To Open Turkey: Eemove feet and legs by cutting with a knife
just below the knee joint. When cut, put the knee against a board,
pushing and spreading it so as to loosen it. Remove the tendons with
a skewer because they are very tough. There are ten of these tendons in
each leg.
Gristle is the same thing as cartilage.
Eemove pin feathers ; it is well to get a bird with as few pin feath-
ers as possible.
Place a piece of brown wrapping paper on cutting board before
cleaning the turkey. All the bits of refuse that do not go in the gar-
bage can be rolled up in this paper; in this way a great deal of extra
cleaning up of table, board, etc., will be saved.
Cut off the head and discard.
Eemove the skin about knee joint and clean off refuse.
Wash legs thoroughly and put to soak in boiling water for 15 min-
utes. Then remove the skin.
Use the bones of legs, the tips of wings, and the neck together to
make a white soup stock. About one quart of stock can be obtained in
this way from a whole turkey. Most people throw these parts away.
Make quite a large incision at the lower end with a knife, cutting
right down through the tail. (Sometimes another incision is made in
the breast, but it makes an unsightly gash, so this is not a good method
to use.) Insert hand in incision to loosen and remove all the organs
as whole as possible, and all at once.
Take great care not to break the gall bladder which lies near the
left lobe of the liver of the turkey. It is of a yellowish or greenish
color and is very bitter; (green in a fresh turkey and yellow in a cold
storage turkey.)
The lungs are close to the back near the neck. They are very
bright red if fresh. These are to be discarded.
The heart is pear-shaped and lies above the lungs. Save this. The
gizzard is the round, dark substance in the middle of the turkey, im-
bedded in fat and containing gravel stones. It lies below the lungs.
This is to be saved also.
The liver lies near the stomach or gizzard, but just behind it. Cut
gizzard open lengthwise to get out the gravel stones ; open it out wide,
wash out and remove the inner lining. The liver as well as the gizzard
is good to use.
Save the heart, gizzard and liver; they must be washed of all
clotted blood. These are called the giblets. Put on stove in cold water
to cover and allow to cook. Let boil to extract the juice; cook until
soft. This will take about as long as the turkey does to roast.
LABORATORY COOK BOOK. 53
The kidneys are in the two hollows a1 the lower part of the back-
hone near the tail. These are to be discarded.
The oil-sacs in the end of the tail contain a bitter and poisonous
substance formic acid, just remove and discard them.
The intestines which are coiled round and round and imbedded in
iat are discarded. Save the fat and try it out.
Now take the bird over to the sink and allow water from the cold
water faucet to run over and through it thoroughly. Never allow
meats of any kind to soak in water. Never wash turkey before it is
singed; otherwise it will cause the pin feathers to lie fiat and make
them almost impossible to remove.
Always look inside the bird to see that no parts remain. Wipe
bird thoroughly and weigh. Time of cooking is gauged by weight of
bird after entrails are removed.
Page 29
Presented as published in 1914. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
To Open Turkey: Remove feet and legs by cutting with a knife just below the knee joint. When cut, put the knee against a board, pushing and spreading it so as to loosen it. Remove the tendons with a skewer because they are very tough. There are ten of these tendons in each leg.
Gristle is the same thing as cartilage.
Remove pin feathers ; it is well to get a bird with as few pin feathers as possible.
Place a piece of brown wrapping paper on cutting board before cleaning the turkey. All the bits of refuse that do not go in the garbage can be rolled up in this paper; in this way a great deal of extra cleaning up of table, board, etc., will be saved. Cut off the head and discard.
Remove the skin about knee joint and clean off refuse. Wash legs thoroughly and put to soak in boiling water for 15 minutes. Then remove the skin.
Use the bones of legs, the tips of wings, and the neck together to make a white soup stock. About one quart of stock can be obtained in this way from a whole turkey. Most people throw these parts away.
Make quite a large incision at the lower end with a knife, cutting right down through the tail. (Sometimes another incision is made in the breast, but it makes an unsightly gash, so this is not a good method to use.) Insert hand in incision to loosen and remove all the organs as whole as possible, and all at once.
Take great care not to break the gall bladder which lies near the left lobe of the liver of the turkey. It is of a yellowish or greenish color and is very bitter; (green in a fresh turkey and yellow in a cold storage turkey.)
The lungs are close to the back near the neck. They are very bright red if fresh. These are to be discarded.
The heart is pear-shaped and lies above the lungs. Save this. The gizzard is the round, dark substance in the middle of the turkey, imbedded in fat and containing gravel stones. It lies below the lungs. This is to be saved also.
The liver lies near the stomach or gizzard, but just behind it. Cut gizzard open lengthwise to get out the gravel stones ; open it out wide, wash out and remove the inner lining. The liver as well as the gizzard is good to use.
Save the heart, gizzard and liver; they must be washed of all clotted blood. These are called the giblets. Put on stove in cold water to cover and allow to cook. Let boil to extract the juice; cook until soft. This will take about as long as the turkey does to roast.
The kidneys are in the two hollows a1 the lower part of the backhone near the tail. These are to be discarded.
The oil-sacs in the end of the tail contain a bitter and poisonous substance formic acid, just remove and discard them.
The intestines which are coiled round and round and imbedded in iat are discarded. Save the fat and try it out.
Now take the bird over to the sink and allow water from the cold water faucet to run over and through it thoroughly. Never allow meats of any kind to soak in water. Never wash turkey before it is singed; otherwise it will cause the pin feathers to lie fiat and make them almost impossible to remove.
Always look inside the bird to see that no parts remain. Wipe bird thoroughly and weigh. Time of cooking is gauged by weight of bird after entrails are removed.