# To Turducken or Not to Turducken
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [April 18, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863 "2011-04-18T17:47:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@surrounded\_by\_literalists](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/surrounded_by_literalists)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863/1 "2011-04-18T17:47:22Z")
Ever since I heard about this monstrosity I have wanted to try to make one. My therapist says the desire is part of my bipolar upcycle and I should try to focus on something else, but I can’t seem to get over the urge to create one.
Has anyone in here ever tried? Any casualties? Any advice?
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863/2 "2011-04-18T18:28:42Z")
Advice? Sure.
Never eat anything with a name that begins t-u-r-d…
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### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863/3 "2011-04-18T18:33:09Z")
I’ve made one.
In the construction: enormously rewarding.
In the consumption: total disappointment.
One fowl melds into another; it all tastes like chickeny stuff. You may as well just cook an enormous chicken.
(I love that you’re discussing turducken with your therapist!)
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### Author:  [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863/4 "2011-04-18T18:36:04Z")
How is turducken part of bipolar upcycle?
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### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863/5 "2011-04-18T18:37:20Z")
> [@lukeinva](#):
>
> How is turducken part of bipolar upcycle?
Picture a turducken on a unicycle.
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### Author:  [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863/6 "2011-04-18T18:39:42Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#):
>
> Advice? Sure.
>
> Never eat anything with a name that begins t-u-r-d…
Psst. It \*begins \*with turkey…
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863/7 "2011-04-18T19:37:04Z")
I’ve heard that they can be tricky to cook, too, since so much thickness of meat tends to mean that the outer portions are overcooked before the inner parts are ready.
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### Author:  [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863/8 "2011-04-18T19:41:19Z")
I have nothing to offer except the comment that, this morning, when discussing the Easter dinner menu, my son suggested I make hamlamuck – a duck stuffed inside a lamb stuffed inside a ham.
I think I’ll pass on that one.
On second thought, I do have something to offer:
While I have not made a turducken, I have made Julia Child’s[chicken melon](http://www.nola.com/food/index.ssf/2010/01/julia_childs_chicken_melon.html) recipe. It has much of the turducken’s satisfaction factor of boning a whole bird while keeping the skin intact. But, unlike the turducken, it tastes good.
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### Author:  [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863/9 "2011-04-18T19:55:25Z")
As far as deboning and molding together three separate birds, well, that sounds ridiculously ambitious to me. But I’ve purchased and cooked an already assembled turducken and a turducken breast, and that I can recommend. It’s pricey, and the meats do meld together, but I thought it did so in a good way. The duck wasn’t greasy; the turkey wasn’t dry, and it was all infused with the flavoring from the Cajun sausage stuffing.
I didn’t notice any uneven cooking, but the prepared stuff really isn’t a bird inside a bird inside a bird. It’s sort of rolled up together, like a Napoleon roast.
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### Author:  [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863/10 "2011-04-18T21:35:14Z")
This kind of [turducken](http://asteroid.divnull.com/2006/04/easter-turducken/) seems easier.
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### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863/11 "2011-04-18T21:47:24Z")
[Turducken?](http://americandigest.org/573-turducken.jpg)
How deviant.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2011, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863/12 "2011-04-18T22:03:59Z")
I always thought it just sounded. . .stupid and pointless.
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### Author:  [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863/13 "2011-04-18T22:27:22Z")
What about a rabbit inside a goat inside a sheep inside an entire cow?
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### Author:  [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863/14 "2011-04-18T23:43:53Z")
> [@gaffa](#):
>
> What about a rabbit inside a goat inside a sheep inside an entire cow?
Where’s the pig? Won’t somebody think of the pig?!
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### Author:  [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2011, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863/15 "2011-04-18T23:50:27Z")
> [@Motorgirl](#):
>
> Where’s the pig? Won’t somebody think of the pig?!
OK, rabbit inside goat inside pig inside sheep inside cow.
But it would have to be a pretty small pig.
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### Author:  [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)
#### Post date: [April 19, 2011, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863/16 "2011-04-19T00:18:33Z")
> [@gaffa](#):
>
> OK, rabbit inside goat inside pig inside sheep inside cow.
>
> But it would have to be a pretty small pig.
Maybe one of those cute little potbelly pigs.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [April 19, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863/17 "2011-04-19T00:26:34Z")
I think a combo of turkey, frog, duck and rabbit: A turfuckit.
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### Author:  [@Critical\_Mass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical_Mass)
#### Post date: [April 19, 2011, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863/18 "2011-04-19T00:27:09Z")
I made one a few years ago. Here’s what I posted about it at the time.
> [@Turducken - Really hard to make?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turducken-really-hard-to-make/385268/39):
>
> Well, I cooked a Turducken yesterday.
>
> After de-boning the 3 birds the day before, I feel that I could perform avian autopsies if required. This wasn’t a horrible task, but it did get to be somewhat tedious. The bigger the bird, the easier the task. Ducks have surprisingly little meat on them. Raw turkeys have a gamey kind of scent to them.
>
> There was a surprising amount of drippings while the thing roasted. About a litre each of fat and a very tasty broth which makes excellent gravy.
>
> The final result took about 8 1/4 hours at 225F to reach and internal temperature of 170F.
>
> If I do say so myself, it was excellent. Very juicy and the flavours blend nicely. It fed about 15 people and I have 1/3 of it left over.
>
> No reported ptomaine yet, which was my biggest fear. After all - the meat is at room temperature for quite some time during the preparation process.
>
> It was a very large project. Best done by two people. The results were good enough that I’ll try it again.
In fact, I haven’t made one since.
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### Author:  [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)
#### Post date: [April 19, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863/19 "2011-04-19T00:59:12Z")
This reminds me of the Spanish stuffing a cow with cochinillo (baby pigs) and roasting the beast for hours on a spit.
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### Author:  [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)
#### Post date: [April 19, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-turducken-or-not-to-turducken/578863/20 "2011-04-19T01:06:54Z")
> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> I think a combo of turkey, frog, duck and rabbit: A turfuckit.
for the win…
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