Turducken

[Human Bean]

Turducken - a turkey, stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a chicken - something I heard about ages ago, but it seemed too difficult to achieve; how could you get the right sized birds to actually do this?

This popped up in my mind recently, so, naturally, it's time to consult google: google - turducken

It turns out that this is a sort of ballottine; the birds are boneless and also include several kinds of stuffing. It seems to be associated with Paul Prudhomme, but I have no idea if he originated it.

One recipe, annotated with notes on a Prudhomme original, is here: turducken annotated - thanks google.

This seems VERY labor intensive, as well as taking a long time to cook, but waiting for something to cook for a long time isn't inherently difficult (Mmmm, beer. )

So, has anyone ever made or eaten one of these? Is it worth the effort?? With Thanksgiving coming in the US, it seems more-or-less timely to ask.

[Adam Balic]

It isn't that difficult to do actually. De-boning birds is a doddle, if time consuming. That advantage of this technique is that you don't have to worry so much about not putting holes in through inner birds. It is usual to fill up gaps between the birds with force meat etc also. In England people would make these monsters and bake them in a tough paste crust, so that they were in effect a large pie, they would then be sent to friends etc as gifts.

[Simon Majumdar]

I have made this on one or two occasions ( as part of Christmas Dinner ) My butcher will take the bones out for me and, like, Adam, I use a forcemeat stuffing between the birds or a duxcel ( sp?) of mushrooms.

The real issue is on the cooking time. It is hard to make sure that the bird inside is cooked properly without burning the turkey. I usually start the process with the whole wrapped in foil for the first couple of hours of cooking, then remove for the last two hours.

worth a try

S

[Adam Balic]

The real issue is on the cooking time.  It is hard to make sure that the bird inside is cooked properly without burning the turkey.

True, true. As you said wrap in foil and use meat thermometer. Or you can simmer te birds in broth rather then roasting.

[Jinmyo]

duxcel ( sp?) of mushrooms.

Duxcelle.

[Gavin Jones]

duxelles.

[AdamLawrence]

I think these are traditionally known as 'Royal Roasts' in Britain, and consist of a pheasant inside a duck inside a goose. There's a poultry supplier in Oxfordshire, Peachcroft Farm, from whom I bought my Christmas goose last year, and they have them (www.peachcroft.co.uk). They're hellish expensive though.

Adam

[Huevos del Toro]

Chef Paul Prudhomme's instructions and recipes can be found here. If you decide to forego the boning process, you can buy them ready to cook. They are expensive so you might, instead, enjoy doing the complete process yourself.

Hickory Farms has a 15 pounder for $110USD. Or you can also go to this URL for other commercial sources, as well as additional instructions for doing your own.

[Wilfrid]

I wonder if there is some specific association with Louisiana. Emeril Lugasse makes it in an episode of Emeril Live which I must have seen four of five times I'd be concerned about the birds drying out during the long cooking period.

[Jonathan Day]

Dove's, in Northcote Road, did one of these for me, something like 7 years ago. If I recall correctly it was a small turkey, a duck, a small chicken, a pheasant, and one other small game bird -- five in all. Dove's called the whole assembly a "game bird". I don't think a goose was involved.

I bought two black truffles preserved in oil, which I chopped up and spread throughout the insides along with garlic, herbs, bit of lemon and the oil from the truffles. I sewed it up and roasted it very simply, in a medium oven with a mirepoix in the roasting pan. Used an instant-read thermometer to check the interior temperature; I have no idea how long it took.

It was fun to prepare, easy to carve and good to eat, but the different meats sort of blended together and the distinctive tastes of the different fowl didn't come through as strongly as I might have hoped. I haven't repeated the experiment. I did get a huge bag of bones and scraps which made a delicious stock.

Cost, with truffles, something like £120. Even as a very faithful customer, it took a bit of persuasion to get one of the butchers at Dove's, to do this little operation for me, since it happened at the height of the Christmas turkey/goose rush. If I were to do this again, I would try to avoid this season to prepare such a bird. Or I would bone the fowl myself.

[mixmaster b]

We have a friend who is great fun to cook with, and a few years ago he became almost obsessed with the idea of making a Turducken.

I ordered a boned turkey, duck, and chicken from a butcher here (LA) and we put the beast together as instructed by Mr. Prudhomme, with a few changes made for personal taste (no margarine, and also we skipped the eggplant gravy, because it didn't sound good.). We did use lots of the "Meat Magic" that he calls for--it was good, but I am sure that you could concoct a more original spice rub with a Cajun flavor.

It is important to follow the instructions to use 2 roasting pans--1 to catch overflow. There is so much butter in the dressings, plus the fat of an entire duck, that the quantity of drippings/fat is almost overwhelming. Of course this, plus the bones and trimmings from the birds, are the makings for a great sauce.

The results were good, though I agree with JD (London) that the flavors and textures of the different birds and dressings are not terribly distinct. The thing was a huge hit--our friends loved it and still talk about it from time to time.

Some people leave the bones in the legs of the turkey so that it has a better shape (more turkey-like) after roasting. I will do this next time--ours was kind of ball shaped.

We did a kind of Cajun/Southern theme for the other foods--collard greens, biscuits, yams, pecan pie, as well as the more traditional stuff. Really fun if you are looking for a major project and have help. And yes, plenty of time to consume lots of beer!

Best of luck with the research, Human Bean; please let us know what you decide to do.

[porkpa]

Today's New York Times food section has an article on the Turducken. Previous to the article's appearance I had decided to make one as the centerpiece of this year's Thanksgiving feast. I am going the circuitous route however. I have ordered a fresh one one preassembled from a butcher at a local food market. I'll pick it up next Wednesday and cook it on Thursday. Have any of you ever made one? What did you think? I haven't even tasted one. Is it worth the effort.? Should I also make a capon(our normal Thanksgiving fare) as backup?

Porkpa.

[Stone]

Are you going to add the extra turkey legs?

[Dave the Cook]

Personally, I don't think it's worth the trouble, but maybe you should do it once and decide for yourself. Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.

[Stone]

Ha. I always thought the turducken was a joke started by John Madden.

[Schielke]

Madden with a Tofurky

Madden is being shunned by PETA for eating a Turducken!

Ben

[Really Nice!]

How did it turn out?

I made one for Thanksgiving 2000. I followed chef Paul Prudhomme's recipe.

It was a longer-than-I-thought process. Making the stuffing took more time than deboning the three birds. I started at about 6PM on Wednesday and didn't put it in the oven (at 190F) until around 1AM Thursday. It took about 14 hours for the inside to reach 165F.

All things considered, I won't make it again as the benefit to effort ratio is too low. Plus, I'm not comfortable eating poultry that is cooked at 190F with it sitting about 10-12 hours in the temperature danger zone.

Edited December 6, 2002 by Really Nice! (log)

[g.johnson]

I’ve never made a turducken but I regularly bone and stuff single birds. It’s a good thing to do, I think. Extra flavor, the breast stays moist, carving is easy and it impresses the hell out of people. At Christmas I’m toying with the idea of boning a goose and laying strips of duck and chicken breast within the stuffing, which will achieve a kind of turducken effect without the hassle.

[col klink]

I found another turducken web page that includes a song about turducken!

Click me for the webpage.

Here's an excerpt:

By the way ... I recently got an email from a reader in South Africa named Jan, who says, "We found your Aunt's recipe on the net. Our traditional South African version is the Osturducken, an ostrich stuffed with turkey stuffed with duck stuffed with chicken."

I was thinking of making a turgoducken, a turkey stuffed with a goose stuffed with a duck but realized that I'd have the second Valdez in my smoker from the goose and the duck so I'm only going to do the standard turducken.

[cabrales]

J Steingarten's "It Must've Been Something I Ate" has a chapter on turducken.

[col klink]

I smoked up a turducken last month and it turned out great. When my folks overnight my camera cable I'll post a couple of pics.

I found an online meat shop that has something ridiculous, check it out at the bottom, a "Fowl De' Cochon."

[nightscotsman]

I smoked up a turducken last month and it turned out great. When my folks overnight my camera cable I'll post a couple of pics.

I found an online meat shop that has something ridiculous, check it out at the bottom, a "Fowl De' Cochon."

damn, damn, DAMN it was good, too! Almost fork tender and tons a flava. I suppose smoking added a lot to the tastiness, but I'm sure it would have been good roasted as well.

[rstarobi]

I smoked up a turducken last month and it turned out great. When my folks overnight my camera cable I'll post a couple of pics.

I found an online meat shop that has something ridiculous, check it out at the bottom, a "Fowl De' Cochon."

Wow - that is over the top.

While I was in the borough market in London this past November, I saw a gamier version of a turducken - I think it was a goose, stuffed with pheasant, stuffed with quail. Going for about 30 pounds, IIRC.

As an aside - 100th post. Oh no.

[g.johnson]

I did a sort of Gooducken, documented here, for Christmas.

[NeroW]

If there's anyone who can enlighten me as to Turducken, I know it's you folks. This is exactly the kind of thing that appeals to a Midwesterner like myself: it's a little bit wacky, it's a little bit funky, and I KNOW no one else on the block is eating it at their St. Pat's dinner party.

Can I hear from folks who have actually done this, and how, and when, and where, and (most of all) why? I think I know a woman who will attempt this with me, but I'm going to have to present a purty compelling case for her to consider it (i.e., for her to buy the turkey, duck, and chicken).

Has anyone prepared this amazing creature at home? Extremely detailed instructions and stories-from-the-front would be appreciated. It's not in any of my food dictionaries, and I have found precious little turducken stories on the Internet (except the v. enlightening recipe for it here, on eGullet: but I'm greedy, and I want to know more!)

I want to eat this for St. Pat's instead of corned beef and cabbage! Help me out, please?