• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

Have you ever de-boned a turkey?

L

Lux Man

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
This time of year when turkey is cheap I buy a couple extra and de-bone them and then grind them up. My wife had a bout with the "C" word 2 years ago so she wants to eat more healthy. So I just de-boned a 14.67 lb bird. Da ya wan nah guess how many pounds of meat you get? From a 14.67 lb. bird?

You get 9 lbs. I do keep some skin fat to grind in because she said I could.
 
Register to hide this ad
Get yourself a Japanese Kagayaki boning knife. It's a specialized poultry boning knife. They are also a wonderful vegetable prep knife,

I have his one, the Kagayaki CarboNext 145mm.


Screenshot 2025-12-18 at 22.27.34.png

​

 
Lux Man said:
I think it could be here by Christmas, if you PM me, I’ll send you my address.

I really appreciate this.
Click to expand...
You didn't catch the hot link I inserted. Japanese Chef's Knife, they ship really fast, direct from Japan. I get my orders in about 5 days. I am an extremely satisfied customer, I have ordered 12 knives from them. JCK knives are from various Seki, Japanese blade smiths; they are the real deal.

japanesechefsknife.com

Boning Knife | Honesuki

Honesuki is specifically designed for de-boning and breaking down poultry, but is also capable of filleting fish and red meat, red or carrying out many tasks.
japanesechefsknife.com japanesechefsknife.com
 
Last edited:
Lux Man said:
This time of year when turkey is cheap I buy a couple extra and de-bone them and then grind them up. My wife had a bout with the "C" word 2 years ago so she wants to eat more healthy. So I just de-boned a 14.67 lb bird. Da ya wan nah guess how many pounds of meat you get? From a 14.67 lb. bird?

You get 9 lbs. I do keep some skin fat to grind in because she said I could.
Click to expand...
I put the remains into a pressure cooker and make broth. Season to taste if you want some added flavor. The bones get very soft and we feed them to our dogs. Doing this allows nothing to go to waste.
 
The JCK Kagayaki CarboNext series is a real favorite of mine. The CarboNext blade is nicknamed semi-stainless. It has the good edge holding of a good carbon steel blade with almost rust-free care of stainless. It can take on a patina, but it does not rust. If you want to gift a true Japanese knife to someone, the CarboNext is a good choice. They do not have the problems a new user has with the care of welded clad and Damascus blades.

​

 
OldJBL said:
I put the remains into a pressure cooker and make broth. Season to taste if you want some added flavor. The bones get very soft, and we feed them to our dogs. Doing this allows nothing to go to waste.
Click to expand...
That is a great technique.

People deep-frying Turkeys are missing one important thing. You need to hang the turkey in a cool area and put a fan on the bird, let it hang for up to 8 hours to allow it to dry out. You need to dry out the carcass like Peking Duck before you put it in the hot oil.
 
OldJBL said:
I put the remains into a pressure cooker and make broth. Season to taste if you want some added flavor. The bones get very soft and we feed them to our dogs. Doing this allows nothing to go to waste.
Click to expand...
We call that turkey carcass soup. However, I’ve never tried keeping the bones for the dogs, too late. That carcass is in the garbage.
 
transmaster said:
The JCK Kagayaki CarboNext series is a real favorite of mine. The CarboNext blade is nicknamed semi-stainless. It has the good edge holding of a good carbon steel blade with almost rust-free care of stainless. It can take on a patina, but it does not rust. If you want to gift a true Japanese knife to someone, the CarboNext is a good choice. They do not have the problems a new user has with the care of welded clad and Damascus blades.

​

Click to expand...
Oh - I saw the link…..I was just fishing for a Christmas present. I guess I’ll just keep using this. It is Japanese. It’s from the 70s. I love it for boning.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_5916.jpeg
    IMG_5916.jpeg
    177.4 KB · Views: 5
Haven't done a turkey, but I do chickens all the time. In fact, my wife is on her way home with a $5 rotisserie chicken from Costco. We will eat the dark meat for dinner tonight with potatoes and green beans and I will make White Chicken Chili and Chicken salad with the rest. We will get four meals for two people for less than a raw chicken at the grocery store.
 
I ground it all up today and vac'd them into 1lb. portions. All said and done $1.60/lb. and I know what got ground up, if you know what I mean. Sure it may have been raised on all kinds of chemicals but at least we aren't eating beaks and talons....
 
Here's a couple of links
Remove turkey leg tendons

Taking the ligaments out of the drumstick all at once!

One of the 'problems' with a turkey is in the drumstick portion; unlike a chicken, the turkey is larger and more mature and the ligaments are grown more and inedible. Years and years ago, dad got his turkeys with all the feathers on, legs, feet, head, neck; everything but the guts, they had...
www.smokingmeatforums.com www.smokingmeatforums.com

De-bone a bird. This is a chicken but it will be similar.
There used to be a video where he deboned one in under a minute! Can't find it anymore.
 
tarior said:
Never deboned a turkey, but I do chickens all the time.
Click to expand...
The turkey is the same except for the dummies. The turkeys have all those tendons there must be 10-12 of them in there. The only tip I can offer is that rather than trying to cut around them. You scrape the meat off them.
I don’t know if I posted this above but when I grind it, I do keep some of the skin and grind that up too just so that isn’t as dry, but you could leave it out depending upon what you’re going to use it for later.

Going off subject a little bit, a week ago I cooked a whole turkey however, I quartered it and when I put in the oven, I had a probe in each of the parts. I said to my wife, this does take all the guest work out of trying to get the various portions of the turkey cooked at the proper temperature. When I do a whole turkey at Thanksgiving, I will spatchcock it, and that also helps have a more uniform cooking temperature.
 
i don't have the patience to even carve a turkey let alone debone one.

i might get 4 lbs of meat off a 15lb bird :rflmao:
 
No chicken or turkey ever get out of this house until all the nourishment is gone from every piece of it.
Though I have had enough of turkey soup, it's just so gray and murky. So i just make broth from it to be used in other dishes. We prefer chicken for our soup.
 
Haven't done a Turkey in recent years since my brother's been hosting Thanksgiving. I used to toss the carcass in a pot of cold water. Bring to a simmer remove it, let it cool and remove all the edible parts. The bones and scraps go back in the pot along with carrots, onions, celery, the usual suspects. Bring to a simmer and let it go for a few hours, than strained to save the broth. The dark meat (which almost no one touches) goes back in to make a soup, stew, whatever the mood strikes. The white meat, whatever little is left usually gets turned into a turkey spread. The stuffing if any left gets fried in butter and served with eggs for breakfast.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom