Where to buy a good turkey?

[STEbbq]

$1.07 per pound Butterball Turkey (20 pounds) from Aldi this year.

[jfmorris]

I'll be heading to Aldi today - that's cheaper than I've sen elsewhere. I assume these are frozen, but that works for me.

[Huskee]

2nd for WildForkFoods: https://wildforkfoods.com/collections/turkey Great prices!

Also Meat N' Bone (pricer, but we have a 10% off code for first purchase): https://meatnbone.com/collections/po...s/amish-turkey

[hoovarmin]

What's the story on the new avatar bro?

[STEbbq]

I see it as Michigan has deep roots and is standing tall. In other words, Huskee loves MI.

[Huskee]

hoovarmin STEbbq. Well, sorta, it was a coffee mug I seen in a gift shop. I take it as 'my roots are in MI', me and a long, long line of my family history back to the natives. So instead of buying the mug I stole it in pic form like the cheap sob that I am.

[FireMan]

I couldn’t help it hoov. When I read you paid $7 for a turkey & you saying your game was not up to par & you love yer dear wife, I put my head down and had a big smile & thought, no your turkey game is not quite up there. Keep workin at it & follow the plenty advice you’ve gotten here. $7 for a turkey. 👀🙃

[hoovarmin]

Haha, glad I gave you a smile!

[Huskee]

We too have found the $.50/lb (or whatever) turkey deals with grocery purchase just don't lead to a great bird. Similar to brisket- crap in, crap out.

[jfmorris]

I've done fresh, frozen, natural, pre-brined (injected) - you name it. Smoked my first bird for Thanksgiving in 1990 or so on a little Brinkman water smoker. Done a lot on the offset over the decades, then most recently on kettle and kamado.

I think the turkey itself doesn't make as much difference as how YOU prepare and cook it. If they are injected, the way I look at it is they saved me the step of brining the turkey. If its under 200mg I'll still dry brine, but if its over I won't.

But what I think makes the MOST difference is the cooking process. I've had great results on the rotisserie, and spatchcocked, smoked whole, etc. But at this point, my birds are going to be parted out - breasts, wings, leg quarters (with the thigh deboned and tied up). I've done that a couple of years now in a row, and it makes the cook AND the presentation on a platter for carving and serving super easy. And you can cook each piece to perfection, and not have dried out breasts by the time the thighs are done.

[STEbbq]

Yeah, the gravy pan definitely screwed up the airflow. I agree on making it separately.

We will see what we end up doing. Maybe turkey straight on grates?

[jfmorris]

STEbbq I always do it directly on the grate, unless using the rotisserie.

[STEbbq]

I think I can make that happen Jim. If it all goes wrong this year, I will tell Amanda it is Jim’s fault.

[Bob K]

Stop looking and go here: https://www.fossilfarms.com/products/turkey-whole-bird

You won’t find one better. Your family will think you’re a wizard. Seriously we’ve tried ‘em all (WF, white Oak, Crowd Cow, Amish, local). Fossil Farms is the best hands down.

[hoovarmin]

Wow, Bob K I just logged into the link again to pull the trigger and they are out of the birds under 14 lbs. The price now starts at $150 for a 14-16 lb bird, so I'm going to have to wait til next year. Darn it!

[Bob K]

hoovarmin bummer. If you get on their mailing list they do a preorder thing in September with a 15% discount usually. Their chicken is great too, though pricey. Occasional sales help. (No I don’t work for them!)

[Huskee]

Good to know. Never heard of them but I'm glad I have now.

[tamidw]

We have bought BB, cheap ones, and have raised turkeys ourselves. The ones we raise ourselves are really good and don't have all the additives or whatever is put in commercial ones. But overall, once brining them, there's not a huge amount different between any of them. Buying in store is definitely cheaper than raising them though!

[hoovarmin]

The farm I worked on when I was a teen had turkeys and they were the dumbest animals I've ever encountered. For some reason though, in the wild they are extremely elusive.

[tamidw]

We loved our turkeys and they were extremely social. We would sit outside and hang out and have drinks and they would waddle over to us and hang out too. When people pulled up in the driveway, they would come towards the cars to greet the people. But the mail lady was scared to death of them.

[Jfrosty27]

I was grocery shopping this morning and the have the usual huge cases full of frozen birds of all sizes. Prices were definitely higher than last year but nothing I would call outrageous. But for us it’s not an issue. We’re invited to our son’s house for T-Day. 👍😊

[hoovarmin]

Ok, so I've decided that I'm going to go with Whole Foods and it looks like they have three non-treated options for someone who wants to brine themselves:



"Organic" is really just a marketing term to me, so my choice is between the "Whole Turkey" and the "Heirloom Whole Turkey." The Heirloom is $2 more per lb. For those in the know, is "heirloom" as much of a marketing term as "organic," or is this a legit option I should be considering?

[hoovarmin]

Thanks SheilaAnn I think that settles it for me. I'm going with the Whole Turkey option at $1.99 per lb. Hope I'm making the right decision!

[STEbbq]

SheilaAnn where were you when I was trying to spatchcock my heirloom turkey and wondering why the hell I am suddenly such a weak ass? Oof.

[SheilaAnn]

STEbbq I have spatchcocked more birds than I can count. It was the hardest thing for me. And I used to carry whole pigs. I couldn’t get my knife through the joints. My shears took a beating (but lived to tell about it). It was delicious, but I won’t do it again.

[SheilaAnn]

I ordered a Mary’s Organic from Lazy Acres (aka Bristol farms). I want fresh, so I can break it down myself and then freeze.

[hoovarmin]

STEbbq regarding your above conversation with jfmorris on placement of the water pan and airflow, have you read the Turkey treatise on the free side that includes this graphic? The info from Dr. B on this subject is pure gold. https://amazingribs.com/tested-recip...turkey-recipe/

[hoovarmin]

Gotcha. I am thinking I can pull it off in the Big Joe but I'm darn sure going to do a test run on the set up before go-time to make sure.

[jfmorris]

Does your Big Joe have an elevated cooking grate? If so, you might be ok with a shallow gravy/drip pan on the main grate, and the turkey on the upper grate. Personally if I do my turkey on the kamado, I'll likely use my drip pan on top of the diffuser (with ceramic spacers), but I won't be making the gravy on the smoker, so the drip pan is just there to help keep the grill cleaner.

[hoovarmin]

jfmorris it has a rack with three tiers that can fit on top of the Slo Roller. I like to put deflectors between the slo roller and the grates, and can get them down a good distance from the grate.

[Alan Brice]

Hang dat Sucka! Spatchcock on yer barrel. Purch fr your local family owned butcher shop.
(If you still have one close). I am still getting last years for a buck a pound. Only prob , they are north of 22lbs. Heritage bird. No bs, just bird.
Butter n your choice of herb under the skin. MH poultry season all over the outside n hang behind the wings right up tight to the breasts.
Pull at 157 breast temp. Foil the wings after you cut off the tips n foil the end of the drumsticks.

[HawkerXP]

..., ..., ...!

[Bad Hat BBQ]

I hear good things about Heritage Turkeys....if you are willing to pay 4-5x the cost of a Butter Ball

• D'Artagnan Foods | Online Meat Delivery | 100% Satisfaction Guarantee (dartagnan.com)

I would like to try some of their Gamebirds ....