My niece has to get rid of her free-ranging turkeys so I took the family down to her home and gave them the experience of kill, pluck and clean.
My daughter handled it better than my two boys which was a bit of a surprise. She helped through the whole process while one of my boys--who is certainly the most tender hearted of my kids-- only helped a little.
When it came to eating, my daughter chose to skip the turkey tonight. Don't quite know why for her, but the boys ate it up.
Anyway, it was a big turkey, about 27 pounds trimmed out I estimate. Bigger than my roasting pan by a bit . Very lean, almost no fat in the drippings. I've been koshering my turkeys the last few years instead of brining. Less hassle and gave good results. This bird would have benefitted from brining. Wasn't dry, but tougher than commercial birds.
And yes, it does have more flavor than commercial birds too.
Overall a good experience for them and for me in learning how to cook a more natural turkey. Not that this was a heritage breed or anything.
