As the Great American Turkey Festival draws near, I find myself waking up some nights in a cold sweat, with s in my head of a boneless duck spilling forth from where the gizzard of a bronzed turkey used to be.
That’s because I am a whole-animal butcher, and the strange, stitched-up phenomenon known as turducken has roused holiday cooks’ fascination once again.
Whether it originated in 18th-century Europe or in 20th-century Louisiana, this peculiar tradition seems to have been conceived with questionable culinary practice. I suppose the idea was to combine the three constituent birds — turkey, duck and chicken, with sausage stuffed inside the chicken at the core, as well as sometimes in thin layers between the trio — into one grand demonstration. A triumph over nature.
Here’s where it begins to go wrong for me. The key to roasting a duck is to provide the prodigious layer of fat on the breast an adequate opportunity to render, ensuring a result that isn’t overly greasy. Turkey is best when cooked to just below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and allowed to finish reaching that minimum, safe temperature out of the oven to avoid overcooking and drying out. A chicken benefits from quick, high-heat roasting that leaves the skin crispy, fried in its own fat, which, in turn, penetrates the breast and enriches its juiciness.Advertisement
In turducken mode, the sausage at the very core must reach 165 degrees to kill any contamination from its direct contact with the raw chicken. The turkey on the outside will be overcooked long before a sufficient amount of heat can penetrate to the sausage. There is no path for the duck’s fat to drip away, and the poor chicken gets steamed (read: made bland) by the moisture given off by the other birds. Knowing that a family’s holiday roast is bound to disappoint defeats one of the great joys of my work.
Holiday time at the butcher shop can be absolute madness: back to back 16-hour days at a breakneck pace. We realize customers are entrusting us with a mighty responsibility. The pressure is all is worth it, though, when I sit down with my loved ones to a beautiful and transcendent meal that pays deep homage to the life of the animal we are consuming; to the hard-working farmers who raised it; to my co-workers; and to every other unacknowledged component necessary to make it happen.
I also think about how many other families are sitting down to enjoy roasts I helped prepare for them, creating memories and engaging in the holiday gratitude our country shares. I think of the people trying a new kind of roast for the first time for whom I scribbled down my best cooking instructions, hoping that what they do turns out well.
“This is the first time I’m hosting my in-laws. It has to be perfect.”
“My son is proposing tonight, and she doesn’t like turkey. Is this rib roast really going to work?”
“We’re empty-nesters now, and I worry this is the last year the kids will all come home. I want it to be special.”
Then I think of the families who insisted on buying a turducken. And my heart sinks.
Typically, the feedback I get ranges from “It was okay, I don’t think we’ll do it again” to “It split open and the duck shot out, so we thought it was done and it was on everyone’s plate before we realized the chicken was still raw!”
Every year, I suspect that small butcher shops across the country weigh their turducken options; some limit how many of the tri-part roasts they will produce, while others decline to engage. For all the angst the failed concept costs us, it pales in comparison with the labor. To create a turducken requires an advanced skill set and thorough understanding of every intricacy of the anatomy of all three birds. Each must be meticulously deboned in one piece with little to no damage to the meat, and absolutely no damage to the skin of the turkey (the thin lace responsible for holding the whole thing together, all 25 pounds or so).
To make the roast look at all presentable requires another great feat of butcher’s twine-tying to make the poultry blob resemble a structurally intact turkey. I am fairly skilled at this myself, and still my fastest effort clocks in at about 45 minutes. I could send out 20 or more other orders in the same amount of time.Advertisement
The cost inherent in all this labor is worth noting. The lowest price I found was online at just below $5 per pound, but this comes frozen and in 15-pound roasts. They’ve devised a clever trick of removing all skin and fat from the inner birds to deal with some of the cooking-quality issues, but then recommend heavy additions of butter and other fats. Locally, I was quoted $5.99 to $15.99 per pound for one made with better-sourced animals.
Still want to order a turducken? My fellow butchers and I will prepare it for you the best way we can. But you, and I, have better options.
The fat from the duck permeated the entire roast, and all three meats were incredibly moist, tender and pumping with flavor. It was akin to eating pernil (roasted pork shoulder) or some other slow-cooked barbecue in the way everything sort of shredded and fell apart.
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Myth #5: It’s too Expensive Compared to what though? Most people just look at the price of a turducken, and then look at the price of similar sized turkey – and yes, there can be a significant difference there. But consider that an 11lb turducken is solid meat, and a 11lb turkey would have at least a third of that weight probably lost in bones and carcass, etc. We encourage consumers to look at this in terms of price per guest. If you had your family over for good T-Bone steaks for dinner, that would be about $14 or more per person. Our turduckens will feed 12 – 15 adults which is a cost of about $0 per person! Surely turkey will come out at a bit lower than that, but c’mon, it’s just turkey after all. Myth #6: It’s too Difficult to Get One Complete falsehood. It has never been easier to access and enjoy an Echelon Foods Turducken. Established grocery stores and supermarkets are stocking them in most major centers across North America, AND they are available to anyone, anywhere for delivery to your front door step through online retailers. For options on where to buy click here. Myth #7: It’s Un-Healthy Not really. Our turduckens are a little different than the caloric mountains of legend from Louisiana. We only use chicken and duck skinless breast meat, which eliminates tons of extra skin, fat, and calories. If you received your piece of turducken and decided to not eat the skin of the turkey itself, you’d be diving into some relatively lean protein there. Our Chicken Apple turducken contains no pork of any kind, and is the favorite of many of our health conscious customers. So there you have it. 7 turducken myths busted in time for the Fall and Winter holiday eating seasons. And we didn’t have to blow anything up 🙂
The legions of turducken fans are growing by the day. Many have messaged us saying they will never go back to regular turkey at the main holiday meals – mainly, Thanksgiving and Christmas. However, we still hear from many people saying that Turducken is not for them and often the reason they give is just not true. Instead of heading into another holiday eating season defending our epic Echelon Foods Turducken, we thought we’d take a proactive approach and lay rest to some falsehoods. Doubters, ‘nay-sayers’, skeptics, and traditionalists take heed as we bust these common myths and misconceptions about the ultimate holiday feast – turducken: Myth #1: I’ll Lose the Feel and Taste of a ‘Traditional Thanksgiving/Christmas Dinner’ Not so. Let’s start with aesthetics: the look of the Turducken roasting away in your oven is exactly the same as a turkey would look; the glorious smell of the roasting Turducken will fill your kitchen and house the same way a turkey would, and you can bring out the un-carved bird right onto your table for a presentation if that’s how you like to present it. It’s been said the best turkey you’ll ever eat is the turkey meat that comes from a turducken because of the other flavors ‘auto-basting’ the turkey meat while it’s cooking. The kids who won’t tolerate anything except the white breast meat can still find those pieces they’re looking for; the folks in your family who always go for the drumsticks or wings – those are there as well; and those of us who prefer the moist dark meat will have our preference too. Point is, a Turducken does not take away from the feel or taste of a traditional holiday meal in any way – all the sentimental sights, sounds, smells, and tastes are still preserved. In fact, some would say the Turducken concept is the ultimate tradition (depending on how far back you want to go in history). Several cultures celebrated holiday feasts with the concept of stuffing birds into birds as a symbol of abundance and ‘extra special’ occasions for feasting. Myth #2: It Will be too Difficult to Cook 180 degrees from the truth. Cooking a Turducken is actually way easier than cooking a turkey. Let’s face it – it’s a fine line between a nice tasting, moist turkey and a dried out, over cooked turkey that you either need to drown in gravy or have a drink of water after every bite just to be able to swallow. Some of the recipes and techniques, tricks and methods to cook the perfect turkey are not exactly convenient. There’s the intense brining method, hey who wouldn’t want a small bath tub full of salt water and a raw turkey in your fridge? There’s the upside down method, by which the juices run down over and into the breast meat. There’s the classic baste every 30 mins method (hope you didn’t have anything better to do that day), and even the cook your turkey in a plastic bag method. With a Turducken it comes totally ready to cook once it’s thawed. No brining, basting, tying, shoving in bags, or special configuration needed. The turducken will self baste from the inside out, and not need constant attention or effort so you’re free to prepare other side dishes and desserts. Once the turducken reaches appropriate internal temperature, remove from oven, cover with foil for 20 mins, carve and serve. And speaking of carving, you can slice up a turducken as easily as a loaf of bread and you don’t need a thorough working knowledge of poultry anatomy to do a decent job. Bottom line – turducken is EASY. Myth #3: My Kids Won’t Like It See Myth #1. If your kids like turkey, they’ll love turducken turkey, simple as that. Plus, think how they’ll be able to brag at school the next week about what THEY had for holiday dinner!Myth #4: We Don’t Really Eat Duck, so We Won’t Like It
Hold on a second. The duck plays a key role in the taste sensation that is turducken, true. However, it is more by way of the duck juices running throughout and flavouring the whole bird than the specific taste of the duck meat. And if someone was completely against tasting the duck meat, it is a darker colour and easily recognized on your plate. Verdict: you don’t have to like duck to like turducken.
“My son is proposing tonight, and she doesn’t like turkey. Is this rib roast really going to work?”
In turducken mode, the sausage at the very core must reach 165 degrees to kill any contamination from its direct contact with the raw chicken. The turkey on the outside will be overcooked long before a sufficient amount of heat can penetrate to the sausage. There is no path for the duck’s fat to drip away, and the poor chicken gets steamed (read: made bland) by the moisture given off by the other birds. Knowing that a family’s holiday roast is bound to disappoint defeats one of the great joys of my work.
As the Great American Turkey Festival draws near, I find myself waking up some nights in a cold sweat, with s in my head of a boneless duck spilling forth from where the gizzard of a bronzed turkey used to be.
Every year, I suspect that small butcher shops across the country weigh their turducken options; some limit how many of the tri-part roasts they will produce, while others decline to engage. For all the angst the failed concept costs us, it pales in comparison with the labor. To create a turducken requires an advanced skill set and thorough understanding of every intricacy of the anatomy of all three birds. Each must be meticulously deboned in one piece with little to no damage to the meat, and absolutely no damage to the skin of the turkey (the thin lace responsible for holding the whole thing together, all 25 pounds or so).
I also think about how many other families are sitting down to enjoy roasts I helped prepare for them, creating memories and engaging in the holiday gratitude our country shares. I think of the people trying a new kind of roast for the first time for whom I scribbled down my best cooking instructions, hoping that what they do turns out well.
Turducken — A Duck Inside Of A Chicken Inside Of A Turkey — Roulade
FAQ
What is similar to a turducken?
Is turducken a delicacy?
How do you eat turducken?
Where did John Madden get his turducken?
What is a turducken chicken?
What is turducken? Pronounced tur-duhk- uhn, a turducken is a deboned chicken stuffed inside a deboned duck stuffed inside a mostly deboned turkey (its wings and legs are left intact). There’s usually stuffing inside the chicken and between each bird.
What is a turducken stuffed with?
The term “turducken” is a combination of the words “turkey,” “duck,” and “chicken,” as the dish consists of a chicken stuffed inside a duck that’s then stuffed inside a turkey. To make the stuffing and slicing easy, a turducken uses deboned poultry; to save time and effort, ask a butcher to do this for you.
Is turducken hard to make?
When sliced, each piece of turducken contains portions of all three birds with stuffing in between the layers. Turducken combines the flavors of moist roast poultry and savory stuffing into one glorious dish. It is not difficult to make, but it is a little time-consuming, so plan on adequate preparation time.
What is roasted turducken?
Roasted Turducken, a Cajun specialty, makes a delicious and unique centerpiece for your Thanksgiving table! This masterpiece of meat–a chicken inside of a duck inside of a turkey–is incredibly easy to make and bake for your Thanksgiving dinner! This Roasted Turducken makes the perfect protein for any holiday (or weekend!) feast.