Smoked and Sous Vide Wild Turkey Wings

Cooked wild turkey wings rest on a plate.

Jack Hennessy grew up in the South Suburbs of Chicago…

Stop throwing out those wild turkey wings! Tenderize the tough cuts with a low-and-slow method before finishing them on a smoker or grill

In my talks with successful turkey hunters so far this spring, all have admitted they saved the breasts. A couple mentioned they kept the thighs and legs. Zero of those polled said they saved the wings.

Yes, the harder-working cuts like thighs, legs, and wings require some serious time and some serious TLC to tenderize before they’re edible. But they are, indeed, and, in the case of wings, they are something special if prepared properly.

Truth be told, while I pluck most of my upland birds and waterfowl, I will skin my wild turkeys—everything other than the wings. I will take the time to pull out the feathers from them, and, yes, it does take some time, but it’s so worth it for the flavor that resides in this skin and how it keeps these cuts from drying out during the cooking process.

Why not pluck other parts of a wild turkey? You certainly can, but I’ve found that most of my spring longbeards come with thin leathery skin on the breasts. It hasn’t seemed worth the effort, but that’s my take. Because the skin on thighs and legs turns to gelatin during required low-and-slow cooking methods, I rarely bother plucking those either. That doesn’t mean you can’t, this is just my personal spring routine for these birds.

In this recipe, I am sharing a method for tenderizing tough cuts. This particular method requires a sous vide cooker. But what is a sous vide? Simply, a vertical cooking device with heating coils at the bottom that regulate the temperature of a water bath to a decimal point of a degree. It’s designed for precise, longer-term cooking. When meat is sealed and added to the bath, the pressure of the water and its consistent temperature slowly cook that meat for a final tender product. In the case of tough wild turkey cuts, over many hours, collagen breaks down at a low temperature resulting in fork-tender meat. Smoking it after helps firm up the meat, adding some texture while also imbuing it with additional flavor.

But you don’t absolutely need a sous vide cooker for this recipe. Below, I also share how to make delicious wings in your oven. And perhaps you don’t have or want a smoker. If that’s the case, follow the directions below and sear your wings over a hot grill instead of smoking for the final step.

In terms of what barbecue sauce to use, that choice is up to you, but I drizzled on some Beard Butcher Blend BBQ Sauce. If you’re feeling spicy, you could mix your favorite BBQ sauce with chili paste or something like Buffalo Wild Wing’s Mango Habanero sauce.