Turducken?

[Mr. Ed]

I was wondering if any of the gorillas here are acquainted with this dish and could provide some first hand information/experience. It looks pretty interesting

[coach]

greasy and expensive. TMK only 1 place to get it sent via FedEx...out of La.

[macpappy]

Turducken is a interesting dish which originated in Louisiana. It's a de-boned turkey stuffed with a de-boned duck stuffed with a de-boned chicken which in most of the ones I've had are stuffed with a seafood dressing.

A lot of people make their own (the de-boning is the hard part) but you can order them on line from a lot of places also. I'll post a couple of links but won't vouch for any of them.

www.turducken-king.com
www.cajunspecialtymeats.com
www.cajungrocer.com

This site also has some good information:
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Poultry/Turducken.htm

[DMK]

I've... (well the wife did most of the work) made a few over the years.
They are a lot of work, but worth it...
We did our first for christmas 4 yrs ago. A year later we did it again and put it in a cooler to keep it hot while we drove to the BIL's and it was excellent.
The wifey won't let me do another cuz' it is too much work for her making all the stuffings. (she made a different on for each layer)....

Have heard and eaten it. There are a few places that will attempt to put this on the menu and if you make it right, it's delicious. Do it wrong and you'll never make it again.

We had a local butcher prepare one for a large group of us. It was a bit different than the "traditional" turducken. It was a non deboned turkey, stuffed with a deboned chicken, stuffed with a deboned duck.

We decided to put the duck in the center (a smaller one in a big chicken) because it's much fattier and the idea was to have the fat flow though all the birds. Not sure if it made a difference, but it sure was yummy! It cost around $200 with tax, and *just* fit inside the oven. 7 hours cook time (I think, not I who was cooking).

[Mr. Ed]

Sounds like a bit of a chore. Anyone ever try one wrapped in bacon?

[BengalMan]

I may send these sites to my Dad and possibly do this for Thanksgiving this year.

macpappy, what site of those three do you recommend? Which "version" within that site do you then recommend? My Dad has made it before, but I think this Thanksgiving we may just buy one and save the headache.

[macpappy]

Originally Posted by BengalMan

I may send these sites to my Dad and possibly do this for Thanksgiving this year.

macpappy, what site of those three do you recommend? Which "version" within that site do you then recommend? My Dad has made it before, but I think this Thanksgiving we may just buy one and save the headache.

If I had to pick one of the three I'd go with Cajun Specialty Meats. I know they have been doing the turducken for over 10 years and from what I have heard, they provide the turducken to John Madden every year.

They offer several different versions that you can choose from so just take a look and decided how you want to go and how many people you're going to feed.

[Scottw]

Originally Posted by Mr. Ed

Sounds like a bit of a chore. Anyone ever try one wrapped in bacon?

OMG! Could you imagine.I'd have to hae my cardiologist on speed dial before trying this one!. The Turducken is a cool meal though. Time consuming, but impressive.


Plus the first 4 letters in it's name spell TURD. Love that!

[coach]

Originally Posted by macpappy

If I had to pick one of the three I'd go with Cajun Specialty Meats. I know they have been doing the turducken for over 10 years and from what I have heard, they provide the turducken to John Madden every year.

They offer several different versions that you can choose from so just take a look and decided how you want to go and how many people you're going to feed.

i concur. don't know what this years pricing will be but expect + $125 and s/h

[Tio Gato]

It might be worth learning how to debone a whole bird and prep them yourself.
It's moderately easy if you cut out the backbone of each bird and go from there. You'll have to sew up the back of the turkey if you want a whole bird thing.
To bone a whole bird without cutting the back bone takes a lot of time and effort. You slip your hands between the meat and bones starting along the breast trying to free as much of the ribcage, breastbone and backbone as possible. From there you turn the bird inside-out and use a boning knife to separate the meat from the legs. It can be quite a pain to do.
A really good butcher will do it for you. Maybe even a supermarket butcher. I'm pretty sure you'll get a wicked "stink eye" from whoever has to do it though. It's very labor intensive. A tip would probably be in order. If you don't want the backbone cut out tell him or you may not get the whole bird.

You may want to do a search for a turkey or chicken gallentine. A gallentine is a boneless breast of poultry, sometimes stuffed, and rolled. Fancy french restaurants will poach it and serve it cold, but it makes a great roast.

Lay the boneless turkey breast skin side down. A healthy spread of stuffing could go on top. The boneless chicken breast goes on top with another (or the same) stuffing, the duck next with stuffing. Then you roll it up like a big fat poultry spliff and tie it up with butcher twine.
Make sure you use a thermometer to get it up to temp. You don't want to kill any relatives, (well that's up to you).

Good Luck!

[bigloo]

Guys,

My take is this. The best part of any bird is the crispy skin after roasting/bbq. This is more so with duck and fatty birds as the fat renders through the skin. Why not roast all three apart and get the best of all worlds, three crispy bird skins. If you asked my granddad his best part of the chicken,we could answer the skin I am cut from the same cloth.

Lu

[shaggy]

havent tried one of these yet but i am interested....the only thing that i wonder about is the soft, chewy icky skin of the duck and the chicken. anything roasted must have crispy skin....or do they skin the birds inside?

[livwire68]

Originally Posted by Mr. Ed

Sounds like a bit of a chore. Anyone ever try one wrapped in bacon?

I think the only way you can get it bacon wrapped is by stuffing a pig! You know a piturducken! Then the next guy will have to be bigger and better and stuff a cow! now thats what Im talkin bout'!

The idea of stuffing a bird with another dates to ancient Rome, they stuffed the birds in a goat and the goat in a cow.

In England this has been practiced since medieval times and is still a traditional christmas meal, for those who can afford it.

A Bedouin traditional wedding feast, which may predate the roman empire, stuffs a camel with a cow, with a goat with chickens.

Sounds like the newest incarnation of a glutenous idea thats been around several thousand years.

I think when I get home I will try the getto version of this. I am going to try a
cornish hen into a chicken.

[jquirit]

See, if a turducken isn't enough for you (and for those that wanted one wrapped in bacon), looks like the Cajun Speciality Meats have found what you've been looking for: Fowl de Cochon.

Turducken not extreme enough for you? Try the Fowl de Cochon (Pig Turducken) - a boneless pig stuffed with a Turducken (Turkey, Duck, Chicken, Cajun Sausage) and loads of our famous cornbread dressing. Averages 50-60 lbs and feeds approximately 50-60 people. We must have a two week notice for this item. Please note, the dimensions of the Fowl de Cochon measure approximately 36" in length and 12" around. This is larger than conventional ovens.

[livwire68]

I have actually stuffed a pig with 3-4 chickens!

Originally Posted by Scottw

Plus the first 4 letters in it's name spell TURD. Love that!

I told the OP via PM and was going to refrain from posting this but, since you brought it up...

Turducken: what smarter folks do at a turd fight!