I have a time blowing all the dust out of turkey feathers after tumbling. Are there additional benefits derived from tumbling other than speeding up the drying process?
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There is an alternative. You can sift borax over the ferathers and then try to blow it out. This takes longer, though.
I tumble birds with corn cob grit. A good shake, and a blowing with air cleans them off nicely. in the past I tumbled them lightly, then dried the rest of the way with a hair dryer. It takes a long time, but produces nice looking birds too.
Do you find tumbling inhances the luster on the feathers (or has any other benefits) or is it done solely for the purpose of drying?
It has been my experience that a turkey that has been tumbled well has a better shine to the feathers, The colors seem to show better, especially on the breast.
That's what I was wanting to know.