon as I can find it I'll post the link up here.
Overall, the rest of the butchering process is very similar to chickens. If you plan to remove feathers instead of skinning, you'll get the best results if you hot water scald them at 145 degrees for 45 seconds. The feathers come out really nicely at that point, although you still may have to pull pretty hard on the big flight feathers.
I'll be canning up these big turkeys in the next few days and then over the Christmas break will be doing five more toms, two hens and some ducks. There are still chickens to do as well.
Love the farm life!
No comments:
Post a Comment