Wild Turkey Leg Delicacy

[DeadHeadSpread]

For anyone wanting to get good use out of wild turkey legs, look up Hank Shaw Turkey Carnitas. I read about it somewhere online maybe even this forum a few years ago. It is my favorite wild game dish now. Hard to believe you can make something so great out of those tough ol drumsticks. Takes some work and some time. I Suggest using a crockpot outside or in your garage because its gotta cook all day and the spice smell is pretty strong to have in the house all day.

[greenhorndave]

Great suggestion. Muddy mentioned carnitas in the past, but it's good to know specifics.

Looking forward to trying it!

[greenhorndave]

Here's a link...

https://honest-food.net/turkey-carnitas/

[brancher147]

Yep legs are my favorite. Plenty of ways to do them in a crockpot. Sometimes I just do turkey leg pulled bbq.

[Moose]

I make enchiladas out the legs. they turn out great

[DeadHeadSpread]

I was fortunate enough to shoot a gobbler on our PA opener yesterday. Those legs are slow cooking in a crockpot in the garage as I type. Mmmmm can’t wait.

[Elite]

I was fortunate enough to shoot a gobbler on our PA opener yesterday. Those legs are slow cooking in a crockpot in the garage as I type. Mmmmm can’t wait.

Are you using Hank Shaw’s recipe? I saved the legs to try it. I’ve never had wild Turkey legs before.

[DeadHeadSpread]

I was fortunate enough to shoot a gobbler on our PA opener yesterday. Those legs are slow cooking in a crockpot in the garage as I type. Mmmmm can’t wait.

Are you using Hank Shaw’s recipe? I saved the legs to try it. I’ve never had wild Turkey legs before.

Sure am. The only thing I change is I use a big crockpot and cook them all day, vs. he calls for cooking them a few hours on the stove. Doing it on the stove generates a lot of spice smell in the house. Using the crockpot I can cook it in the garage all day and avoid that.

[Elite]

I was fortunate enough to shoot a gobbler on our PA opener yesterday. Those legs are slow cooking in a crockpot in the garage as I type. Mmmmm can’t wait.

Are you using Hank Shaw’s recipe? I saved the legs to try it. I’ve never had wild Turkey legs before.

Sure am. The only thing I change is I use a big crockpot and cook them all day, vs. he calls for cooking them a few hours on the stove. Doing it on the stove generates a lot of spice smell in the house. Using the crockpot I can cook it in the garage all day and avoid that.

By all day, how many hours, and on what setting (low or high)?

[DeadHeadSpread]

I was fortunate enough to shoot a gobbler on our PA opener yesterday. Those legs are slow cooking in a crockpot in the garage as I type. Mmmmm can’t wait.

Are you using Hank Shaw’s recipe? I saved the legs to try it. I’ve never had wild Turkey legs before.

Sure am. The only thing I change is I use a big crockpot and cook them all day, vs. he calls for cooking them a few hours on the stove. Doing it on the stove generates a lot of spice smell in the house. Using the crockpot I can cook it in the garage all day and avoid that.

By all day, how many hours, and on what setting (low or high)?

I ran it 5 hours on high then 5-1/2 hours on low. I switched to low because I left for awhile and wouldn’t be able to check on it. The meat was falling right off the bone when I picked it up with tongs. It slid right off the tendons too when I was separating it. Guessing 8 hours or less on high would do it.

[DeadHeadSpread]

Here’s some pics of how the turkey carnitas turned out and how the meat looks when it’s done.

After finishing with cooking the turkey legs, I used the broth to marinate some shaved venison in the fridge for a few days. Ate the venison tonight and that was tasty also. Not near as good as the turkey carnitas, but it was something different for venison and I got double use out of the ingredients!