The Poojer Posted November 16, 2011 Posted November 16, 2011 i want some input from the braintrust...the butcher shop across the street is taking orders for turkeys, 10-35# 2.79/lb...i understand that fresh is usually the way to go over the mass produced store brand turkeys...its just gonna be me and my kids...do fresh turkeys have a significantly different flavor? do they need to be be brined(as i believe store bought are injected with some sort of brining agent...) is it worth the extra time and effort? thanks in advance.
BuffaloBillsForever Posted November 16, 2011 Posted November 16, 2011 (edited) i want some input from the braintrust...the butcher shop across the street is taking orders for turkeys, 10-35# 2.79/lb...i understand that fresh is usually the way to go over the mass produced store brand turkeys...its just gonna be me and my kids...do fresh turkeys have a significantly different flavor? do they need to be be brined(as i believe store bought are injected with some sort of brining agent...) is it worth the extra time and effort? thanks in advance. You have a lot of options. You can brine if you want. Injecting a marinade will also work well or making a flavored compound butter and placing it under the skin and seasoning the top with salt and pepper or a dry rub. The key really is having the damn thing seasoned one way or another before it goes in the oven. The biggest problem with turkey is people tend to over cook them and when turkey is overcooked it is dry and horrible. Buy a meat thermometer if you do not have one so you can test its internal temp. Also when you take the turkey out of the oven when its finished cooking place it on a cutting board, place some tin foil over it and don't touch it for at least 20 minutes before cutting into it. This allows the juices to redistribute, so they end up back in the meat and not on the cutting board. Edited November 16, 2011 by BuffaloBillsForever
Gordio Posted November 16, 2011 Posted November 16, 2011 (edited) i want some input from the braintrust...the butcher shop across the street is taking orders for turkeys, 10-35# 2.79/lb...i understand that fresh is usually the way to go over the mass produced store brand turkeys...its just gonna be me and my kids...do fresh turkeys have a significantly different flavor? do they need to be be brined(as i believe store bought are injected with some sort of brining agent...) is it worth the extra time and effort? thanks in advance. I was in Wegmans yesterday & they had turkeys for 49 cents per pound. I would just go there & save yourself some money especially if your getting a big bird. I bet the difference in taste is hardly noticeable. Edited November 16, 2011 by Gordio
plenzmd1 Posted November 16, 2011 Posted November 16, 2011 I was in Wegmans yesterday & they had turkeys for 49 cents per pound. I would just go there & save yourself some money especially if your getting a big bird. I bet the difference in taste is hardly noticeable. I have no idea, but I think the taste difference would be significant. I only say that as grass fed beef has quite a distinctive taste from grain fed, not saying better just different. I say go for it, I would think brining would be even more important, as I am guessing less fat content
BuffaloBill Posted November 16, 2011 Posted November 16, 2011 i want some input from the braintrust...the butcher shop across the street is taking orders for turkeys, 10-35# 2.79/lb...i understand that fresh is usually the way to go over the mass produced store brand turkeys...its just gonna be me and my kids...do fresh turkeys have a significantly different flavor? do they need to be be brined(as i believe store bought are injected with some sort of brining agent...) is it worth the extra time and effort? thanks in advance. I've had fresh turkey once and it was excellent. I've also brined a turkey once (different turkey). If you elect to brine it remember that you will need at least 24 additional hours of preparation and it must be completely thawed. It will make the turkey much more moist but it will also be saltier. Mine was not so salty that it was "bad" but I am glad that I took the advice not to add any additional salt when cooking it. I also like to baste my turkey with a mixture of 50% olive oil and 50% melted butter frequently. This will turn the skin very brown and keep it from burning.
Gordio Posted November 16, 2011 Posted November 16, 2011 I have no idea, but I think the taste difference would be significant. I only say that as grass fed beef has quite a distinctive taste from grain fed, not saying better just different. I say go for it, I would think brining would be even more important, as I am guessing less fat content I am no turkey expert so you are probably right. I am really not crazy about turkey anyways so I wouold just go for the cheaper bird. After my gram died for years my mom did not feel like cooking for Thanksgiving & my parents would always take us out for dinner. Everybody would have Turkey & I would always get the surf & turf. My dad would always give me the evil eye across the table as it would usually end up costing him $50/$60.
Gary M Posted November 16, 2011 Posted November 16, 2011 i want some input from the braintrust...the butcher shop across the street is taking orders for turkeys, 10-35# 2.79/lb...i understand that fresh is usually the way to go over the mass produced store brand turkeys...its just gonna be me and my kids...do fresh turkeys have a significantly different flavor? do they need to be be brined(as i believe store bought are injected with some sort of brining agent...) is it worth the extra time and effort? thanks in advance. My brother raised some turkeys for a couple years, fresh is the best.
DDD Posted November 16, 2011 Posted November 16, 2011 I always get a fresh turkey, never frozen because there's a big difference particularly in the texture of the white meat. The frozen white meat gets a rough, crumbly testure to it and is hard to slice. However, I don't know if there's a taste difference between the fresh turkey I get at the grocery store vs the fresh-killed turkey from the local butcher. If I had to guess their probably pretty similiar.
BuffaloBillsForever Posted November 16, 2011 Posted November 16, 2011 (edited) A fresh turkey is always best but we are not talking about night and day differences here unless the frozen turkey was sitting in the freezer a long time. One person above mentioned texture and there can be slight textural differences in the meat between the two. I find brining the bird can also change the texture of the breast meat a bit. Fresh or frozen, the biggest differences will come from the actual cooking of the bird - not overcooking it. You overcook a turkey, it doesn't matter if it was killed the day before, it will not taste good. I actually don't mind frozen utility turkey's. They are labelled as utility in the grocery store because they have a missing leg or flap of skin missing for example. Basically, mistakes were made in the butchering or processing of the bird and you get them at a discounted price. If you take the care in preparation and cooking even with a "utility" turkey, they can come out excellent and it becomes very cheap to feed a large number of people. Edited November 16, 2011 by BuffaloBillsForever
HereComesTheReignAgain Posted November 16, 2011 Posted November 16, 2011 Fresh is always better! Just make sure you are deep frying it. So much better than baking. We coat the turkey with oil and then use ample amounts of Dinosaur BBQ Cajun Foreplay dry rub inside and out.
Fan in San Diego Posted November 16, 2011 Posted November 16, 2011 Anyone try those propane based turkey fryers? Supposedly just like using oil but without the oil?
erynthered Posted November 17, 2011 Posted November 17, 2011 Thought this might help you, Pooj. http://shine.yahoo.com/shine-food/brining-basics-tips-not-194900795.html
plenzmd1 Posted November 17, 2011 Posted November 17, 2011 Thought this might help you, Pooj. http://shine.yahoo.com/shine-food/brining-basics-tips-not-194900795.html One step a lot of folks forget when brining poultry..need to let the bird dry for a good bit if you want nice, crsip skin. Remove the bird from the brine, pat dry with paper towels,put the bird on a rack over a cookie sheet, stick it back in the fridge for as long as you can. For a turkey, I prefer overnight..chicken at least 4 hrs if possible.
DDD Posted November 17, 2011 Posted November 17, 2011 Anyone try those propane based turkey fryers? Supposedly just like using oil but without the oil? Yes and it tasted no different than when cooked in the oven. But it was cool standing outside while drinking beer around the oil-free fryer.
Bill from NYC Posted November 17, 2011 Posted November 17, 2011 A great thing to do is stuff SWEET butter (NOT salted) under the skin of the breast. It will be much more moist. Use as much as you want, it really does work.
Dr. Fong Posted November 17, 2011 Posted November 17, 2011 Do yourself a big favor. Go to YouTube and search "Alton Brown turkey", watch his multi part video, and follow it to the letter you will be rewarded with the most delicious turkey you've ever tasted. You will be the hero of Thanksgiving. I strongly urge you to go ahead and place that order because the fresh turkey is fantastic.
boyst Posted November 17, 2011 Posted November 17, 2011 I won't add much to this because the point has been made many times that it is worth trying. Why not go ahead and try it? There will be plenty of other food if you goof.
birdog1960 Posted November 18, 2011 Posted November 18, 2011 i want some input from the braintrust...the butcher shop across the street is taking orders for turkeys, 10-35# 2.79/lb...i understand that fresh is usually the way to go over the mass produced store brand turkeys...its just gonna be me and my kids...do fresh turkeys have a significantly different flavor? do they need to be be brined(as i believe store bought are injected with some sort of brining agent...) is it worth the extra time and effort? thanks in advance. i'm not so sure it's worth it. 2 years ago we bought fresh from the farmers market and did the brining thing. big hassle- you need a big vat and a place to keep it (ended up doing it on the patio keeping an ever watchful eye on the dogs!) i really didn't taste that big of a difference from store bought. last year we got invited to someone elses family gathering and ended up freezing our fresh turkey. at that point, it didn't seem worth the trouble to brine and we ended up throwing it away 8 months later. laziness, i know and i feel bad about the waste but once a fresh turkey is frozen, what's the point? probably won't do it again unless i luck into killing a wild turkey (which is a good bourbon but i've heard not so great a meat).
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