Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Young fresh turkeys are more tender and juicy. My families favorite type of turkey is smoked turkey. We can sometimes buy them at Sam's.
One of the best I ever baked was a young turkey that I basted by putting bacon over the breast until they thoroughly cooked. It took two pounds of bacon and there was a lot of grease in the bottom of the pan.
I had so much trouble handling the last turkey I baked that I swore off ever baking another one. I almost dropped it in the floor and my husband had to come help me. It was a dangerous situation. This year I think I will just get the breast and use the crock pot to cook it.
We don't really like turkey so I am hoping I can find a way to camouflage the taste in the crock pot. Guess it is time to get busy with that. Turkey has a wild taste to me.
One year it was just my husband and myself and I found this frozen turkey with dressing with a cranberry dribble that we really liked. I think there were six servings in the frozen container so we got three good meals from it. That's my idea of the ideal turkey for Thanksgiving with no leftovers. We have tried going out but it is just not the same as having the meal at home with the parade on TV.
When our children were younger we went to the parade every year and then to a local cafeteria. We made a day of it. But the best part was no leftovers.
ive had 3 wild turkeys in the last yr,,,about as fresh and organic as you can get,,, they were ok,,,good flavor
when thanksgiving comes around....in this region,,,,the brilliant supermarkets,,,,give the damn things away below cost,,
shaws has them on sale for 69lb that is cheap!! now is the time to stock up the freezer buy a few of them..
oh and ive had the farm raised ones for 3.99lb at my sister in laws .... you ever see these turkeys being raised?? they aren't overly bright they eat there own feces and peck the hell out of each other..
shadybrook is good, jennie o marvel, butterball is good...
I think the key to a good turkey is basting it ,,leave it uncovered.... and cook it to 165f not 180f
I grew up eating turkey that was cooked all night in the oven,,,,by the time we ate ....its a good thing we had gravy!!! I didn't have juicy turkey til I was in my 20's
Kosher turkeys are reputedly very tender and moist because the koshering process requires that they be rinsed and salted longer than the average turkey. Having said that, I have never prepared a kosher turkey (although I am Jewish- I don't keep kosher). I know people, even non Jews, who go out of their way to buy a kosher turkey though.
For that matter, I don't cook turkeys, hams etc for the Holidays, instead opting to do a "semi homemade" variation where I buy a prepared meal (including the turkey) in advance and then add my own additional sides and desserts.
The best flavor is in the extra large toms. Although, birds don't seem to be identified as toms or hens any more. But the great big ones are all toms. They have more fat and that means more flavor.
The cheaper turkeys are best. You have to buy one without the included "basting". The basting tends to be unattractive margarine type stuff. If you really want basted, by an injector and inject some real butter. Only the cheaper brands come without the fat injected. Jennie-O birds are usually good.
A nice home raised free range bird is by far the very best flavor, but I suspect that you can't buy those. "Fresh" unfrozen is probably the exact same bird as the frozen one, only never frozen. Commercial "free range" poultry is raised on the ground, but it is all crowded together and fed the standard commercial turkey diet. There is no reason for it to taste better and it isn't any more humane. Crowded is crowded, whether it is standing on dirt or standing on wire.
All the commercially raised birds are the exact same breed of bird.
Heritage turkeys have nice flavor, much less breast meat, and tend to be both smaller and tougher. If you don't mind a bit of additional chewing, they really taste good. I just served up some genuinely free range heritage turkey thighs. Tasted wonderful. Cooked in the crock pot for 10 hours to get them nice and tender. I know they were raised right, because I raised them myself. (and then smoked them myself for a smoked turkey and bacon salad with blue cheese and pecans with balsamic dressing).
My opinion, if you can find one and if you can afford it is a barnyard raised, loose living broad breasted white that has wandered around, uncrowded, unstressed, and eating bugs or whatever else it could find, as well as top of the line, high protein turkey pellets. Expect to reserve well in advance and to pay a large amount of money. Some homesteaders will raise a dozen because they get a price break to buy more poults, and then they sell the extras.
It costs close to $10 to buy a turkey poult. A commercial turkey, priced for the turkey wars at Thanksgiving, doesn't cost much more than $10. So, the homesteader pays $10 for the poult and still has to raise it under heat lamps until it is feathered and buy all of it's special high protein feed. He can't raise it and sell it for cheap.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
