Preparing your bird for cooking is a messy job. It takes a few times to get used to it. Reaching your hand into the carcass of a dead bird to remove its neck and giblets is… well… there really isn’t anything to compare the feeling to. My kids make a point to tell me how gross it is that I’m tucking bird wings and reaching my hands into a dead bird. I don’t enjoy the job, but someone has to do it. They are typically very good at helping me prepare dinner, but for this task I am on my own.
One of the things we do to save grocery money is cook whole chickens instead of buying specific cuts. This helps us to make several dinners and jars of chicken broth, and in the end it costs much less. Over the years of cooking various birds I have developed some techniques to make the process a little easier.
One of the tricks to prepping a bird for cooking is tucking bird wings. If you have ever cooked a turkey without securing the wings then you know they stretch out and reach for the sky. It makes for a weird-looking display on the dinner table. It looks like a torched bird mid-flight! Some cooks tie the bird with kitchen string in a way that secures both the legs and wings. I am not a fan of using more kitchen string than I need to. To make my life a little easier, I started tucking bird wings. So, what does that look like? It’s simple:
Tucking Bird Wings
1.
Get your hands messy and grab that wing!
2.
Pull the wing forward toward the neck cavity.
3.
Tuck the wing ends under the bird body to secure.
This will hold your wings in place while it’s cooking into a delicious tender meal!
Michael bought me a couple of additions to the kitchen this year; since he knows that I am excited about prepping for Thanksgiving dinner through Bread & With It. I take a lot of pride in my turkeys each year for Christmas but I haven’t had any new or nice gadgets until now. Here are a few items I found on Amazon that you may want to consider for this years turkey or maybe as a gift for your “foodie” family member.
  Dripless Baster |
  Hamilton Beach Roaster Oven |
