Now that I've lured you here, how many are beating meat for tenderness? I can not seem to get turkey to be tender; slow cooker, baking, etc. I bought a meat beater hammer; are you guys beating with some rubs/flavor to mix as you go, or...??? This goes for deer/other meats as well. Also, how to keep the turkey from losing moisture during cooking.
Believe me, I deleted about 6 lines trying to getting to the point without going off the rails. I don't think there is a way around the obvious undertones. Frying is the best, but when I make my thanksgiving style crockpot meal, it gets dry/tough, even if I wrap it in some fat. I'm frying tonight, but I need to figure out the baking/slow cooker methods.
Since I just cut the breast out of my wild turkeys.. I only cook it two ways. My favorite, Putenschnitzel aka Turkey schnitzel. Pound out a cutlet and bread it with panko, pan fry and finish with a nice little cranberry jalapeno sauce. Or my dads way, pound out a cutlet, season and pan fry. Make a little Turkey gravy and pour it over the cutlets and put it back in the oven for a bit. Comes out tender and delicious every time. So yes, I like beating my meat. You know, dont let your meatloaf.
I don't know about turkey, but for tougher venison steaks I make a bunch of cuts about 1/4" deep into the steak in a crisscross pattern. Its called swissing I think. It makes a pretty noticable difference IMO.
When it comes to a tougher cut of venison, this is my go to tool. https://www.amazon.com/Jaccard-200348-Supertendermatic-48-Blade-Tenderizer/dp/B001347JK6
You might want to PM Fix. Word on the street is that he is the master meat beater...But that's all hearsay.
After deleting my 12 year old mentality comments and focusing a bit....beating it will make it soften up. As for dryness, try basting at intervals. A water pan in the oven may help dryness as well which is as close to an on topic fyi you'll get from me here. Sent from my SM-G960U using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
Are you talking about a wild bird? How you process from time if kill makes a great deal of deference in the tenderness. After the kill, I skin my bird, clean out the inners and rinse. Then I bag it and put into the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. After that process your bird how you like. When it comes time to cook it, brine it first. That will help keep moisture in the bird. America's test kitchen or cooks illustrated will have the information on how much salt to use depending on if it is table salt or kosher salt that you wish to use. If you like to skin your bird instead of plucking and want to grill it, you can make a "skin" by coating the meat with mayo, miracle whip or yellow mustard. These help to keep moisture in without adding a lot of their own flavor to the meat.
I breast out my turkey then make soup stock out of the rest. I've actually had tougher commercial boneless chicken breast than my wild turkey. I make turkey burgers, I have found soaking turkey filets in Boat House brand garlic yogurt dressing then baking in the oven 400 for 20 to 30 mins is fantastic. Time depends on thickness I butcher my own deer ,never had tough meat and only one inedible buck. The dogs didn't mind the smell or taste. Rank old swamp buck. I skin ,cut out(important) hock glands and hang no less than 5 days usually 10. For the more Stringy cuts I cube. I absolutely love cubed deer steaks. I cube nearly a whole deer every year. Fast ,flavorful dinner.
