LAZ wrote:

Pie Lady wrote:I can't imagine not having an abundance of turkey (and leftover sandwiches) and I was toying with the idea of buying a separate breast and legs this year anyway

Why not buy a whole turkey or two and cut them up? Cook the parts you want and freeze the rest. You can always use the wings and other extra parts for stock.

Carving was one of the things I wanted to avoid. Especially now that I have a cold, I just want to get the food on the table and eat.

Might I suggest getting some of the smoked legs and wings, with a "normal" turkey breast?
More expensive than a turkey itself, but little effort.....

I did. I ordered a ham, turkey breast, 4 legs and a quart of turkey stock from Joseph's on Addison. It was indeed a shitload of money but hopefully worth it. ($4.29 for a half ham and $3.59 for a breast, I didn't ask about the legs).

This year we got a natural, vegetarian fed, antibiotic/hormone free turkey from peapod. We've been shopping on peapod for the last 6 months weekly and its been a godsend in the city without a car. This turkey was $22 and is 12lb. They didn't have any organic turkeys, if they did I probably would have went with one of those. I figured this was as close to organic as I'm gonna get. One year I did a heritage turkey and spent close to $90 for a 7.5lb bird, not knowing it would be that skinny.. It was delicious but we all laughed when it came out of the oven because it looked like a cornish hen.. After that experience we just decided to do organic or all natural, around 10lbs is fine for us.

I picked up my ham and was disappointed to find that it was just a vacuum-sealed Hillshire Farm ham. I'll have to report back how it is.

It was awfully nice of the fella to bring my box out to the car, even though I said I could carry 20 lbs. I must look like a lightweight.

Pie Lady wrote:It was awfully nice of the fella to bring my box out to the car, even though I said I could carry 20 lbs. I must look like a lightweight.

I'm going to speculate that you were polite and cheerful to the fella and he signified his appreciation by being helpful. I try to be that way in all of my dealings of that nature and I'm often similarly rewarded. In fact, I was at Valli today and had a pleasant chat with the woman working the register. She has a long day and I hope I made it a little better.

I don't know you and hopefully I'm not speaking out of school, but I would find it hard to pass up an opportunity to lend a hand to an attractive member of the opposite sex.

But carried too far and it would be stalking ...

Got a free-range (fer shure--the birds were running all over everywhere in the barnyard ) turkey from a farmer south of Keeseville NY. Not a heritage, just a regular old white guy. But man, what a difference the free-ranging makes in flavor and texture! We'll never go back to supermarket birds again.

Geo

Took a couple phone calls but I did get a turkey set aside for me to pick-up this weekend down in Morton, IL. (Peoria area). I had done HoKa's the last 4 or 5 years but wanted a change of pace this time.

Small farm thats been raising turkeys for 80 years, - Yordy Turkey Farm, Fresh, all natural, etc.

http://www.yordyturkey.com/

$2.58/Lb. - $.30 less/lb. than HoKa.

Yordy Turkey Farm
2000 S. Main
Morton, IL.

309-263-2891

j0emv wrote:This year we got a natural, vegetarian fed, antibiotic/hormone free turkey from peapod. We've been shopping on peapod for the last 6 months weekly and its been a godsend in the city without a car. This turkey was $22 and is 12lb. They didn't have any organic turkeys, if they did I probably would have went with one of those. I figured this was as close to organic as I'm gonna get. One year I did a heritage turkey and spent close to $90 for a 7.5lb bird, not knowing it would be that skinny.. It was delicious but we all laughed when it came out of the oven because it looked like a cornish hen.. After that experience we just decided to do organic or all natural, around 10lbs is fine for us.

Too funny- with my clan I often buy the big Purdue oven roaster chickens that run at 7-8 lbs
I can't even imagine a turkey at only 10 lbs.
The smallest one I have ever done was 14 or so
nothing goes to waste around here...

Treasure Island's Thanksgiving ad just came out for Wed. Like some of the other grocers, they have a "spend $50 get a cheap turkey" deal, 48 cents for large frozen Norbest hen turkeys,( $1.18 without the purchase.)They also carry several other turkey options: Fresh Norbest 1.68, fresh Hoka 2.88, Eberly 4.98, Barbers fresh gluten free 2.29. Have fresh ducks for 3.69 and Carando ham for 3.49 ( might only be spiral cut though, and I'm not a fan of dried out ham).

Tend to have decent prices on other items needed, e.g. Sweet potatoes 25 cents a lb,broccoli crowns 70 cents, Centrella frozen vegetables 59 cents a lb, fresh rosemary, thyme, sage 1.49 a bunch, etc.

Not a lot of stores around Chicago, but I've had better luck with their produce than the larger grocers.

Ad is at tifood.com for more details

In the meantime, I need to rearrange my freezer to make room for an extra turkey.

I have to ask but what does " Barbers fresh gluten free" mean?
I have a local supplier that will butcher next week and pickup is on Wednesday.
If he is not available than it's John's Live Poultry for me.
No frozen birds even if labeled "All Natural"!-Dick

I assume that gluten free refers to the feed for the Barber's turkey, but not positive. My splurges have been limited to Ho-kas.
What does John charge for live turkeys these days?

I smoked a pre T-Day turkey yesterday.





You know the hardest part about smoking a turkey?

Finding the right size rolling papers.

BGE?

looks good,

How many pounds was the bird, approx time of the cook?

jimswside wrote:BGE?

looks good,

How many pounds was the bird, approx time of the cook?

Big Green Egg, yes.

Brined backbone out/leg thigh disjointed 14-pound turkey was done in under three hours. Backbone out speeds cooking, allows better smoke penetration and, by tying the legs up as pictured, turkey retains a traditional look when brought to the table.

I've been doing turkey this way for years.

Plated turkey


Also did brined smoked salmon, smoked hummus, smoked garlic for our pre T-day recipe testing cook.

"What does John charge for live turkeys these days?"
Don't know about this year because my bird is still walking around in Racine County and John is my backup but
don't go into shock if you order and pickup because the price per pound is multiplied by the live weight of the bird.
About Monday a big truck will pull up at the back of John's and the whole space will be filled with nervous birds.
Non-stop processing will then take place. Many people want a live bird freshly processed.
If you do go/order a bird, bring a large cooler and ice to pack the cavity for a freshly processed bird.
What I like about my supplier is that he grinds the feed from locally procured grain and we are trying to source as much as we can from local growers.
No brine, no special cooking methods are required, just stuff, season, oil/butter or whatever the outside, tent the legs with foil and into the oven, a perfect bird.-Dick

budrichard wrote:I have to ask but what does " Barbers fresh gluten free" mean?

From Treasure Island's ad:

Two Turkey options for your Thanksgiving Day feast.

Hoka natural turkey, local grown in an independent family owned farm in Waterman Illinois. We feed a diet of corn and soybean meal with added protein from such sources as fish meal and are allowed to roam freely. This means less fat and more protein! They are also Gluten free. They have the best bone to meat ratio of any turkey.

Barber turkey, is Gluten free, all natural turkey. Minimally processed fresh never frozen.

Some birds are injected with brine or other flavor enhancers during processing. Some of these contain gluten.

Things have been crazy and I forgot to preorder my HoKa bird this year. Remembered seeing a few extras last year and thought I'd see what's available at Fresh Farms in Niles. There were a grand total of three birds left, one at 16.4 lbs which I grabbed. Yikes! Not gonna slack next year.

It's out in the garage in a dry brine flavored with juniper berries and lemon zest.

GWiv, what a gorgeous bird! We'll be picking up a few cheap birds on Friday for smoking throughout the wintertime, gonna remember this post...

And finally, some practical advice from Tante Marie:



Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Santander wrote:And finally, some practical advice from Tante Marie:
Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Love her! Happy Thanksgiving/Thanksgivukkah!

Getting ready to fry a bird at my brother's house.

Happy Thanksgiving!

=R=

A few highlights from a great Thanksgiving meal. In particular, the pie and tart were delicious--thanks go to my friend Lindsay who just started a made-to-order pastry business-http://www.sugarloafcake.com.

Pulling the bird

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Pulling the bird

Took a moment for the image to render on the internet connection I'm on, thought it might be an example of excessive holiday drinking on Ronnie's part

I did a turkey on a WSM, tasty if I do say so myself.

Bird is the word

I smoked our 15 pound bird with hickory and it turned out quite lovely. Used a pan to catch drippings and the smoky gravy made from it was phenomenal.

jimswside wrote:Took a couple phone calls but I did get a turkey set aside for me to pick-up this weekend down in Morton, IL. (Peoria area). I had done HoKa's the last 4 or 5 years but wanted a change of pace this time.

Small farm thats been raising turkeys for 80 years, - Yordy Turkey Farm, Fresh, all natural, etc.

http://www.yordyturkey.com/

$2.58/Lb. - $.30 less/lb. than HoKa.

Yordy Turkey Farm
2000 S. Main
Morton, IL.

309-263-2891

top notch bird from these friendly folks. - got a 19 Lb. didnt mess with it at all as far as brining(wet or dry), etc. Just seasoned the cavity, stuffed it, rubbed it with olive oil and spices and roasted it for 5 hours.

One of the most flavorfull turkeys I have made. - Probably not going back to HoKa.

Damn! Those smoked birds look great. I missed doing one this year.

One of my friends sent me a few more shots of our frying session, saying this one was his favorite . . .


Frying a Ho-Ka bird at my brother's house

He brined it for about 24 hours but I'm not sure exactly what he used in the brine. We fried it in peanut oil. Even with virtually no wind, the oil took about an hour to come up to temperature (375 F), after which the bird took about 45 minutes to cook.

=R=

My local guy did not raise any turkey’s this year forcing me to find another supplier.
Old Glory Farms is in Elkhorn and they free range thier turkeys and more importantly they are walking around the weekend before going off of the packing house in Clinton.
Pick up Tuesday at the farm. http://www.oldgloryfarmwisconsin.com/
The rest is up to you.
An excellent bird with virtually no extra moisture, tender and great taste.
No need to brine or any other treatment except cook.
-Richard