Pit Barrel Cooker Slow 'n Sear for 22" Kettle Weber 22" Kettle (Craiglist) Slow 'n Sear for 22" Kettle Weber Rapid Fire Chimney Maverick ET-732 Kingsford Original Charcoal
Kingsford Competition Charcoal
Anova Sous Vide
Have to agree with this thought I've only done them whole.
Only tricky part to whole buzzards is making sure the meat in the leg/wing joints is completely cooked.
I imagine that carcass would be chocked with meat for turkey soup.
I did that a few years ago, and may have used that video to get me going. My daughter's jaw was wired shut, and i made soup with the bones. She managed a couple bites anyway. It tasted great, and looked better. The soup I can't remember.
I haven’t done a turkey using that method but I do remove the breasts and leg quarters from the carcass. That way I season all sides of the meat and it cooks faster. Carving is easier too. The backbone and neck are used to make Meatheads gravy. I cut up the rest of carcass and stick it in a crockpot with some aromatics and water for good supply of overnight stock to use the next day in whatever side that calls for it.
I do this both for turkeys and for chickens. They cook up very easily, very evenly. I have a photo of a ballotine'd chicken here.
Here is a link to the video I used to learn this technique. The only difference between a chicken and turkey is that it's harder to get the wishbone out in the turkey, so I don't try to dig it out. I very much like Pepin's technique of re-positioning the breast filet, and also the way he ties the ballotine.
Pit Barrel Cooker Slow 'n Sear for 22" Kettle Weber 22" Kettle (Craiglist) Slow 'n Sear for 22" Kettle Weber Rapid Fire Chimney Maverick ET-732 Kingsford Original Charcoal
Kingsford Competition Charcoal
Anova Sous Vide
My toys:
Weber Summit Charcoal Grilling Center (WSCGC) aka Mr. Fancypants
Pit Barrel Cooker (which rocks), named Pretty Baby
Weber Summit S650 Gas Grill, named Hot 'n Fast (used mostly for searing and griddling)
Weber Kettle Premium 22" named Kettle Kid, eager to horn in with more cooks in the future
Camp Chef Somerset IV 4-burner outdoor gas range named AfterBurner due to its 30kBTU burners
Adrenaline BBQ Company Gear:
SnS Low Profile, DnG, and Large Charcoal Basket, for WSCGC
SnS Deluxe for 22" Kettle
Elevated SS Rack for WSCGC
SS Rack for DnG
Cast Iron Griddle
Grill Grate for SnS
Grill Grates: five 17.375 sections (retired to storage)
Grill Grates: six 19.25 panels for exact fit for Summit S650
gasser
Grill Grates for 22" Kettle
2 Grill Grate Griddles
Steelmade Griddle for Summit gas grill
Fireboard Gear:
Extreme BBQ Thermometer Package
Additional control unit
Additional probes: Competition Probes 1" (3) and 4" (1), 3 additional Ambient Probes. 1 additional Food Probe
2 Driver Cables
Pit Viper Fan (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Pit Viper Fan new design (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Thermoworks Gear:
Thermapen MK4 (pink)
Thermapen Classic (pink too)
Thermoworks MK4 orange
Temp Test 2 Smart Thermometer
Extra Big and Loud Timer
Timestick Trio
Maverick ET 73 a little workhorse with limited range
Maverick ET 733
Maverick (Ivation) ET 732
Grill Pinz
Vortex (two of them)
18" drip pan for WSCGC
Ceramic Spacers for WSCGC in Kamado Mode: 2 sets each 1/2", 1", 2". The 2" spacers work best with the 18" drip pan. The 1+1/2 inch spacers work best with the 14 inch cake pan.
Two Joule Sous Vide devices
3 Lipavi Sous Vide Tubs with Lids: 12, 18 and 26 quarts
Avid Armor Ultra Pro V32 Chamber Sealer
Instant Pot 6 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Instant Pot 10 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Charcoal Companion TurboQue
A-Maze-N tube 12 inch tube smoker accessory for use with pellets
BBQ Dragon and Dragon Chimney
Shun Classic Series:
8" Chef Knife
6" Chef's Knife
Gokujo Boning and Fillet Knife
3 1/2 inch Paring Knife
The coolest part was watching him pull those leg tendons out with needlenose pliers. Now why didn't I think to do that when I made chicken leg lollipops? I just cut them off as good as I could. Next time, out will come my kitchen needlenose pliers.
Weber Summit Kamado with SnS and Vortex.. Broil King Baron, Primo Oval Junior. Primo XL. Love grilling steaks, ribs, and chicken. Need to master smoked salmon. Absolutely love anything to do with baking bread. Favorite cool weather beer: Sam Adams Octoberfest Favorite warm weather beer: Yuengling Traditional Lager. All-time favorite drink: Single Malt Scotch
There is something about the aesthetic of the whole bird that keeps me from wanting to try this. (Plus the extra work) Now that I have learned new techniques from this site, I can cook a pretty darn good whole turkey!
JLKA has a recipe for doing just the turkey breast like that. I might give it a go.
A method of de-boning a fowl comprises; making an incision along a leg bone, exposing a leg joint between the leg bone and the rest of the turkey, severing the leg joint; removing two segments of a wing; making an incision along a third segment of the wing; exposing a wing joint between the wing bone of the third segment and the rest of the turkey, severing the wing joint; making an incision along the back of the fowl, separating the flesh of the back from the backbone and ribcage; severing a joint between the thighbone and the rest of the fowl; making an incision along a shoulderbone; removing a ribcage from the rest of the fowl; separating flesh from a breastbone and removing the breastbone; removing a wishbone; making an incision along a thighbone, exposing and severing the thigh joint.
Equipment:
'88 Vintage Fire Magic gasser with over 4000 cooks to its credit
Large Big Green Egg
18 Inch Weber Kettle (Rescued from neighbor's trash)
Rotisserie for 18 inch kettle
Dyna Glo propane smoker
Pit Barrel Cooker
Smokey Joe with mini WSM mod
Garcima paella burner
Anova Sous Vide
Slaiya Sous Vide (gift)
LEM grinder, sausage stuffer and meat slicer (all gifts)
I've done something like that several times, but recently just stick with spatchcocking as the de-boning process is a PITA. In any event, I always left the drumsticks and wing bones in so the final result sort of looks like a turkey. Just tied it up and cooked it on the Fire Magic gasser using their rotisserie and turkey holder. Never bothered with stuffing. Tasted just like turkey, but the convenience of carving without bones didn't compensate for the extra prep time.
Now, if I want boneless turkey (like for cold cuts) I just bone out the breast, thighs and drumsticks and stuff the pieces with a little gelatin into a 88mm or 124mm fibrous sausage casing and SVQ it.
Comment