Old Turkey

After all the prep work, planning and cooking, we were so disappointed in the turkey. I started buying fresh, Diestal turkeys in 2005 and we always had excellent results. This year, when it came off the Weber it looked like a picture, beautiful, even golden brown, but not as much juice as usual. We covered and let it rest for almost 20 minutes. While Gene was carving, I reached for a few pieces of crispy skin and was not happy with the taste. Gene and I thought it tasted old, and he said the dark meat was a tougher texture than past years, The breast meat, which everyone else ate, just tasted old. Since I did not get the usual raves about the turkey, I knew something was wrong. We are having leftovers tonight, which I generally enjoy more than the actual meal, so I will give this bird a second chance. Tomorrow it all goes into a pot for stock, and the leftover meat will go into enchiladas.
We also tried something different this year that we did not like. Gene carved one side of the breast off as a whole piece and then sliced from that. On the other side, his sliced right off of the bird. We really prefer the latter! So how was your bird?

Sorry about your bird, Karen. That is too bad. We had a Deistel a few years ago at a friend's home who swore by them. We didn't care for it. Call me unsophisticated, but my husband and I both grew up on Butterballs and that's what we prefer. I know, they are probably injected with all kinds of bad stuff, but they sure taste good. I cooked mine five degrees too long, but it was still moist and delicious. And, it was $11 for 22.5 pounds!

Sorry about your bird, Karen. That is too bad. We had a Deistel a few years ago at a friend's home who swore by them. We didn't care for it. Call me unsophisticated, but my husband and I both grew up on Butterballs and that's what we prefer. I know, they are probably injected with all kinds of bad stuff, but they sure taste good. I cooked mine five degrees too long, but it was still moist and delicious. And, it was $11 for 22.5 pounds!

Here's the life of a Butterball:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... gewanted=1

Bought a locally raised free range turkey myself. Supported a farmer. Made a wonderful meal. Bird cost me 30 bucks. But, I feel good about it.

I bought a [buzzword]natural, free range, organic [/buzzword] turkey from my local natural food store. The story is that it's from a small, California farm, Mary's, and that the birds are raised in a humane fashion. If one dials the 800 number on the label of the turkey, Mary answers. Or so I'm told.

I don't particularly care for turkey, but this bird had very good flavor. It actually tasted like something, as opposed to many supermarket birds, which I find devoid of flavor. The texture was different, too, especially the thigh meat, which had a bit of chew to it. I mean that in a good way, not that it was tough, but just that there was some muscle tone to it, as opposed to flab.

At $2 per lb, I thought it was a steal. We'll be eating the remains for the rest of the week.

I bought a [buzzword]natural, free range, organic [/buzzword] turkey from my local natural food store. The story is that it's from a small, California farm, Mary's, and that the birds are raised in a humane fashion. If one dials the 800 number on the label of the turkey, Mary answers. Or so I'm told.

I don't particularly care for turkey, but this bird had very good flavor. It actually tasted like something, as opposed to many supermarket birds, which I find devoid of flavor. The texture was different, too, especially the thigh meat, which had a bit of chew to it. I mean that in a good way, not that it was tough, but just that there was some muscle tone to it, as opposed to flab.

At $2 per lb, I thought it was a steal. We'll be eating the remains for the rest of the week.

Yep, that is a very good price. I do like turkey, especially those with flavor. Some local folks up here were selling their birds for $65.00 - $75.00. And apparently getting it.

Yep, that is a very good price. I do like turkey, especially those with flavor. Some local folks up here were selling their birds for $65.00 - $75.00. And apparently getting it.

Things are pretty much the same up here. If you get your order in six months in advance you can have the privelege of paying $25-$30 per pound on delivery at Thanksgiving. There are at least six producers in the state that do this, and sell every bird they raise.

We bought a "fresh" fifteen pounder at the supermarket the day before Thanksgiving for $15, and it was excellent. I won't give the brand because the Chef will post a webstite on it, and depress me.

Sorry about your bird, Karen. That is too bad. We had a Deistel a few years ago at a friend's home who swore by them. We didn't care for it. Call me unsophisticated, but my husband and I both grew up on Butterballs and that's what we prefer. I know, they are probably injected with all kinds of bad stuff, but they sure taste good. I cooked mine five degrees too long, but it was still moist and delicious. And, it was $11 for 22.5 pounds!

Here's the life of a Butterball:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... gewanted=1

Bought a locally raised free range turkey myself. Supported a farmer. Made a wonderful meal. Bird cost me 30 bucks. But, I feel good about it.

Thank you for sharing the article Chef. I read the whole thing but it didn't do much to change my mind. As far as I know, there are no homegrown turkey producers in this area, but as I said, we are plebians who enjoy the taste broad breasted whites that have been injected with all sorts of bad things. With so much going on around the holidays, I really don't want to add to my list of to-dos by ordering on-line and stressing over whether FedEx will get my bird here on time (and then not even be assured we will enjoy it.) Only one store in this area carries Deistel. You have to call ahead and get on a list, and then go wait in line at the meat counter to pick it up. (My friend just bought an 8 lb breast and it was $49.) But, it's not the expense that turned us off. It was the taste and texture of it (not sure if that was the bird's fault or the cook's since we didn't prepare it.) It's a once-(maybe twice)-a-year indulgence for us and I've been eating Butterballs since my baby teeth emerged, so not sure if there is much that could change that. That said, I may try to find a small "Mary's turkey," to make on a non-holiday to see if it passes the test.

I always support our local farmers by purchasing their produce, honey and buy bread from local bakers. I'm very much a "local shopper" for many other things. Just not my poultry.

P.S. I noticed that Butterball was one of the sponsors of the last episode of Top Chef. All of the turkey the chefs cooked for the band Foo Fighters was Butterball brand. Chef Tom Collichio said of one of the team's roasted turkey, something like "This is what turkey is supposed to taste like. Delicious." Scripted as part of the sponsorship? I'd actually like to know...

Butterballs were 0.89/lb here in Albuquerque. Other brands were 0.29/lb., meaning you could get a 20-lb turkey in the $6.00 range. That's almost free food.

I started using a cooking bag some years ago, and I always get nicely browned, juicy turkey in a minimum of time. Do you remember when your mother would get up in the middle of the night to start the turkey?

Butterballs were 0.89/lb here in Albuquerque. Other brands were 0.29/lb., meaning you could get a 20-lb turkey in the $6.00 range. That's almost free food.

I started using a cooking bag some years ago, and I always get nicely browned, juicy turkey in a minimum of time. Do you remember when your mother would get up in the middle of the night to start the turkey?

They were .49/lb at one of our stores when you spent $25 there.

We used to get Butterballs too, because that is the brand my husband carried in the meat shop he owned in Eureka prior to our marriage. I think I will go back to that next year....since I don't think we have any turkey farmers around here.

FWIW, Diestel came out dead last when Cook's Illustrated tasted turkeys last year. The comments mirrored yours, Karen - "even the dark meat is dry", also that the dark meat was "rubbery, dark and funky," with a "fishy flavor." Diestel was number eight out of eight. Butterball came in third with people liking the moistness but some finding it too salty and/or bland. It shared one thing with the top-rated bird (a kosher one, Rubashkin's Aaron's Best): Aaron's Best and Butterball were #1 and #2 for salt content.

P.S. I noticed that Butterball was one of the sponsors of the last episode of Top Chef. All of the turkey the chefs cooked for the band Foo Fighters was Butterball brand. Chef Tom Collichio said of one of the team's roasted turkey, something like "This is what turkey is supposed to taste like. Delicious." Scripted as part of the sponsorship? I'd actually like to know...

Probably scripted. But, I would never be able to venture an opinion from personal experience as I've already posted my opinion of Top Chef and its ilk elsewhere.

FWIW, Diestel came out dead last when Cook's Illustrated tasted turkeys last year. The comments mirrored yours, Karen - "even the dark meat is dry", also that the dark meat was "rubbery, dark and funky," with a "fishy flavor." Diestel was number eight out of eight. Butterball came in third with people liking the moistness but some finding it too salty and/or bland. It shared one thing with the top-rated bird (a kosher one, Rubashkin's Aaron's Best): Aaron's Best and Butterball were #1 and #2 for salt content.

I will confess to watching this show on occasion. I find they frequently arrive at the same conclusions I have. Yeah, those big busted birds are pumped full of saline.

Odd that some large supermarkets are not offering natural birds. Roth's out here, an upscale supermarket admittedly, had natural birds both fresh and frozen.And McMinnville only has a population of 30,000.

Oh, yeah, I meant to say something about the brining thing - the more natural your food source the less need for brining - this is true of all animals. My turkey was terrific without.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd4h5xKLGuE

Oh, yeah, I meant to say something about the brining thing - the more natural your food source the less need for brining - this is true of all animals. My turkey was terrific without.

Yup, and that is especially true with pork. The industrial raised product in most grocery stores is extra lean and plain tough in most instances. Whenever we go to NJ's family in Iowa, we make it a point to stop at the local "locker" to pick up a load of pork cuts. These hogs were slaughtered on site, came from local farmers and were raised in a traditional/non-factory environment. Nuttin' like Kroger/Costco, etc.. Yummmmm!!
Bill

Oh, yeah, I meant to say something about the brining thing - the more natural your food source the less need for brining - this is true of all animals. My turkey was terrific without.

I used a fresh, no-brine turkey this year, but made the mistake of stuffing it. It took way too long to cook. The stuffing was good. I used home made wheat bread, onions, celery, shredded Cortland apples, and corn (this was from silver queen that I froze in the Summer, but when I served it the night before with a lobster dinner, it was pretty soggy) and Red Bell seasoning. Then I divided it into two batches. A small batch for one son who is not eating meat, so I added vegetable stock and the bigger batch with chicken stock and Bob Evans sage sausage. Yesterday I made a big pot of turkey noodle soup.

Turkey noodle soup's on my agenda today.

Turkey noodle soup's on my agenda today.

Same here , plus kitchen wallpaper removal!!

"rubbery, dark and funky," with a "fishy flavor." Diestel was number eight out of eight.

Yep, that was our experience with them....

My father-in-law did our turkey on the Weber. Don't know where he got it, but it was certainly some sort of store brand. (Ain't no fancy-ass turkeys in Green Bay! ) The white meat was a touch dry but not bad, the dark meat was very tender and tasty. The skin crisped up nicely and the bird looked great. Sandwiches the next day were excellent. Since the bird itself was nothing fancy, I'll attribute the good results to the cooking technique.

Ain't no fancy-ass turkeys in Green Bay!

Simply not true. I offer Atari Bigby as an example of a fancy-ass turkey in Green Bay.