FRESH Heritage Turkey

In a stunning turn of events, I'm in charge of the Thanksgiving turkey.

I'm really looking for a fresh heritage breed turkey. Bourbon Red, Bronze, Eastern Wild, Old Grandad (...wait, that's liquor). Anyway, you get the idea.

Since this is my project, I want to do something more exciting than your basic butterball.

I'd rather not defrost, as our fridge is likely going to be overstuffed as it is.

Any suggestions?

I dont know about heritage breeds, but there are a few live poultry places that provide very fresh product; as in "reach in to pull out the giblets etc and the body cavity is still warm" fresh. I used to buy from the place on Armitage and Leavitt, I dont recall the name and am not sure if it is still there, but they let you pick out your victim and thirty minutes later it is ready to take home.

brian60640 wrote:Any suggestions?

I just went through this very same search and I think you're going to be out of luck, unfortunately. Most of the places around Illinois raising heritage birds take orders in the Spring and buy poults accordingly. Also, most of those places have their birds processed off-site and, sadly, frozen. This is based wholly on my experience emailing about a dozen producers within a three-hour radius of Chicago. (We were looking for a field trip as well.)

For what it's worth, we're driving to Ho Ka in Waterman and buying a "fresh" (stored at not below 30 degrees), dressed bird. Not heritage, not organic, but pastured as much as possible and processed on-site.

I spoke with an employee of the Midwest Organic Farmers Cooperative who said they do have heritage birds available, albeit frozen. I can give you his information if you'd like it, just PM me.

Kristen

If you happen to be in the North Burbs, Oakville Organics (Highland Park) is offering an organic bird (not heritage) from Wisconsin. While the bird is frozen, they are going to defrost them for the customers, thus when you pick them up, they are supposed to be ready to go. From what I've read, fresh has no quality benefit over frozen, but I agree that I never want to have to defrost my own bird again. This seems to be a good solution, but this is the first year they're doing this, so I can only say what they are offering.

Jonah

kl5 wrote:For what it's worth, we're driving to Ho Ka in Waterman and buying a "fresh" (stored at not below 30 degrees), dressed bird.

Actually, I think a "fresh" bird must be kept above 26 degrees. In any case, how long do you think one can safely keep such a bird in the fridge before thanksgiving? I am buy a turkey from Country Cottage Farms and will pick up the (fresh) bird this Friday. The USDA recommends keeping the bird in the fridge no longer than 2 days, which will not get me to Thanksgiving.

Darren72 wrote:Actually, I think a "fresh" bird must be kept above 26 degrees.

I think you're right, but the birds from Ho Ka are kept at 30 degrees (from this article about Ho Ka):

Turkeys in the cooler at the farm's store are stored at 30 degrees. The USDA considers a "fresh" turkey anything kept at 26 degrees or above that has never been frozen, and a frozen one anything at 0 degrees or below. Yes, there is a gap; at 26 degrees, water in the turkey starts to freeze. The USDA recommends using a fresh turkey within two days of purchase.

We're driving out on Tuesday, so it's not an issue for us. But I would think a properly refrigerated bird (and then properly cooked) could stand a couple of extra days. Think of it as curing...

Kristen

I tried to purchase a fresh Heritage and also had no luck anywhere in Wisconsin and Illinois. The thought of picking up a defrosted one, kind of makes me leary of that method.
There is a substantial difference between frozen and truly fresh.
Try John's Live Poultry for a turkey processed while you wait. There is also no problem keeping a freshly slaughtered turkey for 4 days. I do it every year.-Dick

Today's Whole Foods ad in my Tribune offers Organic Heritage Free-Range Turkeys for $3.99/lb


Heritage turkey at Whole Foods

I just ordered a fresh Kosher Turkey. $3.79/lb


J & M Kosher Meat Market
4465 W Lawrence Ave
(773)794-0303

I just got an email newsletter from Heritage Prarie Market in Geneva that they have frozen Bourbon Red Free Range turkeys. This is a little farm store on a farm about 2 miles west of Geneva on Rte. 38. They specialize in local grown and produced products. We only found out about them this year at Batavia's Earth Day energy fair. We've only been out there twice this summer.

Heritage Prairie Market
Rte. 38
Geneva, Illinois
630-443-8253

http://hpmfarm.com/

I know whole foods has decent birds, but I wonder if there is something better available. Price is not a concern.
Any suggestions?

You can still order a Hoka bird from Marketplace on Oakton; I am assuming they come fresh. They aren't sure of the price yet but will know this afternoon. The butcher guessed they'd be around $2.50/lb.

Marketplace on Oakton
4817 Oakton St
Skokie, IL 60077

(847) 677-9330

Mhays wrote:You can still order a Hoka bird from Marketplace on Oakton; I am assuming they come fresh. They aren't sure of the price yet but will know this afternoon. The butcher guessed they'd be around $2.50/lb.

Marketplace on Oakton
4817 Oakton St
Skokie, IL 60077

(847) 677-9330

Zier's Prime Meats in Wilmette sells the HoKa turkeys, also. They do need to be ordered in advance.

=R=

Zier's Prime Meats
813 Ridge Rd
Wilmette, IL 60091
847 251-4000

kafein wrote:I just ordered a fresh Kosher Turkey. $3.79/lb


J & M Kosher Meat Market
4465 W Lawrence Ave
(773)794-0303

I ordered a Turkey from J & M for this Thanksgiving as one of my guests maintains a strict (glatt) kosher diet.

I spent a good deal of time on the phone with the nice folks at J & M, and it turns out all their turkeys are fresh slaughtered, never frozen heritage birds.

Despite the long conversation, I didn't get a price quote. Actually, I did ask, but was told that the supplier hadn't given them a price yet. As I didn't have much of a choice in terms of non-kosher alternatives, I went with it.

My only concern with using the kosher bird is that it is already pre-seasoned (i.e. salted) through the koshering process.

I prefer to brine my birds before cooking them, but I will be foregoing this step because the bird is kosher. Interestingly, America's Test Kitchen recently did a taste test of various birds, one of which was a kosher brand. In the taste test they brined the non-kosher heritage breeds and the non-saline injected supermarket brands in order to make the taste test "fair." They left the kosher bird alone, however, because of the salting process it had already undergone. I'll admit to not being familiar with the details of the koshering/salting process, but from what I gathered from the episode, the koshering process made the seasoning permeate the entire bird. For what it's worth, I think the kosher bird won their taste test.

A non-brined bird is going to be a new variable in my thanksgiving turkey, but I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for at least an equally good result.

MrBarossa wrote:A non-brined bird is going to be a new variable in my thanksgiving turkey, but I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for at least an equally good result.

Consider the kosher turkey pre-brined and treat it accordingly. I often by kosher chickens when I want to cook one at the last minute. I look at them as poor man's brine. You'll be surprised at how close to a home-brined turkey it will be, of course depending on whether or not you normally use a highly flavored brine. The kosher bird is a salt only treatment.

MrBarossa wrote:

kafein wrote:I just ordered a fresh Kosher Turkey. $3.79/lb


J & M Kosher Meat Market
4465 W Lawrence Ave
(773)794-0303

I ordered a Turkey from J & M for this Thanksgiving as one of my guests maintains a strict (glatt) kosher diet.

We got ours from here last year. It was delicious, but fair warning - get your pliers ready and cleaned - there are MANY feathers to remove. I am by no means fastidious, but I spent a good 45 minutes removing HUGE quills.

Same situation as last year, all frozen Heritage birds. Kosher are salted.
Monday I will be at John's Live Poultry picking out my bird and having them process it on the spot as usual. Guests have consistantly said, best turkey they have ever had. I do not brine or other exotic methods but simply oven roast with a leek/sage stuffing and herb seasoning for the bird.-Dick

budrichard wrote:... simply oven roast with a leek/sage stuffing and herb seasoning for the bird.-Dick

Sounds delicious!

LTH Heritage turkey aficionados: Heard this fellow on the local radio station in Decatur today...

http://www.cavenyfarm.com/

It's downstate (near Monticello in Piatt County) but offers Fresh Heritage turkeys available for pickup or Caveny will ship to "select Chicago Farmers Markets" per the website:

http://www.cavenyfarm.com/pickup.php

Maybe this could be another source. I was awed by the prcing - an 18 - 20lb. bird is $141.00. Wow.

Davooda

Fresh as in frozen. Farms do not raise trukeys all year round and this place seems to specialize in the Hoilday Seasons and i see no evidence that one obtain a fresh turkey. Anyway the pricing is outrageous. Just call john's Live Poultry on Fullerton and order a fresh turkey. Works every year for me and its the best i have ever had Heritage or not.-Dick

Caveny sometimes has a truck at the Green City Market. My recollection is that they are frozen.

I made a Caveny Turkey for Christmas Day dinner. It was expensive (about $70 for about a 9 lb. bird - Bourbon Red variety) and I picked it up, frozen, at House of Glunz (John arranges drop-off points and times during the holiday season). He said he's starting to offer smoked turkeys, too. I don't think he delivers fresh turkeys to the Chicago area, but I could be wrong.

I thawed the turkey in the refrigerator, brined it, stuffed a compound orange butter under the breast skin, and stuffed the cavity with roughly chopped oranges before grilling it. It was well-received, and the turkey flesh really tastes like turkey. But, obviously, don't expect a big (flavorless) breast on the bird, like you'd get with a supermarket turkey.

Supermarket turkeys if frozen are bathed in chemicals, if fresh may or may not have chemicals but have been kept for at least a month under 32F. A fresh killed bird from a place like John's as i mentioned will have the large breast and WILL be flavorful, in fact I will bet the price of the John's turkey that it will be preferred in a blind test against a frozen 'heritage' bird!-Dick

budrichard wrote:Supermarket turkeys if frozen are bathed in chemicals, if fresh may or may not have chemicals but have been kept for at least a month under 32F. A fresh killed bird from a place like John's as i mentioned will have the large breast and WILL be flavorful, in fact I will bet the price of the John's turkey that it will be preferred in a blind test against a frozen 'heritage' bird!-Dick

Dick,

In defense of my supermarket, explain that sweeping generalization. Actually, explain all of them...

I do agree that a locally raised turkey will taste better than the typical free range heritage turkey, but then there are those heritage turkeys that are fed only sweet corn.

Tim

Maybe I'm reading things wrong, but I sense some confusion here. I believe most supermarket turkeys are the Broad Breasted White breed; bred for a large breast, and not as flavorful as some of the heritage breeds, like Caveny's Bourbon Red. (Of course, flavor can also vary based upon the birds' diet.) John's Bourbon Reds don't have the large breasts of supermarket turkeys. But I've never seen his turkeys available in any form other than frozen (or smoked).

I've had fresh heritage turkeys, fresh broadbreasted whites and fresh wild turkey I shot myself. Unfortuneatly the local grower that did the heritage turkeys is no longer a producer and no where can I find a heritage bird freshly killed. Any of the turkey dinners that I have been invited to over the years that have a supermarket turkey or frozen heritage turkey never had the tender fresh taste of a fresh unalduturated turkey and in fact some were salty, some were tough and some were just bland. When the producer I used stopped, I searched and found john's Live Poultry in Chicago about 10 or so years ago. A call to John's reserved my turkey order and two days before Thanksgiving, I went to John's, Cooler in hand, picked out my turkey and about 20 minutes later with the turkey packed inside and outside with ice, began my journey home. A great turkey, certainly as good as any I had ever had including fresh heritage turkeys which look actually like a wild turkey but are not. A wild turkey does have a nice large breast and actually tastes a little like acrons of which they feed on. Curiously a squirrel tastes a lot like the dark meat of a wild turkey!

"In defense of my supermarket, explain that sweeping generalization. Actually, explain all of them... "

Supermarket turkeys wether fresh or frozen are in the pipeline for at least 30 days. When frozen turkeys first started appearing on the market when I remember 30-40 years ago, thye were cheap, dry and tasteless. The producers soon learned that a solution of fats and chemicals would keep the turkey somewhat palatable. This frozen bird is what the American consumer has become used to. For many years one could still get a fresh unadulterated bird in the supermarket but comsumer tastes got used the added fat and chemicals and now most of the brids are leabeled 'fresh all natural'
but still have fats and oils added. It is very hard to find a supermarket bird that is fresh and not adulterated and that would be my second pick behind a truly fresh bird. -A 'heritage' bird has become a selling point that many people interpret as a better bird but freeze it and it is not. Dick

I really enjoyed the fresh Ho-Ka turkeys I got this Thanksgiving from Zier's Meats (Organic/Free Range). I've had the Ho-Ka's before from such places as Gepperth's and Paulina Meats (although I'm not sure Paulina still sells them). I can't understand the allure of buying a frozen turkey; heritage or otherwise.

Dick,

budrichard wrote: A wild turkey does have a nice large breast and actually tastes a little like acrons of which they feed on.

Actually Dick, a lot of wild turkeys and free range heritage turkeys eat much less palatable fare and taste pretty awful.

budrichard wrote: For many years one could still get a fresh unadulterated bird in the supermarket but comsumer tastes got used the added fat and chemicals and now most of the brids are leabeled 'fresh all natural' but still have fats and oils added.

Dick, How do you add fat and chemicals to a bird that is labeled "all natural"? I have never seen an injected bird that had a solution or fat added.

budrichard wrote:Supermarket turkeys wether fresh or frozen are in the pipeline for at least 30 days. .... It is very hard to find a supermarket bird that is fresh and not adulterated and that would be my second pick behind a truly fresh bird.

Dick

Dick,

You are going to the wrong supermarket. My market receives free range air chilled birds with a KOD that is on the Thursday before Thanksgiving. These birds are local, never below 32 degrees, not injected and reasonably priced at under $1.80 per pound. My market is super, not a chain and yes, it is on the wrong side of town. You just have to know your local sources.

I had hoped you would have restated your allegation to apply to major chain grocery stores which utilize major market suppliers. I agree that your generalizations do apply to these sources. There are local options.

Tim

The 20-30 wild turkeys I have roaming my back yard arn't eating acorns. They are eating bugs, grass seed, flower seeds, and whatever they and the deers knock out of my neighbors bird feeders.

So I am guessing much like swamp deer these particular wild turkeys wont taste very good. Unlike deer that roam the LaSalle County cornfields eating the corn.

I have had wild turkey in the past that tasted pretty good, I think their diet like e deers diet heavily influences the end result.

The one wild turkey I ate was the best turkey I have ever eaten. Without doubt, a revelation. The legs were like chewing through steel cables though. Probably would have made a great soup. Maybe when the little boy (or girl) grows up we'll learn to hunt together.