snappin turtle

[bigben]

I caught a few snappers two weeks ago.  Friday we killed and butchered them.  I wanted to make some up because I really did not know what it tasted like.  I found a recipe for snapper jambalaya/gumbo.  I took from it and made my own.

2-3lbs snapper meat
1/2 white onion cut anyway you like it.
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 heaping tbls of garlic
2 beers (i used killians irish red)
12-14oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 jar medium salsa. 
1 tsp of red pepper flakes
2 cups of water
1 tbls of chicken base(can substitute 2cups of water and chicken base for chicken broth)
12oz box of zatterannes jambalaya rice mix.

add snapper two beers garlic and red pepper flakes in crock pot and cook until meat falls off bone. 

pull meat from bones and save 1cup of snapper broth.  discard bones.

put remaining ingredients in except rice.  place crock pot on high till veggies just start turning soft.  dump in rice and mix well.  once rice is done grab a beer and eat. 

this turned out pretty good and I don't know if it is true jambalaya but it is mitee tastee. 

[coyote101]

That looks pretty good Ben. Of course anything made with Zatarain's cant' be bad. I have one question; how do you clean a turtle? 

Pat

[bigben]

well its kinda hard to explain on the net.  but here is how I did it. 

tools needed,
case beer
vise grips
hatchet
2x4
fillet knife
skinnin knife
knife sharpener.

cut turtles head off.  2 person job.  tease turtle with stick then once he grabs stick grab bottom jaw with vise grips.  have friend hold onto tail or press down on shell hard.  Pull neck out and cut the head off with a sharp hatchet.  this is easier said then done.  Thats what the case of beer is for to persuade your buddy to help.  LOL

flip turtle over on back and grab a foot with vise grips.  pull across 2x4 and cut off with hatchet.  cut all four off leave the tail on. 

hang in tree for a bit till blood stops dripping.

flip turtle on back and cut around breastplate.  both in front and back.  Then find the soft part between breastplate and the shell.  Cut both sides.  Use fillet knife to fillet breast plate free of the meat. 

skin each front leg and neck down to shell.  cut skin from shell.  you will see a seperation between the neck and front legs.  cut between down to shell and cut meat around shell to bone.  Twist the leg free.  you will still end up having to cut around the joint. 

do same to other front leg.  take neck and pull to back of turtle.  cut down to where the neck attaches to the shell.  work knife between the joint to free neck.  pull wind pipe from neck and cut free the meat from the shell.

Spin turtle around and skin out back legs.  there is a joint where the back leg attachs to the pelvic bone.  Cut joint apart like you would a deer or chicken.  Skin back tail to the vent and then cut skin away from the shell and cut tail off.  Get your buddy to either hold shell or the pelvis.  Start twisting the pelvis free while cutting close to shell.  be carefull the intestine is still attached to the pelvis.  we cut this out before twisting free on the last turtle and it made it easier. 

dump guts out in trash can and cut back straps out.  they are held in by bone and a pair of side cutters are needed to cut them loose.  fillet back straps out.  Soak meat in salt water then package and freeze.  Try to trim as much fat as possible. 

if you have ever butchered/skinned other animals out you should be fine.  I also placed turtles in barrels for a week changing water every day before killing them.  keep em in a cool location. 

[Hawks Feather]

Ben,

This brings back some "childhood" memories for me.  There was an old lady that raised snapping turtles.  She had fenced in pits with the snappers in them.  We only had it a couple of times when my grandfather came to visit, but Mom and Dad would call her and she would pull one out and put in into a barrel of clean water so that it was cleaned out a few days later when we went to pick it up.  She had a chopping block on top of a stump with a couple of 2x4s nailed to it.  She would put the turtle behind the 2x4s (with his head facing out), poke it so that it bit a block of wood, pull the head out between the 2x4s, and chop.  I was pretty little, but she sure seemed fast with the pull and chop.

Jerry

[slagmaker]

Grandpa always hit them square on the nose with a 2x4. that would stun them then a pair of pliers to pull the head/neck out and whack with a hatchet

[bigben]

the only thing that stinks doing turtles is they are like rattlers.  They move the whole time.  kicking and moving while skinning/butchering. 

[5 SHOTS]

This brought back a few childhood memories for me too. My dad used to ship turtle meat to Campbell soup by the barrel. He had a few big stock tanks out back that we were encouraged to swim in anytime we wanted.  I butchered turtles as soon as I got home from school most nights. I butchered my first one about the ripe old age of 6, if I remember right. We would poke a hay hook in their mouth and hook the bottom jaw, then stand on the shell and pull. We just used a knife to cut the head off. Then we cut right behind the "exhaust pipe" (dad never said "vent") and bent it down to break the tail bones and expose the spinal cord. When the spinal cord was exposed, we slid a piece of stiff wire in to destroy the spinal column all the way to the neck. You had to go slow because the rest of the tail and the back feet would move at the slightest touch of the wire. After working the wire in and out a few times the turtle would be pretty limp and easy to clean.

[JohnP]

Ain't never ate turtle soup.  And I sure as heck ain't going to butcher anything that I need an axe,2x4 and vice grips to get the job done. 

[Biscuit]

We have a turtle cook every July 4th, usually just deep fried and put in a steamer. We clean around 20-30 turtles leading up to the event. I will post a video of how we clean them if that would help any of you guys out. My father in law is the best ive ever seen at this.

[cathryn]

Turtles good to eat but I hate the way they smell before they're cooked. Kinda like stagnant water.