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Turkey Prices


Shel_B

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The Local Butcher sent out an email describing their holiday turkeys and prices.

 

They are offering "pastured-raised, Non-GMO project verified, tasty turkeys."  The White Broad Breasted Turkeys are $9.00/lb. and the Heritage Breed Turkeys are $12.50/lb.  Both of these breeds will be "fresh (never frozen), flavorful and free of hormones and antibiotics."  

 

These prices seem a little high to me, but I am comparing them to supermarket birds, and I haven't purchased a turkey in decades.  The Local Butcher is a high-end shop selling only local meats and poultry, all of which is pastured, organic, or grass fed.  They are a "nose-to-tail" shop, and the quality of their products is excellent.

 

What kind of birds do you get and what do you pay for your them? 

Edited by Shel_B (log)

 ... Shel


 

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$ 0.49 / lbs.  22 lbs +  "White Bread Turkey"  I dont mind.

 

I am thinking about a few of these :

 

Turkey 4.jpg

 

Organic, free range etc  $ 0.00 lbs.  feathers included.

 

this is across the street from me.

 

you gotta be quick I think .....  Id love to see what they taste like ....

Edited by rotuts (log)
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Heh, I was going to say the same thing as rotus. I had to wait for a whole flock of those to cross the street on my way into work today.

 

I've always been a guest at Thanksigiving, so I've never bought the turkey.

Joanna G. Hurley

"Civilization means food and literature all round." -Aldous Huxley

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We pay about $5/pound for free range broad breasted bronze turkeys finished on sunflower seeds.

 

The most important turkey that we purchase costs $0.19/pound with a $50 grocery purchase.  We buy about three of these for our local food pantry.  

 

tim

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$90-$125 for a 10 pound turkey? Whoa. I do like the specifications mind you, and I am usually not averse to spending money for quality meats, but, if I saw those prices I would seriously consider going back to the preservative/salt-laden, kept in tight quarters, fed on GMO corn turkey for this one meal (or two meals) of the year where I serve whole turkey. I doubt the crap in that one turkey would affect my overall health that much if I normally try to steer clear of standard grade meats. And, actually, to date, I have found supermarket turkeys are often juicier and tastier than the specialty store ones.

 

That said, right now, similarly special turkeys are going for about $7 a pound around these parts right now I think - a price I don't like but which I can still handle if I close my eyes at the checkout counter. Reasonable quality supermarket turkeys are probably going to run around a $1-$1.50 a pound here depending on specials and size.

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I more or less agree w 

 

 

dcarch

 

there is the Frooo Frooo of free range, Organic  so you Guests know quite well you are Such  A Swell ..

 

but it is about the Gravy  ( Free Range ?   :huh:  ) and the stuffing and the trimmings.

 

and understanding how to cook the White Meat in a different fashion than the Dark so its ' moist '

 

Having Problems ?  Cranberry Sauce 'Clears the palate' for your next Dose .

 

:blink:

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2013 prices of free range, organic turkeys in the bay area range from reasonable to high.  Notes HERE.

 

I can get turkeys, geese, ducks, even pheasant from my "egg man" (who does not want his name bandied about to "strangers")

at extremely reasonable prices (often free) because I have done him some favors and given him some of the butchering tools I used to use  (meat bandsaw) mainly to clear up some space...

 

I bought one of the "high end - heirloom" turkeys a few years ago and was NOT impressed with the flavor - or the texture of the meat. 

The "slow-grow" turkeys from Diestel are available at a local health food store - Whole Foods is an hour drive for me - one way.  And they are pretty good.  I got one last year  at the 3.89 per pound price. 

 

This year my ex-neighbors are raising several turkeys for the holidays and as they have invited me for Thanksgiving, I doubt I will buy one for just me.  I have reserved a pheasant from the egg man for when he gets around to butchering for family and friends - as he now has a huge number of game birds he is really busy and now has a local licensed abbatoir dressing the birds for commercial sale. 

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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On the one day a year that I cook an entire turkey and serve it to my friends and family, I like buy the crappiest bird I can so that we can all complain about how flavorless it is. It's even better when the store gives it away for free with the purchase of $100 worth of Hamburger Helper and Campbell's Cream of Mushroom.

 

</end sarcasm>

Edited by btbyrd (log)
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I more or less agree w 

 

 

dcarch

 

there is the Frooo Frooo of free range, Organic  so you Guests know quite well you are Such  A Swell ..

 

but it is about the Gravy  ( Free Range ?   :huh:  ) and the stuffing and the trimmings.

 

and understanding how to cook the White Meat in a different fashion than the Dark so its ' moist '

 

Having Problems ?  Cranberry Sauce 'Clears the palate' for your next Dose .

 

:blink:

My "secret" to cooking really huge birds, which I did in the past, was to braise them on the stove top (in the largest Magnalite roaster) until the "done" temp was reached then uncover and into the oven for 35 minutes to brown the surface.  Moist all the way through and vast amounts of dripping for gravy.  I still have one of those big roasters and it is going on ebay soon.  I have to have my aortic valve fixed soon and til then am forbidden to lift more than 10 pounds...  Drat.

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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I Must Tell All This :

 

A ) Im enjoying a Methode Rotuts  based on those Bone Marrow above

 

the best way to cook a Turk is to look into the Julia Child and Jacque Pepin methode where the bone it out and place in  on

 

the stuffing to ""roast "

 

better if you can see this   ( it was from the Jacque and Julia PBS  or maybe Julia and Jacque series )

 

I Of Course   

 

knew a bit more  You bone out the turkey breast and do it that way.

 

on the stuffing.

 

Lets just say :  Ive been around the Block a Few Times.

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You bone out the turkey breast and do it that way.

 

on the stuffing.

 

That's almost what we did for Canadian Thanksgiving a couple of weeks ago. A boneless skin-on tied turkey breast roast on top of stuffing. It was cooked in the Cuisinart Convection Steam oven and the steam-roast setting seemed to keep it quite moist, while still browning the skin.   :smile:

 

Edited to add: To properly tie this in to the thread, I don't remember the cost but breast-only can be expensive. This one wasn't too big, so not too many $$$. It gave us a couple of meals + sandwiches. (It's the sandwiches I like the best, I think!)

Edited by FauxPas (log)
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" Hotel style " Fz turkey breast is not expensive   " south of the border " when its on sale

 

I have no idea what the Hotel has to do with it, but it has the wing meat w/o the bone that they have pulled off.

 

:huh:

 

you do have to bone out the breast  ( easy peasey ) and some tendon on the yanked out wing

 

you take the carcass and make some stock on day one.  you chill the rest for day two :::

 

you cook the boned out breast on the stuffing on day two w some of that stock to make the stuffing taste like

 

Roasted Turkey Stuffing   you use the rest of the stock for gravy

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BTW : here is my Cat Earthquake socializing  w the local Turks :

 

Turkeys & MrE.jpg

 

they actually saw him im the window and came down to say hello.  no kidding !

 

here is the deconstructed Turkey from Julia and Jacque +

 

stuffing :

 

Turkey Stuff.jpg

 

that's two bags of CornBread Arnold w Mix'Ins  ( crucial )

 

with the deconstructed turkey on the top :

 

Turkey Pre.pg.jpg

 

that's a 22 + lbs Turk  ( not the ones in the window ) FZ at $ 0.49 cents an LBS

 

and done :

 

Turkey Done.jpg

 

the nice thing about this is it cooks much quicker  and has no bones except for the leg not the thigh

 

so you just slice away !

 

some things carefully thought out were very delicious PreSouVide

 

not many, but this was was

!

Edited by rotuts (log)
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That looks like a great way to cook the bird, rotuts.  You don't mention a difference in timing or doneness between the light and the dark meat, but I'd expect some anyway.  Did you have to take any particular steps to make it all come out right?

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the light and dark turned out fine cooked as the same time.  the breast was thicker, so maybe that made the difference

 

pre- SV this is how Ive done turkey many times.  first covered w foil, then the foil comes off to brown.  stuffing very very moist

 

made w dry cornbread mix  ( no spices salt in it ) turkey stock  ( made from the carcass day 1 ) butter  sausage  toasted pecans apples and dried canberries.  you use the quantities for butter and liquid on the arnold package.   I use 1/2 but butter called for, melted in the stock.

 

as the sausage is cooked 'raw' with the mix.   a suggestion of J.Pepin on Julia/jacque show.  I used to cook the sausage first and drain,

 

one less step and more flavor in the stuffing.

 

Ill do this again this Thanks.  a break for the SV.  the wings are also in there, just w/o the tip that went into the stock.

 

I think the temp of the over was 350 and you check it at 1:30. take off the foil. might take 2 hrs or so.

 

this was very pre SV and pre-thermapen.

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this thread must have been started after seeing the CI  Nov/dec issue.  it has two articles on heritage birds.

 

I looked in to it at my library :

 

the second article had a note about 'Wild' turkey which you can get from either :

 

1 ) your front yard  or 2 ) D'Artagnan for $ 82.99 for a 5 - 7 lb bird.  cant say what shipping would be.

 

tasting notes include:

 

"more angular looking.  leaner.  4.56 % fat in the white meat and 7.23 % fat in the dark.  Tasters weren't as wowed by it as the heritage

 

turkeys.  the meat tuexture as " fibrous, dense, and chewy" and its flavor while "good" left a "funky aftertaste" "

 

:huh:

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