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Perhaps some of you are just going to run out to the supermarket and pick up the first turkey that you see on the shelves of the meat section a few days before Thanksgiving. While this strategy will get you a bird, it will not necessarily get you the best bird, as evidenced by the NYT's cook-off of different types of turkey. The first step in turkey shopping is to find out what kind of turkey you actually want and how much it is going to cost you.
- Heritage turkeys are the types of birds that were served more than, say, 50 years ago when a turkey with breasts larger than the rest of the body was not necessarily desirable. Most of the breeds of bird are not commercially bred and some may even be endangered, so a limited number of them are available at a premium price.
- Free Range turkeys are ones that, like free range chickens, have the option of going outdoors instead of being completely confined, although some free range birds are actually raised completely in the open, so you might want to ask your meat provider about the origin of a free-ranger.
- Organic turkeys are raised on organic feed and without antibiotics and "natural" turkeys make similar claims. Whether you want an organic bird is a personal preference, but Bill Mattos, president of the California Poultry Federation, is quick to point out that "growth hormones and preservatives are not used in California chickens or turkeys, so you just don't have to worry about [that aspect]."
- Conventional turkeys are the least expensive and easiest to find. Some say that they have somewhat less flavor than other birds and, because they have such a large amount of breast meat, they have the potential to be drier than the meat from other birds.
Once you have the turkey, all you have to do is defrost it (unless you've found a local source for frozen turkeys), cook it to perfection and enjoy. You might also want to mention to your dinner guests the amount of time you put into the turkey-finding process so they, too, can appreciate it a bit more.
Find more Thanksgiving turkey recipes and tips on KitchenDaily.com
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11-22-2006 @5:11PM Darby said... Turkey is better with cajun seasoning,rub turkey with Tony Chachere's or Zatarain's Creole Seasoning.Add just a pinch to your gravy,dats good,yeah.
For those not knowing where to buy creole seasoning,Safeway and Albertson has it on their seasoning aisle.
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11-22-2006 @5:25PM Catherine said... Oven bag for turkey is the best way to roast it. I turn the pan once (half way through the cooking process. It gets done so much faster and doesn't dry out. Just follow the instructions very carefully on the box and you will have a perfect turkey. Happy Thanksgiving!!!
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11-30-2006 @11:39AM Marilyn Maxwell said... Jacqui is right. Baking a turkey at 2:25 - 2:50 degrees overnight makes the turkey moist and tender. I've been baking a 20 - 22 lb. fresh killed, Amish grown turkey this way, for Thanksgiving,the past 5 years. Always get raves, and it makes so much delicious broth, I can make enough gravy even for left-overs. (But I don't put the turkey in a brown bag. Just bake it stuffed, and get up once or twice to baste. At that low temperature the cooking time needs to be longer. The pop-up timer works great.
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11-30-2006 @11:28AM Turkey King said... I have used the Turkey cooking method from the recently discovered Tak/Taotiki Indian scrolls found near Plymouth Rock last spring which are the cooking instructions used by the Indians to cook Turkey at the 1st Thanksgiving starting this whole modern day tradition. This method was found to provide the best flavors ever tasted in Turkey cooking by cooking scholars and I agree. Here is the original method which is still considered a valuable secret. Take vinegar, cumin, and mustard making a paste and rub the bird throughly in and out. Take 2 large dryed oak leaves soaked in rum over night and place inside the bird. Next take the pit of an avacado (this replaces a Mokar fruit which are no longer available) make about 13 holes in it and place whole cloves in the holes and with this pit ready place it in the bird. Cook uncovered in an oven as a normal Turkey adn you will see what flavors you will see. Very best ever. Bon Appotitoe
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11-30-2006 @7:49PM Mary Jo Eshelman, ND said... The U.S. Department of Agriculture exempts birds from the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA), an act passed more than 50 years ago intended to ensure that animals are rendered insensible to pain before they are killed. As a result, these birds—more than 95 percent of land animals killed for food—have no federal legal protection from being hung upside-down in shackles, electrocuted, cut with mechanical blades, and even being immersed in scalding water, all while fully conscious.
Indeed, these chickens, turkeys, and other birds are permitted to be slaughtered in ways that would be illegal if forced on cattle or pigs.
Fortunately, there is another way. With a process called Controlled Atmosphere Stunning (CAS), birds can be rendered unconscious or killed before they're even removed from transport crates, reducing both the handling of live birds and the potential for abuse.
The HSUS is working diligently to accelerate the poultry industry's move away from current inhumane slaughter methods.
Please sign the Petition for Poultry to request that poultry be included in the Humane Slaughtering Act!
http://www.hsus.org/farm/camp/p4p/
Thank you!
Vibraceous, ND
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12-01-2006 @6:39AM Ayshia said... For the last 35/40 years I have baking my Turkey's the same way. I never buy more than a 10 to 12 pound turkey! If I will need more meat that that, I buy 2 or whatever. Completely thaw or not. Just get giblets out! I then place th turkey on large piece of aluminum foil and bring it totally up and around the turkey folding tightly on the top to 'lock and then pulling the sides in and up to let the turkey do it's own basting. I then put it in may covered roaster with all vents closed. Nothing else in the roaster, no water, nothing. Place in the oven at 275 degrees and bake all night. Turn oven on when I go to bed and smeall the heavely smell all night! The turkey is ready when I get up in the morning and my oven is free for whatever it is needed for that day! My turkey are tender and the meat nearly falls off the bone! Good luck!
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