A Monster In My Yard

[UNCLE HARLEY]

I found this monster just crawling along as I went to get the newspaper this morning. I've never cleaned or eaten turtle but this one is sure making me think about it. Any thoughts on how to clean & cook them?

 

[IndyGunworks]

Not to thread jack, but any tips on how to clean the shell as well. how to get the extra meat and stuff off of it so i can keep the shell. I just cleaned one about 50 percent bigger than that one, but the shell is sitting in my freezer because i do not know what to do with it.


To the OP, check out youtube, lots of good how to videos on cleaning, not so much on eating.

 

[sig shooter]

They are good eating. Fry them just like chicken. As for cleaning them. The best way that I have found is cut off the head and start under the shell and cut it in a complete circle around the shell. You will have 7 pieces of meat

 

[hammer24]

I've never really found a "good" way to clean them. Cut the head off, it will try to crawl away for minutes still afterward! Many will use a water or air hose under the skin of the neck to blow it up and separate the skin from meat. As for the butchering part, good luck! everything is backwards and inside out on these things. It isn't hard per se, just not neat and organized like other critters, but it is worth the work!

Cooking: Soup is always a great option with these, lots of good recipes out there. My Grandmother made great fried turtle! She would actually pressure cook it for a short time (cooking and keeping it very moist) then fry it like fish or chicken. It was excellent! The different parts of the turtle have completely different flavors, chicken, fish, frog leg, etc.

 

[Clay]

only way I know of to really get everything out is to split the shell.

as a kid I remember playing with various turtle parts. Its amazing how long parts of the turtle will continue to have action long after they have been removed from the whole turtle. The head and the heart were the best. The head would still bite a stick for HOURS after it was cut off, and the heart would beat (slowly) for a long time as well.

either way, stay away from the 'beak'. Those snappers are nothing to mess with!

 

[HamsterStyle]

Not to thread jack, but any tips on how to clean the shell as well. how to get the extra meat and stuff off of it so i can keep the shell. I just cleaned one about 50 percent bigger than that one, but the shell is sitting in my freezer because i do not know what to do with it.


To the OP, check out youtube, lots of good how to videos on cleaning, not so much on eating.

I remember hearing way back when that you can just leave the shell outside and let the ants and bugs do the finish cleaning on the remainder of the meat. Not sure how well it would work but maybe worth a shot. May tie it down too so another critter doesn't carry it off.

 

[williamnewman1]

gotta say i am jealous , gotta get me one soon , as far as cleaning , i split the shell and hack and slash the meat out

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

One day, when the kids were still in car seats, we stopped at a McDonald's for lunch. As we were unloading the boys, unbeknownst to us there was a snapping turtle in the empty parking spot next to us. (Seems like he was that size or a bit bigger). As we set the second kid on the pavement, that snapper turned and hissed at us...man, you should have seen those kids try to climb us like trees!

(It scared us a little too, but I don't think we screamed as loud as those kids though).

 

[Plinkuh]

I remember hearing way back when that you can just leave the shell outside and let the ants and bugs do the finish cleaning on the remainder of the meat. Not sure how well it would work but maybe worth a shot. May tie it down too so another critter doesn't carry it off.

You can use a wire cage for that. Allowing the little guys to clean it up, and preventing the larger guys from carrying it off.

 

[Hookeye]

Flooded creeks local, was cruising around in our lifted Jeep.....saw a group of Mexicans where a road was stopped by water, in a brand new Chevy Impala (pulled up to water's edge) acting all crazy......and when we got closer we could see why...........a monster snapper.

They grabbed and heaved it into the open trunk.

I bet he tore that car trunk to shreds!

 

[Turn Key]

Turtle Soup -- Yum !

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJlQcjLoa2s[/ame]

 

[indysims]

I was with a group that cleaned one once... the head was still "biting" 4 or 5 hours after it had been cut off.

 

[Clay]

wait a minute........ are you guys trying to make a ninja turtle backpack?????????

 

[Dirty Steve]

Oh man,...turtle stew is the best! We always cut them up in chunks, threw in some taters, carrots, celery, green beans, red peppers, Tabasco, salt, cayenne pepper and cooked it for 4 hours or so in a dutch oven. Throw a little corn flour in to thicken it up for the last 20 minutes. The meat falls off the bones.

Haven't had any in years. Worked with a guy 20 years ago that would bring me ziploc freezer bags full of turtle meat. Man I miss those days.

Dirty Steve

 

[TopDog]

Not to thread jack, but any tips on how to clean the shell as well. how to get the extra meat and stuff off of it so i can keep the shell. I just cleaned one about 50 percent bigger than that one, but the shell is sitting in my freezer because i do not know what to do with it.


To the OP, check out youtube, lots of good how to videos on cleaning, not so much on eating.

I remember hearing way back when that you can just leave the shell outside and let the ants and bugs do the finish cleaning on the remainder of the meat. Not sure how well it would work but maybe worth a shot. May tie it down too so another critter doesn't carry it off.

Just setting a set of shark jaws out is how we got them speck and span clean, bone white in Diego Garcia. Let nature do the work for you.

We dont have any cocoanut crabs here but I think just the ants with do a fine job.

 

[Rshelbu]

You might check it out but that type of turtle which is an alligator snapping turtle used to be illegal to kill and eat as they were on the endangered species list. You can tell its an alligator snapper by the ridges on the tail.

 

[hoosierdaddy1976]

You might check it out but that type of turtle which is an alligator snapping turtle used to be illegal to kill and eat as they were on the endangered species list. You can tell its an alligator snapper by the ridges on the tail.

negative. that is a common snapping turtle. alligator snappers have rows of ridges along the top of the shell, not just serrations on the back edge (which are found on both species)

here's a photo of both side by side

 

[patience0830]

That's kind of a little one. I cleaned one once. Smelled worse inside than rabbits and deer combined. I sure as heck wouldn't eat it.

 

[Goober135]

My buddy who likes to eat turtle has always told me to feed them oatmeal for a week or so after catching them to "flush" out their system from all the nasty things they eat. Not sure if there is sine major truth to this, but keep it in mind I suppose...

 

[spearheadersarge]

Friend bought a log cabin sharing a good sized lake recently. He says between the snappers and the beavers, he gets plenty of target practice! I keep asking if he needs any help but he always says "Nah"!!!!