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Deboning a Whole Turkey

Botch
Botch Posts: 16,294
in EggHead Forum
This popped up on my video feed tonight; its the completely wrong time of year to post this but I'll probably never see it again so its worth posting now.  
I've never deboned a whole raw bird before; I've watched Jacques Pepín do it on video a few times.  I've tried doing so just with cheekun thighs, but end up with a grotesque mess.  I currently pay the extra dollar or so to buy skinless deboned thighs at the market.  
Here, Adam Ragusea debones an entire turkey, and I don't know if its his explanation, or the camera angles, but so much of it makes more sense to me, now.  I'd like to try this again, starting out with just a cheekun first (and cooking a whole turkey for one ends up with food fatigue anyway, even freezing some of it).  FWIW.
 
https://youtu.be/peeRWHI7FpY
___________

"When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set."

- Lin Yutang


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Comments

  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 34,086
    Definitely a different process than Jacques Pepin and his chix video linked here:
    Paging @Canugghead as I am sure he has deboned a turkey, chix and duck for his Turducken feast.

    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
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  • kl8ton
    kl8ton Posts: 5,795
    I watch this video (Pepin) a few times before attempting to debone a chicken.  It takes a bit of practice.  I may have been down to 6 minutes deboning and my results were becoming somewhat acceptable.  I really enjoy cooking the whole deboned bird and slicing it like a loaf when down.  The dark meat and white meat all getting happy together in one tightly secured "roast" is magical.
    Large, Medium, MiniMax, 36" Blackstone
    Grand Rapids MI
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  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 16,294
    Since white and dark meat cook to different temps, do you precook the dark meat at all before making the roll?  
    ___________

    "When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set."

    - Lin Yutang


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  • kl8ton
    kl8ton Posts: 5,795
    Botch said:
    Since white and dark meat cook to different temps, do you precook the dark meat at all before making the roll?  
    No.  
    Large, Medium, MiniMax, 36" Blackstone
    Grand Rapids MI
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  • Ozzie_Isaac
    Ozzie_Isaac Posts: 20,696
    edited April 2023
    Adam Ragusa is the hero we don't deserve.  I love his videos.

    Also love Jamie&Julie (now the Anti-Chef) videos too.

    Maybe your purpose in life is only to serve as an example for others? - LPL


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  • Canugghead
    Canugghead Posts: 12,253
    lousubcap said:
    Definitely a different process than Jacques Pepin and his chix video linked here:
    Paging @Canugghead as I am sure he has deboned a turkey, chix and duck for his Turducken feast.

    Thanks for the nudge cap  :)
    https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1226776/turducken/p1




    Big different between Pepin and Ragusea in how they butcher the bird, granted chicken is smaller and more tender...
    - Pepin limits the use of knife to cutting joints, slicing meat to expose bones and scraping meat off the bone, uses his fingers often to separate meat from bone.
    - Ragusea OTOH slashes and gashes left, right and centre, the knife almost never left his hand. Left too much meat on the bones.

    canuckland
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