The other day at work a friend offered me some turkey necks, I had never had turkey necks before so I gave them a try. They were delicious so I decided to give them a try at home. When I bought my camper it had a Instant Pot left in it from the previous owners. So I decided that would suffice as a cooking apparatus 😉. At first I was going to slow cook them, but my tummy said "to hell you are!". So I decided to pressure cook them. Having grown up, for at least part of my life, on a farm I am familiar with pressure cookers. I am also aware of how dangerous they can be if not used properly. So I did some internet searches on cooking turkey necks in an Instant Pot set on pressure cooking. Good thing I did, I had way to much food and liquid in the pot. I also downloaded the user manual and read it for my education on using the product correctly.

I bought around 6 lbs ( 2.72 kg) of turkey necks and around 2 lbs (.91 kg) of pigtails. My idea was to add additional fat via the pigtails. I also added around 4 oz (133 g) of bacon. Personally, next time I will just use the bacon. I was not impressed by the contribution of the flavor from the pigtails. They would most likely be good in greens or cabbages, but not so much with turkey necks in my opinion. My selection of turkey necks was mostly the large base of the neck cuts and about 2 lbs (.91 kg) regular necks. That worked out well. I called a friend to ask how they season their turkey necks though they were not available. So I did an internet search. I used what is the norm (apparently) salt, pepper, sage, garlic powder, dehydrate chopped onion and paprika. I also decided to add bay leaf which was a good call in my opinion. They came out delicious though I immediately regretted adding the pig tails. It did not completely ruin the dish though I feel it would have been better without them.

So, I learned how to operate my Instant pot, also ordered some add-ons so I can start making my own yogurt and steam food. I also made my first batch of Turkey Necks which was pretty much a success. My ingredient list was:
6 lbs (2.72 kg) turkey necks
2 lbs (.91 kg) pig tails
4 oz (133g) bacon
2 tbs (30 g) sage
2 tbs (30 g) garlic powder
2 tbs (30 g) chopped onion (dehydrated)
2 tsp (10 g) paprika
2 tsp (10 g) salt (pink Himalayan fine)
2 tsp (10 g) black pepper
3 leaves bay leaf
3 cups (709.77 ml) water

I adjusted the water here to account for the fact that I used to much as I was preparing to slow cook them. I should have reduced my water to around 3 cups (709.77 ml). The only negative effect this had was to take longer for my Instant Pot to come to pressure as it had more liquid to heat. I could have likely halved my preheating time if I had used half the water I did. Also note that I cooked this in two batches as it was way to much ingredient to cook in one. I cooked them for 50 minutes a batch (plus preheating time). With the Instant Pot set on pressure cook, low setting, pressure setting high.

Unus Nemo

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#cooking #turkey necks #pig tails