Turducken

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

Show: Food Network SpecialsEpisode: Paula's Southern Thanksgiving

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (50)

Cook Time:
5 hr 0 min
Level:
Difficult
Yield:
25 servings, as main course

Times:

Prep: 30 min
Inactive Prep: 8 hr 0 min
Cook: 5 hr 0 min
Total:: 13 hr 30 min

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Ingredients

Brine:

1 cup kosher salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 gallon water
18 to 21-pound turkey, skin intact and boned except for drumsticks
House seasoning, recipe follows
Cornbread Dressing, recipe follows
3 to 4-pound duck, boned
3 to 4-pound chicken, boned
Paprika

Directions

To make the brine: Mix salt and sugar with the water. Brine is ready when the mixture is completely dissolved. If the water is heated to quicken the process, make sure it is cooled to room temperature before placing meat in. Let the 3 birds sit in brine in the refrigerator overnight.

Preheat roaster to 500 degrees F.

Lay turkey skin side down on a flat surface. Dust turkey with House Seasoning and add 1/4-inch layer of cornbread dressing. Lay duck skin side down on top of dressing. Dust duck with House Seasoning and add 1/4-inch layer of dressing. Repeat with the chicken.

Begin trussing up the turkey at the neck. Insert metal skewer about 1/2-inch from the edge and up through the other side. Run butcher's twine between skin and skewer and tighten to draw both sides together. Continue down to legs. With every other skewer, draw together the duck and chicken skin. Tie together turkey legs to resemble standard turkey. Dust turkey skin with paprika.

Roast turducken for 15 minutes. Then turn the roaster down to 225 degrees F to finish, approximately 3 hours. Remove turducken from roaster once the internal temperature in the chicken reaches 155 degrees F. Let rest for at least 20 minutes before carving.

Cut across the middle of the breast completely through. Plate thin slices containing turkey, duck and chicken.

Cook's Notes: If using a smoker to cook, smoke at 225 degrees F for 5 hours, rotating every 20 to 30 minutes until internal temperature reaches 155 degrees F and external temperature reaches 165 degrees F. Try to keep the flare-ups from the fire to a minimum.

House Seasoning:

1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Cornbread Dressing:

Cornbread:

1 cup self rising cornmeal
1/2 cup self-rising flour
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Dressing:

7 slices white bread, dried in warm oven
Cornbread
1 sleeve saltine crackers
2 cups chopped celery
1 large onion, chopped
8 tablespoons butter
7 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
5 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the cornbread, combine all ingredients and pour into a greased shallow baking dish. Bake for approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

To make the dressing, crumble dried white bread slices, cornbread and crackers. Mix together and set aside. Saute chopped celery and onion in butter until transparent, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Pour over corn bread mixture. Add stock, mix well and add salt, pepper, sage, and poultry seasoning. Add beaten eggs and mix well. Follow instructions above to stuff birds.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Turducken
Scotty Summerville, SC 01-05-2010
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Be Careful In Your Adulation Of Turducken
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

When my buddy sent me an email explaining how over the holidays he had been to San Francisco with friends, and tried a new... wild game treat called ?Turducken? ? a combination of meats. What he failed to make clear was that the three meats were Turkey, Duck and Chicken. And what really complicated matters were that in his haste of typing he evidently added a letter ?f? while typing the adjacent ?d? key, and created a very different impression in my mind of how his time in San Francisco had been. What would you have thought? ??Went to San Francisco with some friends over the holidays and tried this new wild game thing called ?Turd*ucken? ? a combination of meats.? (*=f) I kinda got the impression he had gotten a little funny on me, been to some really crazy party, and/or maybe replaced ?Rice-A-Roni? as the San Francisco treat. In any event, if you decide you like the taste of Turkey, Duck and Chicken prepared together, you might want to be careful how you describe it in your emails to friends, and just a little reminder that the ?f? key is right next to the ?d? key on your keyboard! Read more
recipe Turducken
null null, null 11-25-2009
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COOKING TIME
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I THINK THE OVEN THAT PAULA USES IS A CONVECTION OVEN AND THAT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE ON TIME.
recipe Turducken
danae tampa, FL 11-22-2009
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YUM!!!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I looks so good I'm going to give this one a try
recipe Turducken
Mimi Berlin, MD 11-16-2009
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The Best Ever!!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I made this turducken the first time it aired. I was skeptical, so was my family. The whole meal was delicious! There was... nothing left over at all. I used a bigger turkey, 30 pounds, and cooked an extra breast just in case. The turducken cooked all day and there was nothing left for snacks. I made her entire meal,and was lucky to get some dressing. I did use skeweers to hold everything together. Next time I made it I took off the skin of the duck and chicken...much better!Read more
recipe Turducken
Parker Hixson, TN 11-09-2009
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How Food Network has dumbed down food.....
Rated: 1 stars out of 5

You skipped two steps, skewing the chicken and the duck closed, which without doing, you cannot secure the turkey. In... addition to which, you dropped the stuffed turkey into an empty roaster, and then when you removed it from the oven, and,...... forgot to mention that it needs to set 15-20 minutes, the turducken was cradled in a roasting rack, which was not there prior! This is an expensive recipe, not to mention time consuming, and if you do not give adequate directions, PLEASE do not give inadequate instructions!Read more
recipe Turducken
c Los Angeles, CA 02-26-2009
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great idea, but cooking time is wrong
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

i just made a turducken last week, and I can confirm that the 3 hour cooking time this recipe proposes for an 18-21 lb turkey... is completely off. Even with a 10 lb turkey, a 5 lb duck, and 1 lb of chicken (total weight, de-boned, was 11.1 lbs), I needed to cook it for AT LEAST 6.5 hours at a consistent temp of 350 in order to reach an internal temperature of 165. Also, de-boning the turkey/duck will eat up a lot of your time (an additional 3.5 hours in prep time if you're a beginner and have no familiarity with avian anatomy) Aside from that, It was totally worth the effort.Read more