Expert’s Guide to Shopping for Turkey

Byamazingfoodstv


Ingredient expert Jack Bishop shares tips for buying turkey.

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Get the recipe One-Pan Turkey Breast and Stuffing:

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48 Comments

  2. We bought a Mary’s heritage turkey this year for $27 or $3 a pound for a 9lb bird. This type of turkey is actually more similar to the type of turkey, or chompipe as we call it, that we eat in Central America, where the larger turkeys that are raised with more white breast meat are not commonly found. To roast it, the night before the bird is washed inside and out with lime juice, let it store in the fridge overnight to crisp up a bit, and stuff the used lime peels into the cavity, truss, and roast slowly. For us it would be traditional to baste the turkey skin with seasoned mustard so the finished bird has an almost yellow appearance from the mustard. After roasting the bird is sliced, and then we make a special turkey sandwich out of it called panes con pavo (we only use the word pavo for cooked sliced turkey and the word chompipe for whole roasted turkey), which is the sliced roasted turkey allowed to simmer in a rich tomato sauce thickened with pumpkin seeds and spices served in a large roll with cucumber, radish, watercress, more of the tomato sauce, and crema or a sour cream like mixture – a great way to use leftover Turkey.

  4. Yes, free range turkey is the BEST! (I put globs of butter under the skin and cover most of the bird with bacon, delicious and so moist. The turkey never dries out, super juicy. I never stuff my bird, but I add a couple lemons cut in half, stuffing I make separate from the turkey. You must try it. Have a wonderful day.

  21. When bacterial infections are a thing and your favourite brand is "never antibiotics" -now consider what happens to sick animals on those farms….yeah, not as 'good' and humane as they dress things up to be.

  25. In our area, good luck finding a turkey. Two weeks out from Thanksgiving, they are putting limits on purchases; you have to buy at least $35 worth of groceries and you are limited to one turkey per purchase. I'm not sure what they'd do if they saw you coming back in to buy another one immediately afterwards, but it doesn't look like it's going to matter; there's only one bin of turkeys whereas normally there's a whole section for fresh as well as frozen.

  31. Factoid: "The term fresh may ONLY be placed on raw poultry that has never been below 26° F. ( -3.3 °C) Poultry held at 0° F (-17.7°C) or below must be labeled frozen or previously frozen." – USDA.

  36. I used to sell free range natural turkeys, when I worked at a natural food store in Portland, Oregon. I told people not to stuff the bird. Follow the cooking directions on the label exactly for the bird to come out correctly and the people that didn't mess with the bird had a wonderful turkey and the people that decided they wouldn't listen to me had a terrible turkey. So if you decide you're going to buy a free range natural turkey, the best thing to do is just leave it alone and cook it like the label says. Just some friendly advice.

  37. I got suckered into buying these overpriced birds a few times, and they were always inferior. I spent $150-$200 on these birds, while my supermarket was giving away free turkeys if you spent $100 on groceries. Many years ago (25+), Cooks Illustrated did a blind taste test, and Butterball was the hands down winner. You could hear the pain in their metaphoric voices when the results were revealed, but facts is facts.

  38. Many years ago I purchased a Butterball or Jenny-O and wet brined it and it turned out crazy salty — I failed to take into account the sodium that was already injected into the bird when I purchased it. But the sides were delicious and lesson learned. These are the birds in today's sales flyers for my 2 nearby major grocers for .88/lb (with a $25 purchase) and what many people can afford, so no salt brine if you buy one.

  45. I went big a couple years ago and bought a heritage turkey for around $75 from a local butcher. It was literally the worst turkey I've ever eaten despite perfect preparation and cooking.

    We went back to Butterball and haven't had a problem since.

    I wish these special birds were worth it l, but they're not. We only buy air chilled chicken in our house so we know good poultry. These expensive turkey's aren't worth it.

  46. If feedlot livestock taste like cow poo in their meat (coming from the soft feet in the poo, getting into the blood and then meat), then one wonders if the same feedlot turkeys taste like turkey poo in their meat. Free range beef and free range turkey meat should be wonderfully exercised, flavorful of open grass range greenery, and not having all those antibiotics and other medicinal beef and turkey.

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