Wild Turkey

I can't answer from experience.. but..
wild turkey, like wild duck and goose fly for a living. Consequently, they don't have white meat. I would treat them, from the standpoint of cooking, like dark meat on a chicken. As far as seasoning is concerned, I'd probably crush a clove or two of garlic and rub the bird, inside and out with it.. quarter an onion and an apple and place it inside the cavity with some of your favorite aeromatic spices while smoking. Temps should be the same as any other poultry.

From experience, wild turkey DO HAVE white meat. The breast is white as any other.
The legs and the wings of a wild turkey are prety much useless, as there are so many tendons that the amount of meat is rather slim. Most people that I know discard the wings and legs and just utilize the breast.
I smoked a whole wild turkey I shot 2 years ago. I brined it and smoked it whole(20 lbs) after I had plucked all the feathers. Breast came out great, legs forget it, very dry and hard. Hense the reason to not dolegs and wings again. Most hunters are skinning the breast out, would have to be careful about over drying during the process. Have not sone that way myself, but will next time. Try it, as they are wonderful smoked!!!

peartree51

Also would point out that a Wild turkey breasr has a somewhat different shape than a domestic grown turkey. The breast is NOT as big and broad or plump than the store bought. The breast bone has a differenet shape in that it is more pointed. Breast has a tendency to being much more narrow, so therefore would have to adjust times for this and be aware.

Turkeys DO NOT fly for a living, they only fly when have to, (crossing road ways, and in and out of tree that they roost in, etc) They spend most all there time walking on the ground, and they can travel quite fast that way if needed, hense the strong tendonous legs.

peartree51

About the only reason to smoke other than the breast is seasoning meat.

Think smoked ham hocks,etc.

As said above ,an overnight brine will help a lot.

quote:

Originally posted by peartree51:
[qb] From experience, wild turkey DO HAVE white meat. The breast is white as any other.
peartree51 [/qb]

I stand corrected. Every wild bird I have shot has been red meat all the way thru.. pheasant, duck, geese, etc. Never shot a turkey.. but, reason I said that is that any bird that flys a lot has very red meat due to the amount of oxygen needed to be carried to those muscles. I know turkeys fly a bit and made an incorrect assumption.. apologies.

As a follow-up.. there is a discussion of this very topic going on at http://www.rbjb.com/rbjb/rbjbboard/

sand,
your choice of wood is great!!! and i think you are on the right track with breaking the bird down.
if i was breaking it down i would remove the thigh/leg combo as a unit and take the entire wing off at the breast. on the breast i would then take poultry shears and remove the back bone.
as far as cooking goes i would treat it like a pork loin as there isnt much fat content any where on a wild anything.
my temps would be as follows;
145-165 smoke for 4 hours and then take out the wings and legs and hold them.
breast i would go no more than 200-225 for about 30 mins/pound and then check its temp. if that was around 120 i would then put the leg/thigh combo in and let go until just 125-140 internal.
wings would make one heck of a pot of greens or a really great stock for sauce.
hope it helps some
jack