Surprise! Rotten Butterball Turkey - Anyone Heard of Empire Turkeys?

[hoovarmin]

So I thought there was a foul odor in the fridge and took out the Butterball brand turkey (that Panhead John insisted I purchase) to open the package and see if that was the source. It was, and I ran to the backyard and hurled. The only non-frozen bird in the size range I wanted left at Publix was an Empire Kosher. Has anyone ever cooked one of these birds before? I have a frozen bird from Sprouts in the freezer I can thaw if need be, but if Empire is a good bet I'll just go with it.

[STEbbq]

I have never heard of this happening. You should complain to wherever you bought this turkey from and let Butterball know. I have also never heard of this new turkey brand either but all turkey in my experience is pretty much the same so I wouldn’t worry. You should also double check your fridge temps!

[Panhead John]

It’s all your fault, you should know better than to listen to me.

[ecowper]

Troutman I've been calling him knucklehead for years

[Panhead John]

ecowper I got your knucklehead right here…..

[ecowper]

Is THAT what you call it?

[Jerod Broussard]

Empire Kosher has a chicken plant in Pennsylvania. Not sure about the turkey. They do things a little differently, being Kosher.

[Spinaker]

By that you mean way dirtier and in no way cleaner or more humane what so ever. Same as kosher beef kill plants.

[Jerod Broussard]

Spinaker they have had some Salmonella issues, but overall pretty similar to what I am used to. They don't use scalding vats to loosen the feathers, they use ice cold water instead, but then require 6x the picker lines to get the feathers off. They also pack the carcasses with salt before they go in the chiller.

[hoovarmin]

Salmonella is the least of my worries. My mom is gonna be here for 5 days and I kind of want some Salmonella right now.

[Purc]

+1 on never heard of any problems on Butterball turkeys. I too would take it back to the store and call the Butterball hotline. I have a 12 lbs. Butterball in the freezer.

[hoovarmin]

I sealed that thing up in a contractor bag with a clothespin on my nose and took it to the trash, gagging the entire time! I will complain but I'm not putting it in my truck!

[Alan Brice]

Yeah, I thought about that. That store does not want that putrid mess within 2 miles of their store. I am sure all can be handled over the phone. W/o an issue. If there is an issue, that is when you take it to the store.

[Oak Smoke]

It sounds like at some point in your birds journey to you it thawed, spoiled and was then refrozen. Good grief I hate that smell! It’ll really put a damper on that craving for turkey. If the new bird you’re looking at is not preinjected, as I suspect it won’t be since it’s kosher, you should brine it. I think you still have time to pull off the brine and cook before Thursday. Good luck!

[Panhead John]

Injecting himself will be painful!

[hoovarmin]

texastweeter I am going to inject and wet brine

[Troutman]

Panhead John, I hear mainlining turkey marinade is quite the rush 🤪

[DTro]

Oh my. Use your skills, I am sure the Empire will be deliscious. I am really sorry this happened to you and I know this is a serious event, but the way you described it, including the backyard hurl has me in stitches. Hope this never happens to me.

[hoovarmin]

Bro, it was comical as hell. My kids didn't know what the heck was happening 😂

[DTro]

Inspiration to to rock the turkey!

[LA Pork Butt]

Talk about fowl! LOL No more foul fowl, please. I could smell it alway the way to Texas.

[smokenoob]

😳☹️🙀 prepping my Butterball cook today, will have barf bag close by

was yours frozen when purchased? if so, how long thawed?

[hoovarmin]

It was a "Fresh" Turkey. But it was partially frozen. The date on the bag was sell by 11/27.

[Jim White]

I wound up deciding a whole turkey would be too much work and bought two Publix Greenwise fresh breasts. From the label, it looks like they haven't been injected, so I will dry brine tomorrow. So far, no bad smells in our fridge.

[hoovarmin]

I'm going to wet brine overnight tonight and dry in the fridge tomorrow.

[Steve R.]

I don't have the answer to this, but the time you have spent as a member here has prepared you to figure it out, even if that just means asking for advice.

Now excuse me while I head out to the garage fridge to sniff the Butterball turkey I have thawing in there.

[Oak Smoke]

No kidding, I just checked mine.

[radiodome21]

I bought 2 Butterball 12# each on Saturday from Costco. They were thawing out and should be good to go for tomorrow when I prep

anyone ever dry brine a butterball with salt or rub with salt? In years past I haven’t but I’ve noticed on some YouTube videos people do. I’m thinking about since I’m going to smoke it and use a bbq glaze.

[Donw]

Huskee posted a rule of thumb about brining/dry brining a while back
Look at the Nutrition label:
200-300mg sodium, brine as if it weren't salted at all
300-400mg sodium, brine lightly.
400+mg, maybe skip brining.

[texastweeter]

Thank goodness I'm only in charge of soup this year. Making tomato basil bisque and a hot vichyssoise.

[jfmorris]

Now I gotta go sniff the two 14# Kroger brand turkeys I have thawing in the garage fridge. At 49 cents per pound (what?!?! a $7 turkey!), I couldn't say no. I stood there for a while debating between them and the butterball. I normally do one 20 pound bird, but we have two split gatherings, 6 people each time, on Wednesday and Saturday.

[Steve R.]

Ha! I went to Kroger on a weekday last week and could barely get through the crowd of retirees swarming around the turkey area. Then I saw that price and halfway regretted being proactive enough to have bought mine weeks ago.

[ecowper]

Costco had Foster Farms for 99 cents a pound!

[jfmorris]

Steve R. No one other than me was looking at turkeys when I was in there on Saturday. Lucky I guess. Most were either 12-14 pounds, or up around 20.

[hoovarmin]

I'm about to spatchcock the Empire bird and get it in the brine. I'll report back the results later.

[hoovarmin]

Bkhuna I discovered this after the bird was in the bath. But it didn't turn out to be over salted at all. In fact, I covered it in a rub under the skin and over it before putting it in the grill and it still turned out perfect. Go figure, maybe they forgot to kosher this one just like they forgot to take out about 500 feather quills that I ruined my back pulling out with tweezers?

[Bkhuna]

hoovarmin The feathers are the reason I don't buy Empire. I tried a couple of times but it was too much fuss.

[hoovarmin]

Bkhuna I sure wish I would have known it was a feature and not a bug before I bought it!