Are Turduckens Really Good Eating?
I've heard about this deboned turkey/duck/chicken and stuffing delicacy for many years.
I'm just wondering, do they live up to the hype?
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14 Comments:
Hmm, funny this question is up here, because I woke up this morning and asked myself the same thing. (Seriously, I did)
I would imagine the joy of eating one would be the sheer novelty of it. I like turkey. I like duck. I like chicken. But together??
delicious life at 12:38PM on 11/13/07
C'mon Ed, make this a question of the day! This is very timely. The Wall Street Journal rated the Cajun Grocer the best Turducken.
CambridgeFoodie at 12:55PM on 11/13/07
We have had a Turducken from the Cajun Grocer for the last 2 years around Christmas time. I don't love Turduckens, for some reason it always ends up kind of dried up. However the men in my family LOVE Turducken, that's why we have to keep getting it. MMMMM MAN HUNGRY MAN WANT MEAT!
waterbaby at 12:59PM on 11/13/07
Man Hungry Want Meat, LOL, true true true
MidMittenCook at 1:03PM on 11/13/07
I had turducken once and would never do it again. It was dry, dry, dry.
Think about it--the meat most prone to overcooking, turkey breast, is on the outside with a duck, and a chicken (and maybe nore) stuffed inside. You have to cook it a good long time to cook all that other meat, leaving the turkey overcooked.
The people who like 'em see, to really like 'em but to me, definitely a novelty item. If I needed that much meat, I'd just cook 2 birds!
kjgibson at 1:35PM on 11/13/07
I've never had turducken, but I've seen the cajun version made on TV many times and it didn't look that appetizing.
However, I recently saw a turducken prepared on the show, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and it looked really good. The duck and chicken skin is lightly cooked on the grill first, then between each bird there is a layer of cornbread stuffing with sage sausage, spinach stuffing, Andouille sausage and fresh roasted red bell peppers. The turducken was made at Alpine Steakhouse in Sarasota, FL.
Over the holidays when I visit my folks in Orlando, I may have to take a drive to Sarasota, check the place out and order a plate of turducken.
SundayNiteDinner at 6:18PM on 11/14/07
It's just like any other recipe for roasted fowl....if it's done correctly, it's delicious. That is, of course, assuming you like roasted fpwl.
1stmakearoux at 10:36AM on 11/17/07
1.
I had my Christmas Eve dinner almost ruined by the Cajun Grocer’s incompetence.
I ordered a complete meal from them on December 13. They had said on their web site that they ship on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays so that orders will be received on the following weekend. Christmas Eve was a Monday so that left me with the entire weekend to make sure that the turducken would be completely thawed by Christmas Eve.
They shipped my order on Wednesday, December 19. I took a day off of work on Friday, December 21 since that was the day that the Fedex web site said was the delivery date.
I was nervous about shipping it with only two days to get from Louisiana to Chicago but I trusted that they knew what they were doing .. even at the busy holiday season.
When Friday came and went with no update from Fedex as to the progress of my package other than it had left Louisiana on December 19, I began to get nervous.
Saturday morning, I saw that my package had arrived … in St. Paul, Minnesota!! Now, Chicago is not like a small town where you can easily miss the exit on the interstate for us.
I tried to contact the Cajun Grocer on Saturday to see what they could do to help me. They had been promoting their products for holiday dinners, so, on the weekend just before the big holiday, of course, they were not working at all.
I saw later on Saturday that my package had left Minnesota on Saturday morning at 5am. It had arrived somewhere in Chicago on Sunday evening but, after that, there was no further information. By 11:30am on Christmas Eve, when there would be no time to defrost the bird for dinner, I called Fedex to tell them that I would refuse delivery of the package and then called American Express to dispute the charge for the dinner that I never had.
I had to throw something together at the last minute for my kids and their dates. Because my guests were my kids, they understood. But, as for the Cajun Grocer, they will never get my business again. As far as I am concerned, they are an outfit that is not big enough or organized enough to handle a large volume of orders in a time crunch.
I will stick to local food providers from now on. I advise you to do the same.
buschman at 9:48AM on 12/26/07
OMG Buschman! I'm glad you were able to regroup and that your kids understood. Thanks for that information - it's not like I'd order a Turducken without some serious interest from friends or family but now I know where I won't be ordering one.
As far as "local" purveyors...I have a horror story as well. I'm going to start a topic called Price Gouging. (Can ya tell where that's going????)
chiff0nade at 10:00AM on 12/26/07
Turducken is one of the more repulsive combinations I have been subjected to over a long span of holidays. Dry turkey stuffed with greasy duck stuffed with undercooked chicken, all overspiced with sage. Yucccccch!
fewteeth at 1:20PM on 12/26/07
Buschman.....Are you sure it was a Cajun Grocer issue, or a Fedex issue? Unfortunately packages end up in the wrong places too many times because they were put on the wrong truck...I know...I used to work for UPS.
About the Turducken....I worked for a doctor who, as a point of pride, makes his own Turducken for the holidays....he says it's great.
mepolo at 1:43PM on 12/26/07
All I have to say is that who really wants to eat a poultry orgy? (sorry for the crudeness, but you all are thinking it!)
and yes, I have tried it, and let's just say I prefer spam.
littlelimelion at 12:24AM on 11/28/08
It sounds disgusting to me... too "handled". I can just imagine all of these turkey carcasses and chicken carcasses and duck carcasses laying around in a factory and workers just stuffing them all inside one another.
If you're gonna try a turducken, you should just make it yourself.
smile at 2:11AM on 11/28/08
I have had turducken but once. And it was Divine. All three meats were moist and flavourful, the cajun sasuage stuffing added a wonderful bite and everthing melded into an awesome poultry experience. I'm not having much success in Deboning my own birds, and the wife grumbles at the price if I were to order one, but I really want it again. I'm tempted to get together a few of my friends and split the cost to order one again.
thepirateking at 7:48AM on 11/28/08