Fresh wild turkey breast

[charlesbois]

My spouse bagged his spring turkey this evening! I read the earlier thread mentioning marinating, salt-crust baking and also roulades. I am planning on barding the breast with just a couple strips of bacon across them. Can I just roast it in my dutch oven with potatoes and carrots? Anyone have a no-fail preparation?

[charlesbois]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I roasted it wrapped with bacon and it was TOUGH. From the spur and beard length, we estimated it was 3-5 years old. So, not a young jake, which would be ideal to eat. But when there's a 22 pounder in range, can you blame anyone for taking that shot!

The turkey was quite flavorful. It tasted a lot like regular old grocery store turkey, just a bit subtler. I think we have quite a few corn-fed turkeys here (rather than acorns, oaks are getting crowded out by maples). So the taste wasn't too far off from a butterball. But so lacking in fat! I think next time, I'll do the breasts in a slow cooker with a rather fatty sauce and see how that goes. For now, here's a pic.

[Mer_Made]

I gotten a couple of whole turkeys from my mom's boyfriend, but I went a totally different way. So, I'm probably not usefully since I brined the suckers in an orange-bay-something mix. Then I roasted them in a clay pot. They were tasty. I wish he would catch some more and give them to me.

[Veggo]

Your turkey in Michigan is most likely an Eastern. A friend from PA paid a kings' ransom to hunt an Osceola turkey in central Florida to round out his Grand Slam. He bagged a large tom and gave me a breast about 3-4 lbs for hosting him and his son. I froze it for a few weeks. I baked it with bacon strips and some veggies and I don't remember the cooking time or temp - probably 325 -, and it was delicious. Very firm and lean and tasted like turkey should. Grilling would be a bad idea - the breast is too thick at its thickest and it would be dry and stringy. Keep it moist and don't overcook it or overseason it. You are in for a treat.

[charlesbois]

Thanks Veggo for you reply! Yep, definitely an Eastern turkey (what I wouldn't give to hunt an Osceola, but not sure how out-of-state hunting licensing works in Florida). I was afraid of the lack of fat when grilling, although I thought to wrap the breast meat in bacon for grilling too. I think I'll stick to roasting, as I do love a good roast bird. The first turkey my husband got a year or so ago, his parents roasted whole in a stand-alone turkey roaster. It was ok, but it ended up being more steamed than roasted.

[charlesbois]

Just bumping this thread because I'm cooking tonight. Still planning on roasting it, unless someone has some advice on wild turkey

[acgold7]

I'm guessing the folks here don't have a lot of experience with the wild article. Just be prepared for it to taste quite different from the supermarket variety. Your plan sounds great and please come back and tell us how it turns out.

[charlesbois]

Thanks! We put off making it until tomorrow and now it's between roasting and grilling.