Heirloom Turkeys in Houston

[Exotic Mushroom]

I'm going to be in Houston for Thanksgiving and would like to purchase an heirloom turkey to cook. I know it is kind of last minute, but my plans recently changed. I don't want to end up with a Butterball from Randall's.

Heirloom birds are my first choice, but otherwise I would love a recommendation of where I can get a high quality bird in general. The people I'm visiting live in The Woodlands, so north Houston recs are better, but I am willing to drive into town if necessary.

[MarkinHouston]

Ex, I live in The Woodlands, so I'll check the HEB Market which thinks of itself as a hybrid Central Market, albeit a pretty pale imitation. If the don't have one, it's probable that the only choices are Whole Foods (Kirby at Alabama) or the real Central Market (Westheimer at Weslayan). For the record, I have not seen them up here in the past. Stay tuned for further developments.

[MarkinHouston]

In The Woodlands Market, you can choose among "Mary's organic", "natural", and "fresh". None of these are heirloom per se. If it makes a difference, Mary's rings up at 2.49/lb, natural at 1.69, and fresh at 1.59. If heirloom is the major consideration, Whole Food, Central Market, and Rice Epicurean should be your destination. My experience is that brining any of the three mentioned first will give you moist white meat and tender dark meat. Good luck!

[highchef]

Chrisamirault posted a topic on finding your nearest turkey farm here and I used his link to find this farm in Dayton. There is a phone number, and the site says they've 'added' turkeys, but they may not be ready to sell them in any number. You might want to find out when they're going to be available for future reference. They do sell organic eggs though, and if you do a search yourself using Chris' link you might find others. I'm in S.W. La. so this was closest to me, but still too far to run over before Thanksgiving. I think HEB in the Woodlands sells organic free range birds, I know they sell the chickens as I buy 6 at a time when I'm over there. And you have Whole Foods....lucky you.

[MarkinHouston]

Chrisamirault posted a topic on finding your nearest turkey farm here and I used his link to find this farm in Dayton. There is a phone number, and the site says they've 'added' turkeys, but they may not be ready to sell them in any number. You might want to find out when they're going to be available for future reference. They do sell organic eggs though, and if you do a search yourself using Chris' link you might find others. I'm in S.W. La. so this was closest to me, but still too far to run over before Thanksgiving. I think HEB in the Woodlands sells organic free range birds, I know they sell the chickens as I buy 6 at a time when I'm over there. And you have Whole Foods....lucky you.

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It's probably at least as far to Dayton as to Houston from The Woodlands so it may not be practical for someone just visiting. But I can definitely use it for the future; thanks!. Our HEB here sells the organic free range (Mary's) birds. I'm not sure how importatnt it is to have "vegetarian-fed" birds--who cares whether the breeders is a tofu nut?! 'Just kidding--I think the wording seems strange!

[Exotic Mushroom]

Mark -

Thanks for the tips. I'll probably end up picking up a Mary's bird from The Woodlands Market. That should suffice on such short notice. I have been to the HEB Woodlands Market in the past, but for whatever reason, I always forget about it. I guess since it wasn't around way back when I lived there.

I lived in Austin briefly, near the original Central Market, and I agree, the Woodlands Market is no comparison. On the other hand, it sure beats Kroger in terms of selection, so it is a nice resource to have.

Edited November 18, 2006 by Exotic Mushroom (log)