[mebnandtrn]

We found someone to dispatch the turkeys, but are dressing them ourselves. YouTube has proven remarkably unhelpful, so am after some advice please! Hanging turkeys with guts in - do they have to actually hang from something, or can they be just put in the fridge? Its too warm to hang them in the garage or similar - I am back to having to kill flies, its that warm here. Also someone said that when gutting them its very easy to contaminate the meat - is this true and if so how do you avoid it please? Thanks

[Fleecewife]

I've only ever hung them.  To protect from flies make a large loose muslin bag around each bird, tied tight top and bottom.  But you can't hang them for so long if it's warm weather, so maybe dress them after a couple of days then pop in the fridge.
If the birds were not fed for 12 hours before killing then the guts will be fairly empty and less likely for faeces to contaminate the meat.  Be very careful when using a knife, and do all the inside work with your hands, nails cut short.  I've not had a problem....

[greengumbo]

Youtube is pretty poor for this right enough. I ended up trawling through loads of american hunting videos and found nothing much of use.

Ours were starved for about 12 hours before but still had full crops and guts. If you have a very sharp knife and are pretty careful its not that bad. Head end first scooping out the crop and air sacs etc. Then the tail end starting with cutting an inch circle around the anus to avoid puncturing the intestine. If you get your hand in the cavity and slowly grab everything is should come out in one go...usually. You might need to get the heart out separately and the lungs were a bit of a bother as they are up in the rib cage.

Good luck ! I cut short hanging as well as temp went from 5'C in the loft to about 10'C yesterday and I lost my nerve !

[Buffy the eggs layer]

I have some cured pork charcutery hanging out in the lambing shed to air dry and have made a hanging frame from two coat hangers (a bit like the Blue Peter advent candle ) and then placed it in a laundry wash bag that I got from Amazon. No blow flies here but some cluster flies around which arnt actually harmful (well unless you are an earthworm)


The bag is to just keep it clean as we get dust and birds through the gaps on the yorkshire boarding but the bag idea would work for your Turkey in the garage I recon. Not as fine as muslin but it lets air in, allows me to check for mold and keeps the flies off.

[Paulie]

Hi guys add a little to this if I may  my 5 turkeys have just been dealt with by my local game keeper friend, we've plucked and they are hanging in the barn. He insists and you cannot argue with him!!! that they will be fine hanging for 5 days despite the warm temp, he will come and check them Sunday pm and plans to dress them Wednesday. I'm a little concerned tho. What should I do?

[Hevxxx99]

Hmm.I reckon they should be ok as long as flies are kept off.  I've only ever hung in a larder by the legs. Considering how mild it is, I'd consider emptying the fridge and hang it up with the shelves removed. Failing that, on a rack so the air can circulate freely around the entire carcass.  I have had birds hanging when it was very mild though, and they were fine, but it is worrying!

How I dress - After plucking, I cut off the head, lay the turkey on it's breast and slit the neck along the back to where it joins the body. Free the neck from the skin and bend it vigerously backwards until the bone snaps (well, the vertibra dislocates) and cut it off. Then turn the turkey over and remove all the pipes, freeing it all up with a finger and reaching into the cavity as far as possible to be sure nothing is attached when you draw the bird.  You will get the crop out as well from the top end.

After that, I cut off the feet: branch loppers work well, but a firm chop with a big knife will too. I cut about a cm below the knees.  I know a lot of people leave feet on to help with tendon pulling, but I've found the easiest method is to get some long nosed pliers and pull them out individually.  The alternative is to cut only the skin below the knees, dislocate the joint  and twist and pull until you're blue in the face and pull and pull and try not to punch yourself in the stomach when the suddenly give way or snap. Mrs Beaton recommends hanging on a hook and pulling downwards, but I think Victorian turkeys were less substantial! As I say, one at a time with long nosed pliers works for me.  Don't worry if you don't get them all: some people don't bother at all, but legs are better with fewer tendons. If you have any bit of the scaly legs still attached, pour boiling water over them and you can peel off the outer scales, leaving only pink skin.

Next, I draw. I make a hole just above the vent, feel inside so be sure not to cut anything and cut the skin and flesh all around the vent, whilst holding it closed.  A gentle steady pull at this stage will bring it away from the body to help avoid contamination. If you didn't with hold food before killing, try tying the vent shut if you can. Once the vent is a little free, you can cautiously reach in and start freeing off the innards. Work your way up as far as you can, freeing off as you go. You may need to enlarge the hole to get your hand in.

You'll be able to feel the gizzard: a big hard lump - I get my hand in front of that and pull back firmly.  It takes a bit of force, less if you've got some lengths of intestine out first, but be very careful not to tear the gut or damage the gall bladder beside the liver (little green bean thing).  Haul it all out and then decide what you want to keep for giblets. Usually liver, heart and gizzard plus the neck. The gizzard needs slitting open and the rough yellowy lining removed (it kinds peels off). 

Check you got everything out of the cavity, and rinse it out. Be very thorough about this if you did nick or tear any intestines and do it asap. I wash the entire bird at this stage and pat dry.

Next, cut out the preen glad from the parson's nose: they can be quite large so check you get it all.  They are a different texture to normal fat or flesh, so easy to recognise.

After that, you only need to truss it and you've got a perfect Christmas dinner!