[bethlaf]

ok, last night we caught a beautiful ( if they can be called that) snapping turtle, eating size ( about 12 inch shell)

I remember eating turtle once as a kid, turtle stew, and it was delish ,
now from my memory of that experience i know
you have to cut off the head and let it bleed out, and that takes several hours, and the head can still bite once its chopped off
and i know you have to wash the bugger before you de-head it , but ........
what else do i need to know ?

never prepared one myself , but hubby is all anxious for me to clean this one
and cook it, , which is fine with me , i think the shell will look pretty cool , cleaned and varnished .....

but i remeber hearing something about keeping them in a pool for a few days , in clean water, not sure the reasoning on that one .... any help yall can give me would be appreciated, right now i have a very large very poed snapping turtle in my screen por
ch
can anybody help me, or do i just sound more odd than most of you already think i am ???

( i cant help it , im a left handed red head in a right handed blonde world !)
Beth

 

[Guest]

Ok, I've never done it, but I can tell you what little I know from my uncle:

He catches it alive & keeps it in a metal tub for 3 or 4 days (to clean him out "internally"), he cleans the water out every day, so it's not sitting its own poop.

Then he cuts the head off, that's as far as I get!! I don't eat it & those suckers are mean!!

He makes turtle chowder & turtle veggie soup from his.

mamahen (not logged in)

 

[daileyjoy]

My guess would be so he can empty himself out completly before you prepare him.

Jennifer

 

[Tater'sPa]

There is a few threads from months back about cooking one,
Here's one http://homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=46068

 

[kentuckyhippie]

ok, once you have him cleaned out inside you first chop off his head. The best way to do this is have your hatchet really sharp and in one hand then with the other hand put a strong stick where he will grab onto it with his mouth then stretch out his neck by pulling on the stick and chop him off close to his head. Let him bleed for a couple hours. Have a big kettle of water boiling and dip him in just briefly then with a knife scrape all the black outside layer of his skin kind of like if you were butchering a hog and scraping it. when you get his legs and neck scraped flip him on his back and with a sharp knife or a pair of tin snips cut the belly plate lose from the shell. When you pull it off the guts, etc will be right under it to be discarded. after you get rid of them you can disjoint the legs, neck, etc from where they join the shell and he's ready to cook. Heres a good recipe for chowder.

turtle chowder
boil cleaned turtle in salted water until tender. Remove. cool and discard fat and bones. Strain the broth that the turtle cooked in. Use diced potato, shopped onion and shredded carrot in the same amount as the meat. If you have 2 cups meat then use 2 cups potato, 2 cups onion, 2 cups carrot Put the meat and veggies back in the kettle with just enough broth to cover them and cook a few minutes until the vegetables are tender. Stir in one can evaporated milk and serve. Don't boil after the milk is added or it will curdle and don't use condensed milk, it is sweet.

 

[ksbrooke]

Can you all tell me how this tastes? I don't think I would eat it, but I am curious..hope you don't take offense.
Thanks
Brooke

 

[DayBird]

Can you all tell me how this tastes? I don't think I would eat it, but I am curious..hope you don't take offense.
Thanks
Brooke

Doesn't everything taste like chicken?

If it's a common snapper, enjoy your meal. If it's an alligator snapper, you're probably violating several state and federal laws by even keeping it. I believe Louisiana is the only state where you can legally capture and eat wild alligator snappers.

 

[Guest]

my mother ate turtle soup years ago at a restraunt in new orleons and said it was good. my brother and a band of canoe campers once ate a huge turtle in canada but he didn't say how it was cooked or if he liked it i never asked but saw a photo of the monster. They had a guide who probably did the preparing. Sounds a lot like a chowder recipe. I do know some people put catfish in clean water a few days around here up to 2 weeks not so much to empty the digestive track as to help get the mud out of them. most of the time you are doing the lake a favor by removing turtle they take over and destroy lakes for decent game fish around here we dispose of turtle and carp any time we can and fish and game aproves and encourages the practice.hey let your husband kill the beast isn't that our job.

 

[moopups]

Go to your URL line, back space until you get to no numbers showing; enter 40158 and click 'go' button.

 

[DayBird]

Go to your URL line, back space until you get to no numbers showing; enter 40158 and click 'go' button.

I like pancakes.

 

[Guest]

Cleaning a snapper is not easy but you don't need to keep him in clear water for a while. All you are cleaning out are the intestines and you don't eat them anyway. Just hose him off and remove the head close so you have as much neck to work with as possible. After he stops moving take a garden hose, put it in the neck opening, and blow him up with water. This will loosen the skin. Then dress out and bone out the meat, wash and cut up in bite size or a little bigger pieces. Roll in flour with salt and pepper and brown on all sides. Add a little water, cover, and simmer about an hour. (I like some cayenne in it too) Wonderful food! Taste? Somewhere between dark meat chicken and pork loin. Enjoy! Former Ducks limited