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I have not experienced much difference between frozen and fresh turkeys.
I would say that there are two issues that cause dryness. First, some people cooking frozen turkeys grossly underestimate the time it takes for a turkey to thaw. That means the turkey is partially frozen in the oven and it takes forever to cook. Second, people cook turkeys far too long.
Personally, I roast ALL my meats and cook to the proper temperature and there is never an issue with dryness.
Now, my MIL she used to get turkeys with two pop-up buttons. the first told her when the turkey was done. The second one was to yell "Surrender."
You could, of course, always buy a fresh turkey the day it arrives at the store (ask the manager when he's expecting a delivery), and take it home, unwrap it, remove the gizzard/heart/liver/neck from the cavity, wash it, re-wrap it, and freeze it. Then defrost it in cold water the day before Thanksgiving.
I've had frozen ones that were great, but I've also had frozen ones that when I defrosted them, were already spoiled - very frustrating. Now I try to buy a fresh one the day it arrives, and clean and freeze it, or I get a fresh one from the last load to arrive, which is usually on Monday or Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and keep it very cold until Thursday morning.
I have not experienced much difference between frozen and fresh turkeys.
I would say that there are two issues that cause dryness. First, some people cooking frozen turkeys grossly underestimate the time it takes for a turkey to thaw. That means the turkey is partially frozen in the oven and it takes forever to cook. Second, people cook turkeys far too long.
Personally, I roast ALL my meats and cook to the proper temperature and there is never an issue with dryness.
Now, my MIL she used to get turkeys with two pop-up buttons. the first told her when the turkey was done. The second one was to yell "Surrender."
I agree. Last year my chef friend cooked a fresh, organic turkey, & while it was good, I didn't think it was any better than the frozen butterballs I've had in the past.
A good cook will make either one taste good.
I do think pre ordering one, is the way to go, if you insist on fresh.
I'm going to add this: I've raised a home raised turkey and there is no comparison. My turkeys were processed, cleaned and frozen and there was a marked difference between those and the store ones.
I'm going to guess it doesn't make much difference frozen or fresh. The difference is in how the turkey was raised. If you can buy a fresh turkey from a local farmer who is not raising hundreds at a time and who allows his birds room to wander and forage, that is the way to get the best turkey. (and expect to pay a small fortune; that is an expensive way to raise poultry)
Also, I've raised both broad breasted white turkeys and heritage turkeys, and raised the same way, political correctness be damned, the commercial broad breasted turkeys are much better.
Fresh turkey ordered for Tuesday afternoon pickup. I asked for the smallest one - the meat manager kinda chuckled and said "about the smallest we get is 14 pounds." A lot of turkey for six people - 3 of whom are very light eaters! (I'm decidedly not one of them.)
It will be dry brined on Wednesday. Leftovers in freezer by Friday lunch.
I have purchased "fresh" turkeys for several years now, from the local grocery store, Costco, a health food store, and a high-end specialty store. All of them were very, very cold with ice crystals in the cavity (and the giblets pretty-well frozen). None of them were frozen solid (like the "frozen" ones you find). All of them were marked with a Use or Freeze By date, just like all poultry products. That date tells you all you need to know.
I begin my dry-brine process on Saturday before Thanksgiving after removing the (somewhat frozen) giblets and rinsing it inside and out, patting dry, and allowing the bird to come up to a normal (residential) refrigerator temperature. The bird brines in our second fridge for the entire time, until about a hour or two before going in the oven. The salt from the brine must help preserve it. I would never leave "normal" poultry to sit in the fridge that long before using or freezing it.
I've always purchased a fresh turkey because I don't want to deal with the thawing process/uncertainty of a frozen one. Never been disappointed.
This year, our biggest problem seems to be finding one that isn't huge. I think people are doing smaller gatherings and aren't as interested in the big birds. I'll be heading to our local Albertson's tomorrow morning to hopefully find a 10-12 pounder. DH and I called over there today and the butcher says they're expecting a shipment of fresh turkeys to arrive overnight. Our Sprouts told me they only have 17-pounders, and they have no idea what might be coming in, if anything. "Everything's so weird this year," was his explanation.
Fresh turkey ordered for Tuesday afternoon pickup. I asked for the smallest one - the meat manager kinda chuckled and said "about the smallest we get is 14 pounds."
A lot of the 12-14# turkeys are put aside for large corporate "boxed turkey" purchases. We distributed between 600-1000 turkeys every Thanksgiving and most were around 12#.
Of course, the "big guy" always wanted to know why we weren't paying the $0.49/lb that the supermarkets were charging ...
We cooked a turkey about a month ago just for fun, and put the extra meat into Foodsaver vacuum sealed bags, then the freezer.
Thawed one out last week and it was as fresh and succulent as the minute it came out of the oven. Amazing! From now on, that's what we'll do, because we're a small family and these big birds are going to last us a few meals.
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