Andy gets to do the job of butchering the birds around here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andy cleared a spot in his shop to do the job. We have too many large predators in the area to risk having the smell of fresh blood around. So we don’t do it outside.

 

 

 

 

Tools of the trade. Bucket of soapy water, towels, saw, tin snips, box knives, etc. All the tools were washed and scrubbed before being used.

 

 

 

I hatched out the eggs. I fed, watered and checked on the birds twice a day, every day for several months. I have done my part.

But I don’t do this part. I’m not even within earshot.

So there are no actual pictures of the killing part. Andy said he used a box knife and just slit their throats. Box knifes are sharper than most pocket knives, making it more instantaneous, so less stressful on the animal.

 

 

 

After the deed is done, then I can come back outside.

Here is the turkey, in a ‘killing cone’ of sorts. This helps drain the blood.

 

 

 

 

Then the turkey is hung upside down by it’s feet.

We tried the whole scalding, plucking, singeing, etc. scenario. Skinning is a whole lot easier, takes less time and makes less of a mess.

Nobody eats the skin anyway.

There is a trash bag directly below the killing cone and where Andy skins the bird. All the blood, guts, feathers, feet, etc. are collected and put the in freezer. Sounds weird, except I give them to the local trapper 🙂

The goal is to skin and gut the bird as fast as possible to get the meat cooled as quickly as possible.

Andy starts with the legs. He cuts around the leg, just above the knee joint and starts pulling the skin down.

He prefers to use a box knife because it’s sharp and takes less time to swap out blades than to try and sharpen a knife.

 

 

Cutting the skin around the other leg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then he strips the skin off down the breast area.

 

 

 

 

 

Contrasting between the dark and the light meat.

We like the Royal Palm turkeys because they have a larger percentage of white meat than the other breeds that we have tried. And since most everyone who joins us for turkey dinner seems to prefer light over dark meat, it’s a good thing to have more white meat on the bird 🙂

 

A couple of years ago when Andy was working out of town, I took the turkeys to a local CSA farm to be butchered. The guy couldn’t get over the yellow fat of my birds. He had tried for years to achieve that. Yellow fat is a sign of a healthier fat. I hadn’t really thought about it until then.

 

 

The breast is skinned now.

This guy had a crooked breastbone, so it was a good choice to cull him.

 

 

 

 

 

Next the underside of the wings.

Then the back is skinned.

 

 

 

 

Then cut carefully around the tail area. You don’t want to actually cut off the tail because it’s connected to the colon. You don’t want fecal matter dripping all over your meat and giblets.

Did anyone else ever call this the Pope’s nose when they were growing up?

 

 

Lifting the skin to make certain he gets around the tail area.

 

 

 

 

 

Have to get each side of the tail.

 

 

 

 

The last bit of tail.

 

 

 

 

Then it’s on to the wing feathers.

Year before last, a neighbor asked for all of the wing feathers. His grandson was trying to make arrows and I guess turkey wing feathers are supposed to be really good for that. And you know me – I think that kid got more feathers than he will use in a good while 🙂

 

The upper part of the wings are skinned first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then the lower part of the wings.

The big feathers have big holes where they emerge from the skin. Those are just cut off.

 

 

 

Tin snips work well for cutting off the tips of the wings.

 

 

 

 

 

Almost done with the skinning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just under the rib cage, make an incision.

 

 

 

 

Follow the lower rib cage around, creating the opening where you put the stuffing.

 

 

 

Going into the innerd cavity.

 

 

 

 

There’s a few feathers attached to the tail, which is now being removed, along with the entire colon.

 

 

 

 

 

See how the tail is attached to the colon/large intestine? You don’t want to cut that open and get it on your meat. That’s why you cut around the tail, rather than cutting off the tail.

 

 

 

The gizzard.

Make sure you clean it before you cook it 🙂

 

 

 

It’s a good idea to examine both the liver and the lungs to check for TB or other diseases that might be in your flock.

The liver should be free of spots and the lungs should be a bright pink.

 

 

The cojones.

Actually, I’ve had chicken roosters with bigger ones than this big tom turkey.

 

 

Just in front of the breast bone, the craw can be found.

 

 

 

 

Pulling out the craw.

 

 

 

 

The craw is full of food waiting to be ground up. Now imagine a dozen turkeys eating that much food 2-3 times a day and you can see why my feed bill was getting so high!

If you are striving for Label Rouge status, there should be whole grains found within the craw, such as here with the sunflower seeds, corn, millet, etc.

 

Then Andy cuts the tendon in the knee joint……

 

 

 

 

…..and bends it backwards to break it.

 

 

 

 

 

Then he finishes cutting it off.

 

 

 

 

 

Cutting off the neck.

 

 

 

 

 

The finished carcass sitting in a 15 gallon tote.

 

 

 

 

 

He dressed out somewhere between 20-25 pounds.

 

 

 

 

 

Then I take the carcass inside to finish cleaning it and soak it in cold water with kosher salt to help draw out the blood.

Andy has a difficult time extracting all of the lungs because they do sit right in the rib cage and you have to run your fingers down the ribs on the inside of the bird. So I double check the lung area.

 

The lower turkey has just been put into the water.

The upper turkey has been soaking for about 30 minutes. See the color difference in the meat? Less blood makes for a better tasting meat.

 

 

Then I wrap the meat in saran wrap or freezer wrap and then wrap it again with butcher paper.

The butchering process takes approximately 30 minutes for Andy to skin it and then another 30 minute soak in salt water.

 

The flavor difference is worth your time, though 🙂 Store bought poultry smells weird to me now when I open the package.