# snapper



## elkmaster101 (May 24, 2011)

has anyone ever tried smoking turtle?

I have a nice 25 lb snapping critter flushing out in a tub. he'll take a knife in about 3 or 4 days then its into the pressure cooker. to loosen him up.

then next thing I want try is smoking him on rackes in my smoker. any help would be great.

lets here some ideas.


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## elkmaster101 (May 25, 2011)

not one soul here has ever smoked turtle before?

000 come on it can't be tough.


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## shooter1 (May 25, 2011)

Looks like you may be the first.


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## elkmaster101 (May 25, 2011)

you have got to be kidding,

turtle is so good to eat,

kind of tastes like,,,,,   hum, I know!  aligator tail. 

any one out there ever smoked alligator tail?


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## shooter1 (May 25, 2011)

I have heard its very good, just never had the chance to try it, though I would if it was available. Definitely have eaten Gator, only fried and grilled, never smoked. I would think it would be to tough if smoked but once again not sure. Anybody????


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## Bearcarver (May 25, 2011)

I love Snapper Soup, but I never had it with "Smoked Snapper". They look like a PITA to clean, and I heard they have more toxins in them than any other creature, so I forgot about looking into taking one out of my Son's pond & cleaning & smoking it.

Just my 2 cents,

Bear


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## elkmaster101 (May 25, 2011)

pressure cook the meat makes soft and tender,

you can cut it with a fork.

just woundered if any one has tried to flavor it with smoke afterwords,

or should i first smoke it then pressure cook it?

going to throw on butterwood.

love the smoke flavor you get off it.

we will be doing 5 whole turkeys, 6 pork rib slabs,

a 20 lb prime rib, and a hand full of broiler chickens.

 sucking down a couple cold beers,

TRY TO get a round or two of 3D shooting (BOW) 5 TARGETS


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## roller (May 25, 2011)

I have eat a bunch of it but never smoked any. They take 3 days to die...


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## Bearcarver (May 25, 2011)

Roller said:


> I have eat a bunch of it but never smoked any. They take 3 days to die...


LOL----When I was a kid, I used to shoot them, and take them to a restaurant. The guy used to give me 50¢ a pound live weight. That was a lot of money in the late 50s & early 60s. The guy would ask me how long ago I killed it. He said they have to be really fresh!

So a few days later, I caught one alive, and put a slip-knot around his neck. He was only about 25/30 pounds. So I get to the back door of the restaurant, open the door, and walk him in. I looked over at the head cook who pays me, and said, " Is this one fresh enough for you?"----LOL----Didn't shock the guy one bit---He replied, "Walk that bad boy over here, and I'll give you your money". He gave me a buck a pound for that one!!!

At the time they were paying $1.25 per pound for frozen ones, but that was without the shell, and cleaned.

Bear


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## elkmaster101 (May 25, 2011)

I have a borrow pit behind my place it is adjecent to a creek,

there is always a bunch of turtles making their way up and down the creek

with a few that stop in and look around the borrow pit.

i place them in a tank of fresh water changed daily.

this cleans out their system in a week or so.

then debone them and pressure cook the meat, 

the tail  tastes like crock- lobster

the back legs like beef roast.

the front legs & sholder like like pork roast

the neck has a texture and flavor of brisket.

yum, yum,


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## elkmaster101 (May 31, 2011)

wow, the turtle turned out perfect,

I'll try to load up some pictures.

got to try butter nut wood guys, it has a rich but mild flavor of hickory,

with a touch of butter  flavor.

the fruit nut is the same style but a little smaller in size. the tree is smooth barked

all the different meats turned out supper,

yum, yum.


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## bluebombersfan (May 31, 2011)

Sounds interesting would love to see some pics!!


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## boykjo (May 31, 2011)

always wanted to do this  insert


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## elkmaster101 (Jul 5, 2011)

thought I'd show a couple pictures right, prime rib -left pork ribs


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## elkmaster101 (Jul 5, 2011)

picture of the rest all done at the same s
	

		
			
		

		
	






	

		
			
		

		
	
moke


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## elkmaster101 (Jul 5, 2011)

forgot to show the deer roast its in

front of hte pork ribs


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## Bearcarver (Jul 5, 2011)

Real nice pics Elkmaster! Beautiful job on those various meats too!!!

Now you're really ready.

Next thing you do with your next smoke, take some more quality pics for us like these, but try to get in closer on a sliced piece, and give us a nice close-up.

Everybody loves that, except the people who may have to use the same keyboard after us.

Thanks,

Bear


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## meateater (Jul 5, 2011)

Will this work?


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## elkmaster101 (Jul 6, 2011)

now thats a snaper you can eat shell and all, cool.

so the common question does it taste like ?


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## tjohnson (Jul 6, 2011)

This thread reminds me of when I was a kid....

We used to fish with drop lines for snappers.  All we had was some fishing line with a hook, and a worm on it.  After we caught a snapper or two, we would throw them in a sack and bike 5 miles to the Hopkins House Restaurant.  The chef would pay us $.05/lb, not the $.50/lb. Bear would get!!  We took the change, and headed to the candy store. 

This was a big deal for a couple of kids!

I've had deep fried turtle, but never smoked

Very Cool My Friend!

Todd


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## alelover (Jul 6, 2011)

Where's the turtle? The real turtle. Everything looks wonderful. Quite the feast.


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## alelover (Jul 6, 2011)

Where's the turtle? The real turtle. Everything looks wonderful. Quite the feast.


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## elkmaster101 (Jul 6, 2011)

real turtle.

hanging,.

but didn't get the

real turtle smoking,

she came straight

out of the smoker

and onto a platter,

and was scarfed

up before i even

thought about

a picture.


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## Bearcarver (Jul 6, 2011)

Nice Picture, Elk!!!

Your helper looks happy about the whole thing.

The other 3 seem to have lost their heads over the whole thing---Can't bite anyone that way!!!!

Thanks for the View,

Bear


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## alelover (Jul 8, 2011)

Nice display. Those are some biggins. I hate to ask. What's the drill for?


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## sunman76 (Jul 8, 2011)

looks like a good time


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## elkmaster101 (Jul 8, 2011)

put a deck screw thru their tail to drain them

let them bite onto to a rag and cut off their heads

then place a hose under the neck skin and

place a piece of tie wire around the neck and cinch it down ,

turn on the water slow and it will fill up the body under the skin

which puffs out their legs this makes it real easy to skin them out of their shell,

you can whip out a turtle in about 4 minutes.

 yep they ar tasty too.

the neck meat is my favorite , just like lobster.


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## alelover (Jul 8, 2011)

Gotcha. So those turtles are really screwed then.  
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





 Couldn't resist.


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