A Turducken is a de-boned chicken stuffed into a de-boned duck, which then is stuffed into a de-boned turkey. I would like to try this but would first like to hear from anyone else that has made this Thanksgiving bird(s).
Where do I start? Are they cooked separately? How do you stuff them in physically - is there a technique involved? Should I cook covered or uncovered?
A Turducken is not for the faint of heart. It takes a lot of work, but is a very impressive presentation. Everything starts raw, the duck and the chicken are boned completely (which you can ask your local butcher to do for you). The turkey is only partially boned, keeping the leg and wing bones. Make sure to start with a large 25 lbs turkey.
First lay the turkey down and season the inside. Spread a thin layer of whatever dressing you have, and lay down the boneless duck. Season, stuffing, place the chicken. Again with the seasoning and the stuffing. Last but not least, you have to close the birds up. Use a butcher’s twine and sew the turkey up, sealing everything else inside. You’ll need at least two people, one to hold the turkey together, one to do the sewing.
I highly suggest, as with any poultry, brining the meat first. Because you are dealing with a very large and dense loaf of meat, you need to make sure it’s cooked all the way through. It can dry out if you are not careful, but it is roasted uncovered just like a regular turkey. That will help give that nice deep rich color and hide the suprise inside as it will look just like a oversized turkey.
Paula Dean has a pretty good video showing the process.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/turducken/video/index.html
Turducken, lessons learned.
Deboning: I deboned a turkey, chicken and duck. The duck was very hard to do, small and lots of bones. The chicken was also not easy to debone. A lot of time was spent on deboning. I deboned from the breast forward, big mistake. When I removed the skewers, everything fell apart and did not present nicely. Make sure to debone from the back and skewer or sew up the back.
I put different stuffings in between each layer, but with cooking the meats and stuffing tasted very similar. Surprisingly we didn’t notice a big difference between the duck and chicken or turkey.
The best part was that the meat was so tender and tasty. There were no bones, except the wings and legs, so it carved like a dream.
I would do this again, but I would buy a duck breast and a chicken breast. This would cut the prep time down by a lot and would not decrease the flavor. Debone the turkey. Make sure all of your meat is thawed or fresh. Try very different stuffings. For presentation, surround each breast with different stuffing. Stuffing #1; Duck breast; Stuffing #2 around duck breast; chicken breast; Stuffing #3 around chicken, in the cavity of the turkey. Truss the wings and legs.
Cook turkey tented with foil; remove foil last 45 minutes. Baste often. Make sure to use a thermometer to confirm that your meat is cooked. Let the bird stand for 20 minutes before carving.
