# Deboned stuffed turkey



## gage (Nov 1, 2008)

when your deboned stuffed turkey is cooked and rested /ready to carve you want the portions to stay in one piece ya. So after 20 plus years of making this dish two to three times a year ,it's like I have added one more binder to my recipe every few years without removing any. Your thoughts on which to remove if any or a better one. I'll give you my recipe -ingredients - onion- medium dice sweated with garlic , cooked and fat drained pork sausage meat , minced parsley , cognac  -raisins , dried cranberry , pistachio nuts,pine nuts couple raw eggs , ground ( food processor ) turkey meat ( usually some of the breast meat because I don't care for the white meat too much ) and a bit of bread crumbs. 
I process some of  meat to a paste in the processer in the theory that when the meat proteins curl up from heating they will bind everything together.  I'm still using egg and bread crumbs though.
Any thoughts or suggestions welcome , just no laughter please-- Gage


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## gage (Nov 9, 2008)

Is no one interested ? Come U.S thanksgiving and christmas you may be giving it some thought .


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## gage (Nov 14, 2008)

If no one replies I will add another egg !!!!! It will be on your heads 
 Gage


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## Chef_Jacob (Nov 14, 2008)

I have the perfect binder for you that will allow you to remove all the others. It's called Activa RM and it's a commercial protein glue that is used to hold together things like McRibs, Chicken Nuggets and Fish Sticks.

Just in the last few years, it has become popular among fine dining chefs who use it to "glue" pieces of meat together. A very famous dish was one done by Wylie Dufrense of WD~50 in NY. He de-boned a chicken thigh and wrapped it around a chicken breast to keep it nice and moist.

I've used it before, but mainly to hold together things like pig trotter terrines and things of that nature. Makes it much easier to cut, plus since it's neutral in flavor, I don't have to add another food product to the mix that might effect the flavor profile of my dish.

It comes in a powder form, and is usually used in a ratio of 1% by weight for force meats such as terrines. You can also sprinkle it on the surface of the meat, and then use it to glue it to another piece of meat. 

Once you apply the Activa, you need to let it sit for at least 24 hours for it to really adhere. For best results, if you can seal the meat in a vacuum bag, it's preferable. But if you don't have a vacuum packer, wrapping it very tightly in plastic wrap will also work. The idea is the less oxygen present during the 24 hour setting time, the better.

Try checking out "Chef Rubber 'dot' com." Run a search for Activa RM, they are the only people I know of that don't sell it in bulk. 

PS. Sorry about the website, but I'm still a new member to this board and it won't let me post any URLs. I hope the Admins don't mind the work around; this stuff can be hard to find if you don't know where to look.


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## gage (Nov 14, 2008)

Actva RM-- Sound good for sausgaes and pates ,but if it takes hours to do it's work it may not be what I am looking for , I want to know a good binder to hold the stuffing and meat together in a deboned stuffed turkey-- I rest it for 30 to 60 minutes after coming out of the oven.  I will look for it and try it on deboned chicken first   Regards Gage


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## GotGarlic (Nov 14, 2008)

Hi. So the list of ingredients you gave above is for the stuffing? I've never used a deboned turkey, but I never put eggs or meat in my stuffing. If the stuffing itself is falling apart, it sounds like maybe it has too much liquid in it. I don't think you will be able to get the stuffing and the meat to stick together.

btw, breast meat is white meat.


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## Chef_Jacob (Nov 14, 2008)

Maybe I wasn't Clear. You use the Activa Before you cook it. So you would prepare the turkey the night before, place in your fridge overnight, and then cook at usual. Everything else would be done the same way, such as cook time and resting.


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## gage (Nov 15, 2008)

Thanks to chef jacob -- I'll look into that and give it a try if I can obtain it, to gotgarlic , pehaps I was unclear about the process. I take a turkey and debone it except for the drumstick - I make a stuffing using the ingredients That I listed , I redistribute some of the white meat to make it's layer thinner and get more dark meat around in all parts of the bird. Then close the bird up by trussing it with butchers string ( Meanwhile the bones go in the pressure cooker for stock for the gravy )
 It doesn't fall apart like peas off a knife ,but alot of the time I can carve a portion and plate it evenly like it wants to stay in one piece and some times it wants to separate at the junction of the stuffing and the meat. I hope that is as clear as mud.
 What I was wondering is basicly - If I vary the finished temperaure a bit between 155 F and 160 f would that make a difference to the binders or should I delete one or more of the binders ??? Does anyone else debone their Birds and stuff them ??
 Gage


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## deelady (Nov 19, 2008)

no I never have, Thanksgiving dinner is more than enough work IMO 
How long does it take you to debone it?
Through the years I have gotten pretty good at deboning a chicken but I think a turkey would be a must bigger ordeal! Who knows....maybe it would be easier....??


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## gage (Nov 19, 2008)

It doesn't take much longer than a chicken , Don't get a turkey much bigger than 6.5 kilos though. For one thing they rapidly get unmanageable as the weight goes higher than that. For another thing turkey bigger than that - above around 6.5 kilos-( 12-14 lbs.) are usually Toms and lighter than that are usually hens. I think hens are better. 
Odd thing is a typical chicken takes 6 ft of butcher string and a typical turkey takes 12 ft. Actually what I do is stretch my arms as wide as I can to get the length for chicken and two length for turkey
 I think that it makes the dinner less work-- the bones are making stock for gravy while the turkey cooks(via the pressure cooker ) no destuffing ,easy carving , better taste IMO , no dry white meat, easier cleanup ,cleaning up as you go along. When it gets to temp there is little guesswork about it. The lertover bird takes less space in the fridge.
   Regards-- Gage


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