Baked Wild Turkey with Berry Stuffing – Massachusetts State Game Bird

Wild Turkey is the state bird (or state game bird) of Alabama, Massachusetts, and South Carolina. Cooking wild turkey is a little different than cooking a standard store-bought turkey, because they are drier and have a smaller breast. It’s important to keep the bird moist when you cook it.

Ingredients for Wild Turkey

• 1 bird – wild turkey (prepared – gutted and feathers removed)
• 1/8 cup – Salt
• 1 cup – water
• 1 can – chicken broth
• Stuffing recipes – see below

Directions for baking a Wild Turkey

1. Salt the turkey. This is similar to brining but better. Rub salt all over the turkey skin, and then refrigerate it over night.
2. Remove the bird in the morning and stuff it with the bread and berry stuffing shown below
3. Pour chicken broth and water over the bird and into the stuffing cavity
4. Bake the bird at 325 degrees for 4 – 4-1/2 hours, or until tender. The drumstick should easily pull away from the bird when it’s ready.

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Ingredients for Berry Stuffing

• Bread – any you have around (raisin bread is good too)
• Dried Cranberries
• Blueberries (fresh or canned)
• Blackberries (fresh) – optional
• Apples (diced) – optional
• Eggs – 1 or 2

Directions for Berry Stuffing

Take any bread you have laying around. It can be slightly stale, because it will be cooking inside the bird and picking up the juices from it. Mix in any berries that you like. They can be fresh or dried. I usually add dried cranberries, fresh blueberries, and strawberries or blackberries if they are in season. You can also use diced apples, and/or any other berries that you like. Then, take one or two eggs (depending on the amount of stuffing) and mix it all together. Then stuff the bird. To keep the stuffing in the bird, you can use the hell of a loaf of bread and slide it across the opening of the cavity after you stuff the bird.

This is a very loose recipe. I usually just eye the cavity and mix about 1/3 more than I think it will take because I also stuff the back end of the turkey and push some of the stuffing up under the skin on that end of the cavity. The berries help to keep the bird moist and makes the meat lightly sweet.

To keep the bird moist, seal it with aluminum foil to start will help the bird absorb some of the liquid. Remove the foil about halfway through the baking process to brown the bird. You can pour some chicken broth and or white wine over the bird while it’s baking to keep the bird extra moist.

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