Learn how to clean a turkey with just a few simple steps. During the holiday season, many of us will be cooking our favorite meals. The safest way to truly enjoy the holidays, is to make sure the foods we are preparing are done in a safe manner.
Most of us will be purchasing out meat from the grocery store. By the time it reaches the freezer at the grocery store, our meat will have been processed by various individuals via an assembly line.
Though this process does help maintain the longevity of the meat before it reaches our table, it will start the decomposition by bacteria and fungi.
Haitian Turkey Cleaning Methods And Benefits:
Meat preparation, if done incorrectly, can have devastating effects in a joyful moment. This quick and easy process will provide a simple way to clean and disinfect your bird.
There are various other methods that can also be used to clean your meat or preparing Haitian turkey. In Haiti, lemons, limes, or sour oranges are used in similar fashion to clean and disinfect meat.
The acidity in these fruits and the vinegar are perfect agents to kill any borne pathogens in the meat in order to keep your meat safe and eatable.
Be sure to disinfect the area or sink where you plan on cleaning your meat in order to decrease the possibility of cross-contamination.
Our meats are prepared the same way as described in the Poulet En Sauce recipe. Vinegar, sour oranges, and or lime/lemons are often used when it comes to cleansing the bird.
A sour liquid made by fermentation of various diluted alcoholic liquids into a liquid containing acetic acid. It can be produced from apples, grapes, and or malted barley.
For this cleaning process, we used distilled white vinegar, which derived from industrial alcohol. Vinegar is widely used in culinary from pickling, marinades, and salad dressing to name a few.
This process can actually be used for any meat or fish preparation prior to seasoning. Don’t worry, it will not affect the taste of your dish.
How to Clean A Turkey Before Cooking It?
First and foremost, be sure that the bird is completely thawed out prior to cleaning it. Depending on the size of the bird, you can adjust the amount of water and vinegar added. To clean this 15 Lb. Turkey, we added 2 cups of vinegar in about 2 gallons of water.
If you have a larger enough stock pot, you may use it to clean your bird. Make sure to remove the package from inside the turkey before placing it in the water.
The package should contain the neck and the giblets. If you plan on using them, feel free to add them to the vinegar water as well.
Once your turkey is added to the water, make sure to rub the inside as well as the outside so the solution can fully penetrate the bird.
The cleaning process should take about 10-15 minutes to fully clean outside and side the bird. Upon completion, remove the bird from the water and rinse it under cold water.
Your bird is now ready to be seasoned to your liking.
Turkey Cleaning Pro Tips:
- If using turkey parts, such as legs, wings, thighs, etc. be sure to remove any extra fat and gunk.
- Keep Raw meat away from cooked food to prevent cross contamination.
- Wash your hands throughly with soap after handling the raw turkey.
Turkey Recipes You’ll Enjoy:
Looking for recipe inspiration? Now that you know how to properly clean a turkey, consider making this Smothered Turkey Wings Recipe next.
But don’t let it stop there, pair the turkey with this delicious air fryer butternut squash recipe, and this Instant Pot Collard Greens.
We’d love to know if you tried this cleaning method, tag us on Instagram or Facebook so we can see your beautiful dish.
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Sahita
We use this method every time we prepare our turkey. Cleaning the turkey this way make a whole world of a difference in the final dish.