Liz in Norwood Park wrote:Do you buy fresh or frozen?

Liz,

Last dozen or so years I've made a point of buying fresh, except when purchasing a Heritage Turkey, which are frozen. This year I picked up a fresh bird from Whole Foods which is currently taking a brine bath in my fridge.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Gary

We had an 18 lb turkey delivered frozen from williams-sonoma at our feast. From the Willie Bird Ranch in Sonoma, CA.

They delivered it frozen yesterday. It was a total disaster as the cook couldnt get it thawed in time for roasting. She actually finished the dark meat in the microwave so the kids could eat before passing out. It was $95 for the whole bird. One of the worst turkey experiences ever. WS did not have the delivery thing figured at all. there was no way to get the bird thawed after the delivery and they insisted on delivery yesterday and not several days ago. Unless they start delivering the turkeys earlier, i would not recommend buying a frozen bird from WS. [/i]

Good lord! So sorry your day went badly! - For their reference, email WS the National Turkey Federation chart with thawing guidelines (5 days.) Although online research suggests that the cold-water thaw results in an inferior bird, the cold-water thaw (depending on what time it got to you yesterday) still takes 10 hours, except the water has to be changed every half hour, so in your case it would mean staying up all night.

I'd say the least they owe you is a refund...

iblock9 wrote:there was no way to get the bird thawed after the delivery and they insisted on delivery yesterday and not several days ago. Unless they start delivering the turkeys earlier, i would not recommend buying a frozen bird from WS. [/i]

Practically to get it delivered the way you wanted it would obligate you to lie. "We celebrate Thanksgiving the weekend before." You then get it delivered in time to fit your schedule.

As Mhays suggested, you may want to request a refund.

Regards,

I was a guest at a first time turkey roasters thanksgiving and i didnt want to make waves once i found out what had happened (the chef was a bit touchy). The Ho-Ka fresh birds they were selling at Sunset sure looked good. Did anyone try one?

I made a Ho Ka turkey for the first time, and it was excellent, with extremely moist flesh (dark AND white). I did use a dry brine of salt three days prior, and that may have made a good deal of difference, but regardless, I would use a Ho Ka turkey again next year.

Just wanted to report that I made a fresh and a frozen, both about 14 pounds, brined together in apple cider brine. I found the frozen bird a tiny bit harder to carve for some reason, and the fresh bird took a little longer to cook to a done internal temp.

Once eating them, no one could tell which was which, they were both delicious.

I made a turkey broth from a couple of frozen carcasses, then simmerd the giblets and other goodies in that broth (no salt whatsoever). Then used that with the drippings from the turkeys, it was a fantastic gravy.

I made a 20 lb fresh Kosher turkey from J & M Kosher Meat Market on Lawrence. When I took it out of the package to prepare for the oven I was furious. It had about 50 feathers still stuck in it. And not little ones. They were like pieces of straw burried 1/4 inch deep that tweezers couldn't pull out. I ended up using a Leatherman and profanity to clean it.

That said, it was the best turkey I have ever had. The weekend before I prepared 3 turkeys from a different Kosher butcher that weren't nearly as flavorful.

I roasted it upside down at 475 for 45 minutes with butter under the skin. Then I stuffed it, flipped it, tented it, and put it back in at 325 until it was done. It took under 5 hours total. I let it rest for 40 minutes under more foil and a towel. The breast and the thigh were outrageously juicy and flavorful.

We had 17 people. They polished off that turkey and most of a 6 lb breast. We picked up another bird yesterday to roast to have with our leftover sides.

Hi,

I saw a Butterball pre-cooked whole turkey, which could be another 'other' candidate.

Regards,

Picked up fresh turkey at John's Live Poultry Monday and watched the processing. Didn't brine, didn't turn it over during cooking, didn't flavor it, just cooked it in the oven and it was judged moist, great tasting by all the diners.
For the life of me I can't understand this need to do DO something to the turkey? If the turkey is truly fresh, no matter what the source, my experience over many years and many suppliers is that simple is best.-Dick

I agree...simple is best with most all foods!

kafein wrote:I made a 20 lb fresh Kosher turkey from J & M Kosher Meat Market on Lawrence. When I took it out of the package to prepare for the oven I was furious. It had about 50 feathers still stuck in it. And not little ones. They were like pieces of straw burried 1/4 inch deep that tweezers couldn't pull out. I ended up using a Leatherman and profanity to clean it.

As mentioned here, this has been my unfortunate experience with kosher turkeys, too. And not only fresh ones. Even Empire turkeys seem to have more pinfeathers left in them than nonkosher brands.

Mhays wrote:Although online research suggests that the cold-water thaw results in an inferior bird, the cold-water thaw (depending on what time it got to you yesterday) still takes 10 hours, except the water has to be changed every half hour, so in your case it would mean staying up all night.

I've done it both ways and I don't find the cold-water thaw makes much difference. It's just more trouble.

FWIW, you don't have to change the water every 30 minutes for food safety; it's to speed up thawing. The frozen turkey chills the water around it, so the cold water you add is actually warmer than the water the turkey's been sitting in. So if you have more time, you needn't change the water so often.

What I have done, to avoid having to stay up all night, is put the turkey in the sink with the stopper partly blocked, and turn on the water to run in a thin stream over the bird. This is wasteful of water, but safe as long as the turkey stays in enough water to remain cold.

Our fresh, locally raised turkey turned out great this year. I will be going this route again next year, and in the future. No more supermarket purchased, frozen turkey for me ever again.

Plus i get to support a local farm, and my local butcher. Win..Win..

I guess I am glad I went with the Jennie-O freezer-to-oven turkey this year, having to host my biggest crowd ever, but now that I know I can be ready for 10-12 people, I will go with a regular thawed/brined/roasted turkey next year. As a matter of fact, I was so ready with all the other dishes in advance that I had little to do on Thanksgiving Day but roast the turkey, read a book, watch some football, and set the table.

The Jennie-O had all the skin color you could want to see, but I suppose that was due to food coloring; there was not much crispness. In the appointed amount of time, the breast came out very juicy but the legs seemed a bit overcooked: pulling the plastic bag off also pulled off the skin on the legs and some of the meat.

The crowd liked the turkey just fine, but there's no flexibility about it for the cook, in terms of seasoning or stuffing. The good thing about it is the convenience of having it on hand in the freezer in advance and being able to bypass the thawing.

Hi,

Yesterday I stopped by Costco to pick up a Christmas present. It was also on my list to ask the meat department if fresh turkeys would be available. No need to ask since I immediately saw fresh turkeys in the bins.

I then checked their sell-by date to find it was into January. I talked to the meat the department to double-check if this was indeed true. He indicated they had just arrived and the sell-by dates reliable. I found a 20-pound turkey, though I am wondering how fresh is fresh.

I did buy the turkey for Christmas. I just wonder if my 'young turkey' should really be called Franken-Turkey.

Regards,

Was it frozen?

Hi,

No, which is what really surprised me. They must have some packaging method to allow a fresh turkey to linger at 40 degree temperatures for that long. I don't think your average chicken purchased has that kind of shelf life.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:I found a 20-pound turkey, though I am wondering how fresh is fresh.

I'd rather know that my turkey was frozen solid soon after slaughter and has stayed that way until I thaw it.