What turkey do you buy for Thanksgiving?

Does it really make any difference what turkey you buy? Frozen, not frozen, organic, Kosher, or brined? Trader Joe's is offering an already brined turkey, Costco has turkeys.. Last year I bought a fresh Diestal and it tasted old. Has anyone cooked a specific brand of turkey each year and had it turn out well?

Anything but this one. Trust me. Stay far, far away...

I buy a heritage breed bird from a local farmer. Far and away the best bird, of any species or manufacture, I have ever made for Bird Day. There must be locavore suppliers near you.

I buy Diestel and I've never had a problem. I buy about a 10 pound turkey and have the butcher saw it in half right down the middle. I freeze one half and cook the other over a mound of stuffing. It isn't quite perfect that way, but it's better than not having turkey juice suffuse the stuffing, and my 90 year old mother and I can eat up what's been cooked before it suffers from too long in the refrigerator.

John

Gail and I are skipping the turkey dinner this year, since we plan on being in the woods hunting venison from daylight to dark on Thanksgiving. We might hit a diner afterwards. Or throw a fresh tenderloin on the grill, if we get one.

We have been buying fresh turkeys for several years now. Obtain them from the local butcher who does an enormous volume for Thanksgiving. Also, have been brining the bird overnight for just as long. Everyone is impressed with how moist the bird ends up. Highly recommend that approach.

[Jenise]

Karen, I've tried EVERYTHING. Having acquired a dislike for the "natural seasonings and flavors" added to most supermarket birds I've gone the truly natural route for awhile and have had both good and bad success with heritage birds (some have been incredible, and some have been incredibly gamey). This year I'm getting one from a local grower who has branched out from goat farming for milk and cheese into raising poultry.

Jenise, I have tried most all of it, as well. Many successes and a few bad birds. I know people who buy the cheapest bird they can find, like in the .79 cents range and swear by them. I've not gone that route yet. Last year was the worst with the Diestel. Gene and I noticed the old taste right off, our family did not say anything about it, but knowing our sons, they would not. Last year I clipped an article out of Martha Stewart's magazine about coating the turkey with salt, inside and out, covering and putting into the refer for two days. It sounded easier and less messy than the usual brine method..... Martha's kitchen staff seemed to think it was an excellent method.

Not a fan of turkey, though I recall using it quite a bit for curries back in the late 1980s as an alternative to chicken.

I haven't bought any turkey for over a decade, but will very occasionally have it before xmas (typically in the canteen).

regards

Ian

Karen, here's a pretty good little comparison piece on chow.com
http://www.chow.com/stories/11423

FWIW, after trying brining (tasted like lunch meat), and trying Deistel (worst turkey we ever had) we went back to our beloved Butterball. I know we had this discussion last year and it made me quite unpopular--mainly based on Butterball's inhumane practices. (I guess that was back in 2007 and I'm pleased to know that PETA was apparently successful in pursuading them to change their ways.)

As I said last year, it's the turkey Len and I both grew up on and just tastes the best to us. We don't have to basted it and it comes out great every time. Everytime I talk about trying a new method or brand, he says, "Why mess with success?"

(Dave, your post cracked me up.)

Karen, here's a pretty good little comparison piece on chow.com
http://www.chow.com/stories/11423

FWIW, after trying brining (tasted like lunch meat), and trying Deistel (worst turkey we ever had) we went back to our beloved Butterball. I know we had this discussion last year and it made me quite unpopular--mainly based on Butterball's inhumane practices. (I guess that was back in 2007 and I'm pleased to know that PETA was apparently successful in pursuading them to change their ways.)

As I said last year, it's the turkey Len and I both grew up on and just tastes the best to us. We don't have to basted it and it comes out great every time. Everytime I talk about trying a new method or brand, he says, "Why mess with success?"

(Dave, your post cracked me up.)

Carrie, We used to eat Butterball's all the time. It was what my husband sold at his meat cutting shop in Eureka, CA before we were married, and what he sold to restaurants, It was the best. Then one year we had a bird that would not cook all the way. It was the weirdest thing I have ever seen. I took it back to the store still partially raw, but I cannot recall what were were told. I stopped buying them after that. Might be worth another try. Thanks for the link...

(I guess that was back in 2007 and I'm pleased to know that PETA was apparently successful in pursuading them to change their ways.)

PETA - People Eating Tasty Animals.
Seriously, I find myself wanting to support the other side of ANY issue that is supported by PETA, I dislike that organization so much.

(I guess that was back in 2007 and I'm pleased to know that PETA was apparently successful in pursuading them to change their ways.)

PETA - People Eating Tasty Animals.
Seriously, I find myself wanting to support the other side of ANY issue that is supported by PETA, I dislike that organization so much.

I'm not a fan of them either, but at least their efforts did some good here. They probably did not see it as success, as their goal was probably to set all of the turkeys free.