How do I Cook a Skookum Turkey?
(The following Recipes and Instructions refer to all Turkey, but the Heritage Turkey would be exactly the same)
If you're cooking a Skookumhorse Turkey for Thanksgiving or Christmas congratulations you are about to eat the BEST Turkey ever! Our turkeys are naturally raised with no growth hormones or medication. The meat is fresh, firm, with just the right amount of "Robust" flavour, it is absolutely delicious. If you've never cooked a Skookum Turkey before, don't sweat it. Cooking a Skookum turkey is not so different from cooking a domestic (i.e. Butterball) turkey.
Most turkeys you find in the supermarket were raised primarily for their large and broad breast meat. Skookum turkeys also have less breast on them because they have not been pumped with hormones or kept consistently fed with a fattening diet. Skookum turkey has a somewhat mild wild game taste. Though these supermarket birds are fine turkeys, they are very different from the ones you are about to eat and the ones our forefathers ate. Skookum turkeys tend to have an equal ratio of light to dark meat and have a richer and more "Gamey" flavour, but I like to refer to it as a "robust turkey flavour" that simply does not come out of the commercially 8 week old raised turkeys of today's world.
Our Turkeys have a more abundant diet than a turkey that have to scrounge and work for a living. This allows our turkeys to grow quicker and larger. This equated to a bird that has slightly more natural fat in the meat. Skookumhorse Turkeys will be easier to cook, and you need be less concerned about the horror stories of your Christmas turkey tasting like cardboard, but you do need to take precautions when cooking it, as it will be leaner than a "Butter Ball" you buy at the grocery store. When they're raised this way, there's no taste difference between Hens, Jakes and Toms.
Okay, background done. Let's get cooking.
Our tasty Turkey recipe collection is definitely going to make you go WILD! Almost every family has a favourite recipe for cooking a turkey, and please know the recipe you have will work perfectly. Bake the Skookum turkey just like a regular turkey, but pay extra attention to basting to keep it from drying out. You can also place the turkey inside a special ovenproof plastic bag; however, some people have complained that these bags cook heritage turkey too fast. Set the oven to 325 degrees, and cook the turkey about 15 minutes for each pound. The turkey is done when the temperature in the thickest part of the thigh is 165 degrees, as measured by a meat thermometer
If you want to try something different this year, you can't go wrong with one of our tried and tested heritage Turkey recipes. These recipes were created especially for wild & Skookum turkeys as these types of birds can have the tendency to be slightly tougher, and as i like to say a more "Robust" flavour than the domestic turkey.
Brine and Roasted Turkey
There is no simpler way to enhance the rich flavour of any turkey than brining it in a mixture. and help spread the seasoning through the entire turkey, and helps trick the most fussy eaters that dislike any gamey flavour more pleasing. There is many kinds of brines like salt water, apple cider, brown sugar, honey, garlic, and any other herbs and spices you enjoy. The brine makes the turkey juicier and cook more evenly. Allow the Turkey six to twelve hours to brine.
Ingredients:
1 Skookum Turkey (10-15 lb)
Brine:
5 quarts water
1/2 C. salt
1/4 C. Brown sugar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
Seasoning:
1/4 C. lemon juice
1 C. butter, melted
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
4-6 slices bacon
Basting Sauce:
1/4 C. butter, melted
1/3 C. white wine
Instructions: Mix brine ingredients. In a large, clean bucket (or any clean, non-reactive container you have), immerse turkey in brining mixture for 24 hours. Drain and dry very thoroughly. Set out one additional hour to dry completely. Rub outside and inside of turkey with lemon juice.
If stuffing the turkey, stuff it at this time using the recipe of your choice.
Mix butter, pepper, and salt, and rub mixture on skin and into cavity of turkey. Lay bacon slices over breast meat. Place the Turkey breast side up in roasting pan. Mix melted butter and white wine. Bake in 325 degree oven about 3 to 3 3/4 hours (Check cooking time with size of turkey, and if turkey is stuffed in below table), basting often with butter and white wine mixture. Turkey is ready when legs and joints move loosely and internal temperature reads 165 degrees F.
Bag Roasted Turkey with Raspberry Sauce
(The raspberry sauce will cut the gamey flavour and make the meat more flavourful and moist.)
Ingredients:
1 Skookum turkey (the biggest one we have!)
3-4 tbsp bacon grease
6-8 slices bacon
1 C. onions, chopped
2 C. celery, chopped
1 1/2 C. white wine
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/4 tsp pepper (or to taste)
1 1/2 C. chicken broth
1 C. seedless raspberry jam
2 tbsp orange juice
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 roasting bag.
Instructions: Rinse turkey in cold water and pat dry. Combine onion, celery, bacon grease, and one cup wine. Stuff turkey with mixture.
Sprinkle outside of turkey with salt and pepper, then lay slices of raw bacon over the breast.
Place turkey inside roasting bag. Pour broth and remaining half-cup of wine into bag. Close bag. Roast Turkey at 325 degrees F, until internal temperature reads 165 degrees F. (Cook time depends on weight of turkey. (See Cook times on table below for proper turkey cook times.)
Before carving, discard onion and celery.
For sauce: Combine raspberry jam, orange juice, and vinegar. Bring to a boil. Boil 2-3 minutes, until sauce is reduced and thickened slightly.
To serve: Spoon sauce into bottom of serving tray. Top with sliced wild turkey meat.
Another Option: Some folks roast their turkey with a tin foil tent until the internal temperature registers 130 degrees in the thickest part. Roasting with a tent allows the bird to maintain moisture while it does the majority of its cooking. Then uncover the turkey until it reaches the safe internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Simple Roasted Turkey Recipe
Ingredients:
1 Sookum turkey (approx. 15-20 lbs)
Bacon fat
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 C. onion, chopped
2 C. celery, chopped
1 1/2 C white wine
1 muslin cloth (about 16 inches square) or cheesecloth
Instructions: Rinse turkey inside and out with cold water. Pat dry. Rub inside and outside of turkey with bacon fat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
In bowl, mix onion, celery, and one cup white wine. Pour mixture into turkey cavity and place the turkey in a roasting pan. Dip muslin cloth in bacon fat (easier if fat is warm) and lay over turkey, tucking in around tops of drumsticks.
Roast in 325 degree oven 3-4 hours, until internal temperate reaches at least 165. (See table below for cooking times) Baste turkey often with pan drippings and the remaining 1/2 cup wine. Before carving, discard onion and celery.
Smoked Turkey Recipe
Ingredients:
1 Skookum Turkey (approximately 10-12 lbs)
4 garlic cloves, finely minced or crushed
2 tbsp seasoned salt
1/2 C. butter
2 (12 oz) cans cola (Coke works well)
1 apple
1 onion
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp black pepper
Instructions: Using hickory wood (or your favorite), preheat smoker to 225 to 250 degrees F according to manufacturer's directions.
Remove neck and giblets from turkey. Rinse turkey inside and out with cold water, pat dry with paper towels. Rub the crushed garlic into the skin of the turkey. Sprinkle with seasoned salt. Place turkey in an aluminum roasting pan (the disposable kind).
Cut onion and apple into quarters. Fill cavity of turkey with butter, Coke, garlic powder, apple, onion, salt, and pepper. Don't worry if some of the mixture leaks out when turkey is set back down. Cover roasting pan loosely with foil.
Smoke turkey for approximately ten hours, basting every hour or two with juices from the bottom of the roasting pan. Wild turkey is ready to eat when internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F in the thickest part of the thigh.
Cooking Times Table Guidelines
With any turkey it's difficult to strike that perfect balance between golden-crisp skin and juicy meat. But if you time your meal right and calculate the correct turkey cooking times, you can avoid that crispy turkey come Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Just a note: these cooking times for turkey are only accurate for a fully thawed or fresh turkey.
Unstuffed Turkey, Fresh or Thawed, cooked at 325 degrees Fahrenheit:
Weight of Turkey - Cooking time
4 - 8 pounds - 1 1/2 - 3 1/4 hours
8 - 12 pounds - 2 3/4 - 3 hours
12 - 14 pounds - 3 - 3 3/4 hours
14 - 18 pounds - 3 3/4 - 4 1/4 hours
18 - 20 pounds - 4 1/4 - 4 1/2 hours
20 - 24 pounds - 4 1/2 - 5 hours
Stuffed Turkey, Fresh or Thawed, cooked at 325 degrees Fahrenheit:
Weight of Turkey - Cooking time
6 - 8 pounds -2 1/2 - 3 1/2 hours
8 - 12 pounds - 3 - 3 1/2 hours
12 - 14 pounds - 3 1/2 - 4 hours
14 - 18 pounds - 4 - 4 1/2 hours
18 - 20 pounds - 4 1/2 - 4 3/4 hours
20 - 24 pounds - 4 3/4 - 5 1/4 hours
Never slow cook a turkey! According to food safety recommendations, cooking a turkey in a temperature lower than 325 degrees takes longer to heat the turkey, creating harmful bacteria. Unless you have a evil sinister plan for dinner, you don’t want to give food poisoning to your family and guests.
Most turkeys you find in the supermarket were raised primarily for their large and broad breast meat. Skookum turkeys also have less breast on them because they have not been pumped with hormones or kept consistently fed with a fattening diet. Skookum turkey has a somewhat mild wild game taste. Though these supermarket birds are fine turkeys, they are very different from the ones you are about to eat and the ones our forefathers ate. Skookum turkeys tend to have an equal ratio of light to dark meat and have a richer and more "Gamey" flavour, but I like to refer to it as a "robust turkey flavour" that simply does not come out of the commercially 8 week old raised turkeys of today's world.
Our Turkeys have a more abundant diet than a turkey that have to scrounge and work for a living. This allows our turkeys to grow quicker and larger. This equated to a bird that has slightly more natural fat in the meat. Skookumhorse Turkeys will be easier to cook, and you need be less concerned about the horror stories of your Christmas turkey tasting like cardboard, but you do need to take precautions when cooking it, as it will be leaner than a "Butter Ball" you buy at the grocery store. When they're raised this way, there's no taste difference between Hens, Jakes and Toms.
Okay, background done. Let's get cooking.
Our tasty Turkey recipe collection is definitely going to make you go WILD! Almost every family has a favourite recipe for cooking a turkey, and please know the recipe you have will work perfectly. Bake the Skookum turkey just like a regular turkey, but pay extra attention to basting to keep it from drying out. You can also place the turkey inside a special ovenproof plastic bag; however, some people have complained that these bags cook heritage turkey too fast. Set the oven to 325 degrees, and cook the turkey about 15 minutes for each pound. The turkey is done when the temperature in the thickest part of the thigh is 165 degrees, as measured by a meat thermometer
If you want to try something different this year, you can't go wrong with one of our tried and tested heritage Turkey recipes. These recipes were created especially for wild & Skookum turkeys as these types of birds can have the tendency to be slightly tougher, and as i like to say a more "Robust" flavour than the domestic turkey.
Brine and Roasted Turkey
There is no simpler way to enhance the rich flavour of any turkey than brining it in a mixture. and help spread the seasoning through the entire turkey, and helps trick the most fussy eaters that dislike any gamey flavour more pleasing. There is many kinds of brines like salt water, apple cider, brown sugar, honey, garlic, and any other herbs and spices you enjoy. The brine makes the turkey juicier and cook more evenly. Allow the Turkey six to twelve hours to brine.
Ingredients:
1 Skookum Turkey (10-15 lb)
Brine:
5 quarts water
1/2 C. salt
1/4 C. Brown sugar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
Seasoning:
1/4 C. lemon juice
1 C. butter, melted
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
4-6 slices bacon
Basting Sauce:
1/4 C. butter, melted
1/3 C. white wine
Instructions: Mix brine ingredients. In a large, clean bucket (or any clean, non-reactive container you have), immerse turkey in brining mixture for 24 hours. Drain and dry very thoroughly. Set out one additional hour to dry completely. Rub outside and inside of turkey with lemon juice.
If stuffing the turkey, stuff it at this time using the recipe of your choice.
Mix butter, pepper, and salt, and rub mixture on skin and into cavity of turkey. Lay bacon slices over breast meat. Place the Turkey breast side up in roasting pan. Mix melted butter and white wine. Bake in 325 degree oven about 3 to 3 3/4 hours (Check cooking time with size of turkey, and if turkey is stuffed in below table), basting often with butter and white wine mixture. Turkey is ready when legs and joints move loosely and internal temperature reads 165 degrees F.
Bag Roasted Turkey with Raspberry Sauce
(The raspberry sauce will cut the gamey flavour and make the meat more flavourful and moist.)
Ingredients:
1 Skookum turkey (the biggest one we have!)
3-4 tbsp bacon grease
6-8 slices bacon
1 C. onions, chopped
2 C. celery, chopped
1 1/2 C. white wine
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/4 tsp pepper (or to taste)
1 1/2 C. chicken broth
1 C. seedless raspberry jam
2 tbsp orange juice
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 roasting bag.
Instructions: Rinse turkey in cold water and pat dry. Combine onion, celery, bacon grease, and one cup wine. Stuff turkey with mixture.
Sprinkle outside of turkey with salt and pepper, then lay slices of raw bacon over the breast.
Place turkey inside roasting bag. Pour broth and remaining half-cup of wine into bag. Close bag. Roast Turkey at 325 degrees F, until internal temperature reads 165 degrees F. (Cook time depends on weight of turkey. (See Cook times on table below for proper turkey cook times.)
Before carving, discard onion and celery.
For sauce: Combine raspberry jam, orange juice, and vinegar. Bring to a boil. Boil 2-3 minutes, until sauce is reduced and thickened slightly.
To serve: Spoon sauce into bottom of serving tray. Top with sliced wild turkey meat.
Another Option: Some folks roast their turkey with a tin foil tent until the internal temperature registers 130 degrees in the thickest part. Roasting with a tent allows the bird to maintain moisture while it does the majority of its cooking. Then uncover the turkey until it reaches the safe internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Simple Roasted Turkey Recipe
Ingredients:
1 Sookum turkey (approx. 15-20 lbs)
Bacon fat
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 C. onion, chopped
2 C. celery, chopped
1 1/2 C white wine
1 muslin cloth (about 16 inches square) or cheesecloth
Instructions: Rinse turkey inside and out with cold water. Pat dry. Rub inside and outside of turkey with bacon fat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
In bowl, mix onion, celery, and one cup white wine. Pour mixture into turkey cavity and place the turkey in a roasting pan. Dip muslin cloth in bacon fat (easier if fat is warm) and lay over turkey, tucking in around tops of drumsticks.
Roast in 325 degree oven 3-4 hours, until internal temperate reaches at least 165. (See table below for cooking times) Baste turkey often with pan drippings and the remaining 1/2 cup wine. Before carving, discard onion and celery.
Smoked Turkey Recipe
Ingredients:
1 Skookum Turkey (approximately 10-12 lbs)
4 garlic cloves, finely minced or crushed
2 tbsp seasoned salt
1/2 C. butter
2 (12 oz) cans cola (Coke works well)
1 apple
1 onion
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp black pepper
Instructions: Using hickory wood (or your favorite), preheat smoker to 225 to 250 degrees F according to manufacturer's directions.
Remove neck and giblets from turkey. Rinse turkey inside and out with cold water, pat dry with paper towels. Rub the crushed garlic into the skin of the turkey. Sprinkle with seasoned salt. Place turkey in an aluminum roasting pan (the disposable kind).
Cut onion and apple into quarters. Fill cavity of turkey with butter, Coke, garlic powder, apple, onion, salt, and pepper. Don't worry if some of the mixture leaks out when turkey is set back down. Cover roasting pan loosely with foil.
Smoke turkey for approximately ten hours, basting every hour or two with juices from the bottom of the roasting pan. Wild turkey is ready to eat when internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F in the thickest part of the thigh.
Cooking Times Table Guidelines
With any turkey it's difficult to strike that perfect balance between golden-crisp skin and juicy meat. But if you time your meal right and calculate the correct turkey cooking times, you can avoid that crispy turkey come Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Just a note: these cooking times for turkey are only accurate for a fully thawed or fresh turkey.
Unstuffed Turkey, Fresh or Thawed, cooked at 325 degrees Fahrenheit:
Weight of Turkey - Cooking time
4 - 8 pounds - 1 1/2 - 3 1/4 hours
8 - 12 pounds - 2 3/4 - 3 hours
12 - 14 pounds - 3 - 3 3/4 hours
14 - 18 pounds - 3 3/4 - 4 1/4 hours
18 - 20 pounds - 4 1/4 - 4 1/2 hours
20 - 24 pounds - 4 1/2 - 5 hours
Stuffed Turkey, Fresh or Thawed, cooked at 325 degrees Fahrenheit:
Weight of Turkey - Cooking time
6 - 8 pounds -2 1/2 - 3 1/2 hours
8 - 12 pounds - 3 - 3 1/2 hours
12 - 14 pounds - 3 1/2 - 4 hours
14 - 18 pounds - 4 - 4 1/2 hours
18 - 20 pounds - 4 1/2 - 4 3/4 hours
20 - 24 pounds - 4 3/4 - 5 1/4 hours
Never slow cook a turkey! According to food safety recommendations, cooking a turkey in a temperature lower than 325 degrees takes longer to heat the turkey, creating harmful bacteria. Unless you have a evil sinister plan for dinner, you don’t want to give food poisoning to your family and guests.
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