Don't let these guys lead you astray. Turtles aren't all that tough to clean. Just a little tedious.
1) Put on a big pot of water to boil
2) Cut off the head
3) Throw a loop of wire or cable around the foot pad and extend leg. Carefully scald with boiling water. Do this to each leg, tail and neck.
4) Use burlap or rag to strip algae/gung buildup off these apendages.
5) Use a sharp fillet knife to cut around each apendage hole, remove, split skin and chunk out meat.
6) If you really want a cool piece of milky white meat, split the top and bottom shells at the hinge. Peel off the top shell and with a hammer and sharp chisel, cut each rib at the inside top of the shell, remove and get that piece of meat.
7) Flour, salt & pepper. Brown meat and then throw into a casserole dish. Pour in a can or two of Cream of Mushroom soup (depends on dish size and amount of meat). Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.
8) Or dip chunks in batter and deep fry.
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