Turduckens Suck, Sausage Good
(Kelsey Dake/For The Washington Post)
Resist the urge. Fight it with every ounce of your being. Don’t do it buddy. Don’t ask us to make you a turducken.
Yes, I’m talking about that Thanksgiving unicorn, that El Dorado of poultry, the mythical roasting orgy that is a chicken stuffed into a duck, stuffed into a turkey. Theoretically, this epicurean ambrosia is then cooked to perfection, allowing the juices to intermingle, creating a culinary alchemy of flavor. Carved at the dinner table into breathtaking concentric meat circles that float onto each plate. Your guests, giddy with anticipation are brought to tears with each bacchanal bite.
Hate to break it to you, but some things are best left to the imagination.
Even if one of ECB’s expert butchers deboned the birds, and crammed them into the turkey cavity (no small feet), don’t think it’s gonna look like a Martha Stewart magazine cover photo. Even the largest turkey crammed with this poultry payload, looks more Frankenstein than Bobby Flay. A more successful turducken requires deboning the turkey as well. But once this cylindrical meat sock is in the oven, the thermodynamics are all off. The turkey always overcooks, the duck fat never renders completely, and the chicken—buried in too much fat and juice—develops a flaccid, spongy texture. If you miraculously manage to carve the bird in a way that gives your guests a portion of each protein, expect them to note the crumbly edges, chewy middles, and gelatinous centers. They’ll be crying alright, but not tears of joy.
If this hasn’t discouraged you yet, and you want to learn more about the culinary art of stuffing one animal into another before cooking (i.e. engastration—yes that’s the word); check out my blog post on the subject from a few years ago.
For the rest of you, there is hope.
You can still enjoy the conceptual flavors of a turducken with Electric City Butcher’s seasonal Turducken Sausage. We take the best dark meat of each bird from Ferndale, Liberty, and Pasturebird, season them in a savory autumnal mix of sage, five-space, cherries, orange zest and parsley, washed down with a little brandy, and wrap them up into breakfast-sized sausage links. These babies combine all the great flavors you’re looking for, without all the hassle. Stuffed into the cavity, added to your favorite stuffing recipe, or fried up the next morning for breakfast, Turducken Sausage is the way to go. Plus, we only make this recipe at Thanksgiving time, so get it while the getting’s good.
Oh, and while you’re at it, order that Turkey too. We’re running out.
YOU CAN STILL RESERVE AN PASTURE-RAISED TURKEY FROM ELECTRIC CITY BUTCHER ALONG WITH HERITAGE BREED HAMS, GRAVY, CRANBERRY SAUCE AND MORE!