# Sandhill Crane



## wyogoob

I've eaten a lot of Sandhill Crane. They have a beef-like flavor, not gamey, or like waterfowl. A young crane taken off a wheat field is very tasty, good as a wild turkey. There are exceptions: sometimes cranes will set-up on a hay field and gorge themselves on grasshoppers. Those birds will taste more like Copenhagen than anything. :-x

Crane can be tough and a challenge to cook. The older birds are as tough as shoe leather. The legs are relatively huge and full of tendons, worse than any bird out there. The thighs are tasty, the lightest-colored and most moist meat on a crane. The breast meat is like roast beef, hence the moniker "the Rib-eye of the Sky", but again it can tough and dry if cooked too fast. I've baked it; I've fried it; par-boiled it and then took the meat off the bones and cooked it some more.....Even BBQ'd it, rare, like you would do for duck, again great flavor but chewy.

IMO the best parts of a crane are the giblets; the heart, liver and gizzard. The heart is humongous and tender. There's just nothing better than cubed crane heart and gizzard, fried in a little butter with red wine and garlic and then tossed in some dressing. (I'm eating crane dressing as I type this narrative). And then there's the liver. Crane liver is the best gamebird liver, light and mild-flavored. see: http://utahwildlife.net/forum/26-recipes/29451-crane-liver.html

Usually I divide a dressed crane up into 3 parts: left half, right half, and the giblets. The breast meat is removed from the bones. Giblets and trimmings are divided in half, bagged, and added to the crane halves. The liver a meal in itself. The heart and gizzard can be used for soup or in dressing.

We'll eat half of the bird fresh and then vacuum package and freeze the other half.

Cranes gave broad shoulders and there's a lot of meat on the trunk and the wings. 
Those parts can be parboiled and then the meat removed from the bones. The cooked meat is diced up and packaged for "beef and noodle" casseroles, stews, soups, or in dressing.

Yesterday I baked one-half a crane with crabapple dressing. The crabapples were picked in mid-September and have been stored in the fridge. The giblets and trimmings in the dressing were sautéed in butter, garlic and red wine along with chopped celery and onion. Talk about some flavor!! Strips of bacon were laid on the meat to provide some moisture. The dressing was purposely made on the dry side off-setting the moisture provided by the crabapples and bacon. About 4 hours at 300° and it's done.


----------



## wyogoob

I'm making summer sausage out of my next crane. Using the same recipe as for swan summer sausage. Boy, it's really good. see: http://utahwildlife.net/forum/26-recipes/38269-swan-summer-sausage.html


----------



## wyogoob

*I thought you said you were going to make summer sausage out of your next crane?*

Look at the neck on this thing:









Hey, everyone loves crane neck soup. Here's my version:









Goob's Crane Neck Soup

Ingredients:
crane neck
6 - 15oz cans beef or chicken broth
1/2 cup - carrots, sliced 1/4"
1/2 cup - celery, sliced 1/4"
1/2 cup - onions, diced
2 - Bay leaves
6 - peppercorns
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:


 Cut neck into bite-size pieces
 Simmer neck in lightly salted water for about 10 minutes. Drain and rinse.
 Return crane to pot and add 6 cans of beef or chicken broth.
 Bring broth to a boil, add crane neck, Bay leaf and peppercorns. Simmer for 30 to 45 to minutes.
 Add vegetables and simmer for 30 minutes or until the meat starts to fall off the bones.
 Serve with rice or noodles.
Added crane heart and gizzard to mine:









Not much to it:









I had two bowls:









I looked at making crane neck pho but couldn't find many of the ingredients here in Hooterville.

.


----------



## BPturkeys

A good long boiling of that neck allows meat to almost fall off the bone and removed to be added into your soup. Reserve the stock for the base. My wife and grand kids have some kind of avoidance to soup with bone-in-meat neck meat but will gobble up the stuff if the meat is bone free. Might I be so presumptuous as to recommend a hardy dash of Cayenne pepper to all wild bird soups? Be nice to have some cool weather back so we can start cooking soups again.
Crane Stroganoff?
I have been inspired by many of your recipes, thanks Goob


----------



## wyogoob

*crane liver*

Crane liver is some of the best liver out there especially if the birds have been feeding on grain.

Crane Liver Marsala

 Cut liver into 4 or 5 pieces.
 Soak overnight in lightly salted milk.
 Dredge with seasoned flour.
 Pan fry in butter with a few sliced mushrooms and onions and a splash of Marsala wine.










wow


----------



## wyogoob

Cranes have large legs and thighs. The leg quarters, bone-in, on this young crane weighed 22 oz. The two de-boned breasts weighed 27 oz. There's just a lot of meat other than the breasts on these birds


----------



## wyogoob

I'm in the mood for soup.

I usually debone the wings on most birds. The wing meat plus whatever meat is on the trunk makes a nice pot of soup. So here we go, another soup recipe. Big birds like crane, turkey, geese, and swan are noble animals and out of respect for the bird I try to use every edible piece of meat they have to offer.

Goob's Crane n Barley Soup

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups - parboiled crane meat scraps
5 - cups crane stock
1 cup - instant barley
1/3 cup - carrots, sliced 1/4"
1/3 cup - celery, sliced 1/4"
1/3 cup - onions, sliced 1/4"
1 16 oz package - frozen mixed vegetables
2 - Bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste










Instructions:


 Remove the wing meat and cut carcass into 4 pieces
 Simmer in lightly salted water for about 12 minutes. Drain and rinse. If the crane is shot up or has been living on grasshoppers add the carrots, celery and onions to the water. Discard the veggies when you rinse the meat off.
 Return crane to the pot and add 6 cans of beef or chicken broth.
 Bring broth to a boil, add Bay leaf and peppercorns. Simmer for 30 to 45 to minutes.
 Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes or until the meat starts to fall off the bones.
Pour the meat n veggies in a strainer reserving the stock. Rinse in hot water. Remove the bones and then cut the meat into bite-size pieces. Return all to the pot and serve.
If you want really clear broth strain the stock through a towel at this point.


----------

