How to Make A Turduken

Want something different for the holidays?  Why not try a Turducken?  A Turducken is a Turkey, Duck, and Chicken cooked all together with stuffing in between.  My son and I decided to give it a try and it tasted Great!  Warning - it makes a LOT of food.

How do you make one - This is what we did.

You will need:

10-12 pound Turkey

4-5 pound duck

2-3 pound chicken

Needle and white thread

Stuffing

Butter

Make The Stuffing

You can use any stuffing recipe.  Here is how I do it.

1 large onion - chopped, ½ stalk celery - chopped, 1 apple cored and cut into cubes, 1 stick butter

1 loaf bread cut into cubes, 1/8 teaspoon Sage, 1/8 teaspoon Marjoram or Poultry seasoning

Salt and Pepper to taste

Place butter, celery, onion, salt and pepper in large pot and sauté on medium until onion and celery are softened (about 20 minutes).  Add apple, sage and marjoram, after 10 minutes.  Add bread cubes and stir until well mixed (don't mash down).

Remove the Bones

First, you will need to debone the birds.  I started with the chicken first because I was more familiar with chicken as I have cut them up many times - and if you mess it up, it is not as obvious.  Lay the bird breast side down.  Cut the back from top to bottom along the back bone and peel the bones away from the meat. It should come apart pretty easily except for the breast bone (which you will have to dig out) and the legs and wings.  For the chicken and duck, I just removed the wings.  The Turkey wings I left in tact. The leg bones of the turkey are also left in tact. For the duck and chicken legs, cut around the bone, leaving the meat.  Leave the skin on the turkey.  The duck had a lot of fat attached to the skin so I removed most of it to cut down on the grease.

Assemble the Turducken

You will need a needle and thread to sew the birds together.

After the birds are deboned, lay the turkey skin side down.  Cover the turkey with stuffing.  Place the duck on top of the stuffing.  Place a layer of stuffing on top of the duck. Then put the chicken on top followed by the remainder of the stuffing.   Next, pull the two turkey ends together and stitch up.  Once stitched together, the Turducken looks like a regular Turkey. Place the Turducken in a roasting pan with the breast side up and rub breast with butter.

Cook

Cook as you would a regular turkey - 350 degrees.  A Turducken of this size should take about 4 hours.  Cover initially, removing cover for last ½ hour so it can brown.  Baste every ½ hour.  The bones can be boiled to make a stock for the gravy.

 Slice the Turducken across the breast so it shows off the layers. Enjoy